Competing with suppliers from Europe and Asia, the DST has been awarded an extensive consultancy contract from India. With an international tender the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has sought a partner for the design of inland waterway vessels. These ships should be particularly suitable to address the growing freight flows on the waterways connecting the inland ports of Calcutta with large cities in the hinterland like Patna, Ghazipur, Varanasi and Allahabad.
The ‘National Waterway 1’, i.e. rivers Ganges-Bhagirathi-Hooghly, will play an increasingly important role in the transport infrastructure of the country. As fairway conditions are not always easy to navigate on, specifically developed ships are needed to guarantee high transport efficiency also in shallow waters. Vessels developed by the DST are to ensure that large freight volumes can be transported at low transport costs while at the same time keeping a high level of safety. Simultaneously, the pollutant and CO2 emissions should be drastically reduced compared to truck traffic.
