Digital drive for inland barges
The inland shipping industry plays an important role in hinterland transport solutions offered by German maritime ports. The port of Hamburg is now developing a platform to coordinate the planning process for this mode of transport.
Around 10,000 inland barges call at the port of Hamburg every year, a fact that makes the gateway Germany’s second-largest inland port after Duisburg. Since 2012 the volume of goods passing through the gateway on inland barges has grown by more than 40%. In the light of this development, which the hub’s managers naturally want to continue, the Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center (HVCC) has now developed a platform especially for the inland waterways. The HVCC is the gateway’s overarching coordination centre for all ships calling at the hub.
The port authorities have designed the platform to link up inland shipping lines, captains, terminals and authorities. “We can now plan calls and sailings and allocate berths more transparently; we’ve simulta- neously also advanced our digitalisation efforts,” was how HVCC managing director Gerald Hirt formulated the centre’s goals. Up until now every shipping line carried out the planning process for its vessels independently, which required a great deal of coordination between all parties concerned. The port hopes the platform will create greater handling efficiency and reliability. A test phase is set to be launched by autumn. The definite introduction is due by the beginning of 2020.
Bremen with an eye on barges
Inland barges are a major concern in the country’s other large maritime port too. A recent seminar in Bremerhaven saw a panel of experts discuss the future importance of the inland waterways for the hub. Vendela Santén, a project manager in Sweden’s SSPA research institute, illustrated how inland shipping underwent some-thing of an upsurge in the port of Gothenburg after the state opened up the regulatory framework. Now the port authorities in Bremen are planning to make the inland waterways more attractive through a series of digital projects.
