Facilitating modal shift by an innovative inland vessel and logistics system

To support an increase in transport flows on Central European inland waterways and contribute to a significant modal shift, shipping companies and owner operators have to be enabled to improve their economic position. One of the ways for achieving this is to develop an innovative inland container vessel and logistics system that allows to meet the operator's targeted costs, optimize time management, answer to inland shipping-specific bottlenecks, improve carbon footprints and thus successfully interact with road and railway transport. NEWS is one of the first projects in Europe intending to develop a new generation of inland vessels including adapted macro- and micro regional logistics and supply chain systems. A macro- and micro regional analysis of logistical systems within the Danube region has been conducted. Within the Danube region, inland port container terminals differ strongly concerning their size, equipment and offered range of service resulting from various factors.