Federal Association of Public Inland Ports and Association for European Inland Navigation and Waterways visit DST
The members of the joint expert committee ‘Economy and Logistics’ of Federal Association of Public Inland Ports (BÖB) and the Association for European Inland Navigation and Waterways (VBW) have visited DST and HaFoLa in Duisburg.
On May 10, 2022, the members of the joint expert committee ‘Economy and Logistics’ of Federal Association of Public Inland Ports (Bundesverband Öffentlicher Binnenhäfen; BÖB) and the Association for European Inland Navigation and Waterways (Verein für europäische Binnenschifffahrt und Wasserstraßen; VBW) have visited DST and HaFoLa and held their expert committee meeting in Duisburg.
The central occasion of the visit was the first meeting of the newly founded committee ‘Economy and Logistics’, which resulted from the merger of the former BÖB committee for economy and transport and the VBW expert committee ‘Transport Economics’. In the committee meeting chaired by VBW member Dr. Wolfgang Hönemann, representative of the Port of Rotterdam, the successful start of the so-called political port internship was reported: The coordinator of the Parliamentary Group on Inland Waterways in the German Bundestag, Mathias Stein, MdB, completed the first internship at BEHALA in Berlin’s Westhafen on Logistics Day 2022, and further internships by members of federal and state parliaments at various BÖB ports are to follow in the coming months. The draft of the 2022 federal budget to be passed was also discussed in terms of transport policy content with reference to inland navigation and inland ports. In addition, the guidelines of the National Ports Strategy and other topics at European level, such as the Energy Taxation Directive and taxonomy, were also discussed.
The members of BÖB and VBW were welcomed at the DST in Duisburg, at which the test facilities presented to them. (Photo credit: DST)
Dr. Hönemann, who chaired the meeting on behalf of committee chairman Ralf Karpa (Port of Frankfurt), who was ill, said: “In its first meeting, the Committee for Economics and Logistics dealt with key issues for the future of inland navigation and ports. By bundling the competences of BÖB and VBW in a joint committee, we want to act even more strongly, actively and concretely in the future as a driving force for a modern, sustainable and environmentally friendly waterway system. Sincere thanks go to the DST for hosting our meeting.”
Furthermore, the committee members visited the DST’s test facilities, including the test tanks and model construction areas, the shallow water navigation simulator SANDRA II, the test centre for autonomous navigation and, in particular, the research lab for innovative port and handling technologies (HaFoLa), which is still under construction. “We are very pleased about the great interest shown by decision-makers from the port industry in visiting our test facilities, as it shows the diversity of research and development topics relating to inland ports and inland navigation,” said a delighted Cyril Alias, Head of the Logistics & Transport Department at the DST and himself a member of the joint committee of BÖB and VBW.
Members of the Economics and Logistics Committee visited the construction site of HaFoLa. (Photo credit: DST)
Please visit the following websites for further information
– about the Federal association of public inland ports (BÖB): www.binnenhafen.de
– about the Association for European Inland Navigation (VBW): www.vbw-ev.de
– about the research lab for innovative port and handling technologies (HaFoLa): www.dst-org.de/hafola
Point of contact:
Magnus Bünning (BÖB/VBW), Phone: +49 (0) 30 / 3988 4362, Mail: Magnus.Buenning@binnenhafen.de
Cyril Alias (DST), Phone: +49 (0) 203 / 99 369 52, Mail: Alias@dst-org.de
