In order to further disseminate knowledge about the advantages of inland waterway transport, thematic focuses have been set on selected groups of goods in the past. The aim of the current initiative is to demonstrate the added value of settling in ports and business parks close to the Danube and the resulting advantages of using inland waterway transport for various sectors. The focus is not only on numerous potentially promising groups of goods, but also on industry-relevant services that can benefit from settling in ports or along the Danube.
Commodity-intensive industries in particular have long utilised the strategic access to the waterway in order to make use of this economical and ecological mode of transport with its high mass capacity. Large companies are either building their own transhipment centres, such as the voestalpine port in Linz on the upper Danube, which has the highest transhipment volume. This saves them pre- and post-haulage, reduces transport costs and gives them strategic access to a sustainable and mass-capable mode of transport. In addition, our own locations in business parks and ports offer good accessibility and a wide range of opportunities for synergies and cooperation.
This includes, for example, a high-quality transport offer due to the high density of ships arriving and departing, but also opportunities for block train and/or truck transport. Due to the large number of companies from a wide range of sectors located here, there are also opportunities for co-operation between companies on a horizontal level.
In addition to cargo shipping on the Danube, passenger shipping, known as ‘white shipping’, has also developed very positively in recent years. There are already numerous examples of upstream and downstream shipping related services that have consciously sought proximity to the waterway in the past.
The aim of this project is to work with various stakeholders to visualise the opportunities and advantages that arise from direct access to the waterway. To this end, stakeholder workshops are being organised in coordination with numerous partners to bring together business representatives and experts from shipping and ports in a cross-industry and targeted manner. The aim is to set the course now for efficient and resource-saving transport of a wide range of goods on the Danube, but also to bring industry-related services closer to the water.