A business location on the waterway offers significant strategic advantages through the use of the river as an environmentally friendly transport route as well as through its strong connection to the rail network and the resulting logistical synergies. Focusing on the Lower Austrian Danube, a workshop held on 13 November at the viadonau Service Center Wachau (Krems) together with economic experts once again highlighted the great potential of increased waterway use.
Photo: © viadonau
While passenger navigation on the Danube continues to grow in popularity, numerous companies located near the waterway or in the ports are also using inland vessels strategically as a mode of transport. Increasing demands regarding the Danube strengthen its economic potential and create new opportunities. But how could these opportunities be used even more precisely, efficiently, and successfully?
To examine this growing economic potential of the waterway from a current perspective, the specialist audience at the viadonau workshop in Krems featured various representatives from across the sector: Among the participants were shippers who are already using the Danube, passenger and freight shipping companies, as well as port and infrastructure operators.
CEO Hans-Peter Hasenbichler and Bettina Matzner, viadonau expert for Danube logistics, opened the afternoon event with an introduction to the company and the sector, including explanations on traditional products for cargo transport by ship, advantages of waterway access, and recent developments.
Andreas Kirisits of ecoplus, Lower Austria’s Business Agency, explained the framework conditions of business parks and the services offered by the agency’s investor service. He also presented water-related project inquiries from recent years, showing that there are numerous positive examples of settlements along the Danube in Lower Austria – as well as several new projects currently in the planning stage. Kirisits concluded that key arguments for the integration of the waterway are synergies with already established businesses as well as the existing infrastructure.
viadonau’s real estate experts Harald Beutl, Markus Hofbauer and Anna Stippel illustrated property development and management through concrete examples, contributing to a holistic understanding of a complex and economically significant topic for new business settlements along the Danube.
After a coffee break used for refreshments and networking, Martin Schoder opened the second half of the event with a presentation on Garant Tiernahrung GmbH, which already uses access to the waterway for the procurement of resources at its locations in Pöchlarn and Aschach on the Danube.
In his presentation on the passenger shipping company Lüftner Cruises, Radu Comanici discussed operational challenges, which subsequently led to a lively discussion with the participants. Particularly noteworthy was his positive feedback on the pilot trial “Flexible Infrastructure” within the FAIRway Danube II project. Comanici also reported on the complete reconstruction of a passenger vessel with a low-water-optimized draft of 1.3 meters.
Gerhard Gussmagg from Rhenus Donauhafen Krems concluded the event with a presentation on the services offered at the Port of Krems and the available settlement area of 25,000 m². In addition to a highly developed port infrastructure that must meet tomorrow’s logistical challenges, Gussmagg emphasized the importance of the steadily growing market of bulk goods and the promising wind energy sector.
