{"id":10707,"date":"2020-12-01T16:58:39","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T15:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/fkb-study-to-investigate-the-promotion-of-smaller-and-or-constructively-optimized-inland-waterway-vessels\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T15:56:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T13:56:41","slug":"fkb-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/en\/fkb-study\/","title":{"rendered":"FKB &#8211; Study to investigate the promotion of smaller and\/or constructively optimized inland waterway vessels"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\n.cont {width: 70%; padding: 5px; float: left;}\n.side {width: 28%; padding: 5px; float: right;}\n.logo {width: 28%; padding: 5px; float: right;}\n@media only screen and (max-width: 1150px) {\n   body {margin: 0; padding: 0;}\n  .cont {width: 100%;}\n  .side {width: 100%; float: left;}\n  .logo {width: 100%; max-width: 500px; float: left;}\n}<\/style>\n<div class=\"cont\">\n<h1><strong>Study to investigate the promotion of smaller and\/or constructively optimized inland waterway vessels<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The study addresses the challenges of increasing low water situations for inland navigation as well as the problem of decreasing availability of smaller inland vessels. It examines the technical possibilities and economic feasibility of possible measures as well as the necessary scope of support for small and\/or constructively optimized inland vessels.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"logo\"\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/BMDV.png\"><img decoding=\"async\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/BMDV.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cont\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Number of small and constructionally optimized inland waterway vessels.<\/strong><br \/>\nThe analysis of statistics and databases proves the decline of small ships and the simultaneous increase of large ships. In the period 1994 to 2019, the number of small units (up to 1,500 tons) has more than halved. The average deadweight tonnage has increased consequently from 987t to 1,308t. This development is expected to continue.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Demand for small and constructionally optimized inland vessels<\/strong><br \/> The comparison of vessel demand and fleet forecast shows that a deficit of 179 vessels is expected by 2030. With water levels as in the low water year 2018, the deficit increases to 209 vessels. This would make inland navigation become less important in the affected market segments. For constructively optimized vessels, a deficit of 27 vessels is expected by 2030. This means that only a partial reduction in low-water risks can be achieved in market segments where reliability of supply is of great importance. This means there is a risk that cargo shippers will look for alternatives to reduce the risk and shift further volumes from waterways to other modes of transport.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Technical Options for the Conversion and New Construction of Small and\/or Constructionally Optimized Inland Vessels<br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>  Of the various options for adapting barges to low water requirements, the following were considered exemplarily:<\/br><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lengthening of the ship and thus increasing the cargo space.<\/br> This enables an increase in the loading capacity with an unchanged draught and results in an improvement in economic efficiency in the medium to long term.<\/li>\n<li>Constructively optimized new vessel manufacturing<\/br>The focus of such a completely new vessel with diesel-electric propulsion and a two-propeller system is on improved low-water performance. Of all the modernization projects, this measure is attracting the greatest interest in the industry.<\/li>\n<li>Similar effects can be achieved with an existing ship by replacing the rear ship (partial new construction with diesel-electric propulsion and two-propeller system)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Economic evaluation<\/strong><br \/> <br \/>\nExemplary calculations have shown that the costs for the use of newly built and modernized small ships increase significantly compared to existing ships. Costs are also significantly higher when using constructively optimized ships.<br \/>\nSince no higher revenues can be achieved with new ships, the willingness to invest is consequently low. In addition, the higher costs weaken the competitive position in intermodal competition. Funding could reduce the cost disadvantages of new or modernized small ships. However, this would have to be sufficiently high to be economically interesting. This could reduce the obstacles to investment in small ships and provide an stimulus to cover the demand for small ships.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong> Recommended actions<\/strong> <\/br><br \/>\nThe study has shown that without appropriate countermeasures, the fleet of small ships will decline significantly and a noticeable deficit of &#8220;small ship space&#8221; is to be expected. <\/br><br \/>\nThe key aspect should be to secure the existing markets for small inland vessels, which are in a difficult competitive situation. However, small inland vessels are also of interest for new market areas such as urban logistics, feeder services complementing seaport-hinterland traffic and continental transport relations. <\/br><br \/>\nIn view of the rising cost of fossil energy, energy-efficient transport alternatives are also important apart from the Rhine. Existing funding programs are not suitable for addressing the lack of willingness to invest in small inland vessels. <\/br><br \/>\nAdmittedly, some programs are applicable in individual cases and can be combined with a new program if necessary. However, they are not suitable for providing a significant investment incentive. For this reason, the introduction of a new, targeted support program for small inland vessels is recommended.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"side\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Funding framework:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: circle;\">\n<li>Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (Client)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Point of contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: circle;\">\n<li>Cyril Alias, M.Sc.<br \/>\n<em>Dept. Logistics and Transportation<\/em><br \/>\nE-Mail: <a href=\"mailto:alias@dst-org.de\">alias@dst-org.de<\/a><br \/>\nTel.: <a href=\"tel:+492039936952\">+49 (0) 203 99369-52<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Consortium:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: circle;\">\n<li>DST \u2013 Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.planco.de\" traget=\"_blank\" rel= \"external\">Planco Consulting GmbH<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marlo.no\" traget=\"_blank\" rel= \"external\">MARLO Consultants GmbH<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Associated partner:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: circle;\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sgkv.de\" traget=\"_blank\" rel= \"external\">Studiengesellschaft f\u00fcr den Kombinierten Verkehr e.V. (SGKV)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 100%; padding: 10px; float: left;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The study examines the challenges posed by increasingly frequent low-water conditions for inland waterway transport, as well as the issue of the declining availability of smaller inland waterway vessels. It analyses the technical options and economic feasibility of possible measures, as well as the level of funding required for small and\/or structurally optimised inland waterway vessels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":8293,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,21,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commercial-project","category-logistics-project","category-research-completed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10707"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10766,"href":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10707\/revisions\/10766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dst-org.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}