Already today chemical and petrochemical products like fertilizers, petroleum products and other chemical products sum up to approximately one quarter of the total volume transported on the Danube.
Beyond the existing volumes these commodity groups offer a significant potential for additional inland navigation transport. Several urban agglomerations are located along the Danube including also fuel depots and refineries. Several companies that produce or trade chemical products are operating industry settlements in or near specialised oil ports. In some cases, like in Vienna and Linz, these companies are running their own transhipment sites. Additionally, a big oil depot is operated in Korneuburg, which is mostly supplied via inland vessels. In Pischelsdorf, near Tulln, a small cluster for the chemical industry is located in the vicinity of the Danube waterway.
This initiative should inform potential users of the Danube waterway about the possibilities of this mode of transport and provide them a neutral decision-making basis for transport planning. In the framework of expert workshops an information and knowledge exchange on cargo-specific transport solutions wil be initiated what aims at introducing the use of environmentally-friendly inland vessels and concrete transport solutions.
