Pathways for a sustainable future inland water transport: A case study for the European inland navigation sector

Sustainable transport is an important way of mitigating climate change. Inland navigation still is a sustainable mode of transport which is of great importance for the whole European transport market. However, due to its market structure, it risks losing the battle for volume and market share with the other transportation modes. Opting for inductive research approach, this paper first of all collects data. Next, the paper observes the market of the European inland navigation sector and looks for patterns in order to develop a set of structural pathways. From the data collection, it turns out that the sector is facing challenges, mainly due to overcapacity, uncontrolled costs and volatile freight prices. The classical reaction pattern to overcome these shortcomings (capacity control, cost control, playing with ‘time’ and ‘reliability’ factors) does no longer suffice. By analyzing the patterns, the researchers were able to formulate five pathways: A first path is that of technological/operational innovation or retrofitting for ecological and social sustainability. A second path is that of industrial economics: inland navigation is marked by a lot of fragmentation. A solution might be pooling up, whereby the risk of anti-competitive impacts seems very low. A third path is that of financing: the classical financing through banks clearly provides no incentive for reducing overcapacity, even not through bankruptcies. Actual lay-up of vessels seems a must. For longer-run financing, bonds, credit unions or even crowd-funding can be solutions. A fourth path builds on the second one, with more co-operation needed within the wider sector, also with vertically-related partners: charterers, terminal operators, etc. Fifth and finally, a dynamic regulation is needed, following modern rules, with an eye on the longer-term viability of the sector.