Need of supportive funding for small and structurally optimized inland vessels examined

The study was a measure from the IWT Masterplan (Masterplan Binnenschifffahrt) of the German Federal Transport Ministry.

In cooperation with its partners PLANCO Consulting GmbH from Essen, MARLO Consultants GmbH (Karlsruhe) and the Berlin-based Studiengesellschaft für Kombinierten Verkehr e. V. (SGKV), DST – Development Center for Ship Technology and Transport Systems has completed a study commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV) to examine the need of supportive funding for small inland vessels as well as for structurally optimized ones.

In the case of small inland vessels, the study has shown that, without suitable countermeasures, their number will decline considerably and a significant deficit is to be expected. Existing funding programs are not suitable for counteracting the lack of willingness to invest in small inland vessels. Therefore, the establishment of a new, targeted funding program for small inland vessels is recommended.

For structurally optimized inland vessels, on the other hand, it can be stated that the existing opportunities with regard to the funding of larger inland vessels can be used well. Here, it will be sufficient to expand these programs to include individual funding elements, such as the explicit realization of better extreme low-water navigability.

The study represented one of the measures from the Masterplan Binnenschifffahrt (ger., IWT Masterplan) published in 2019. The study was to scientifically examine the actual need of funding, the technical possibilities, the economic feasibility, and the possible scope of funding.

The complete results of the study are available in both the final report (see here) and an abridged version (see here) as well as an extended version (see here).

Learn more on the study here.

 

Contact: Cyril Alias, Phone: +49 (0)203 99369-52, Mail: alias@dst-org.de