The European perspective
For years the roads have been becoming increasingly congested. As this threatens the smooth transport of goods within the growing European economy, it is obvious that other transport modes have to be sought, in particular the transport of goods using water. In 1992 the Flemish government has established Promotion Inland Navigation Flanders with the intention to encourage a modal shift from the road to the inland waterways.
Since, by definition, the transport of goods is often a cross-border activity and, therefore, the problem has to be tackled in a “European” fashion, a number of round-table conferences were organised in the nineties to promote the maritime transport along the European coastal waters as an alternative to road congestion. Such “coastal shipping” had been in existence for a long time, but geographically it had been restricted to the West-European coast and to ships with a relatively limited capacity.
Specialties
Promotion shortsea
