Inland navigation in Hesse

Inland shipping can use a large number of waterways in Hesse. The most important waterways that flow through Hesse include the Rhine, the Main and the Weser. The Lahn is particularly popular with water tourists. Hesse's waterways lead to the most important European seaports. Most goods for worldwide transport are shipped from there. Hesse's transhipment points and harbours are therefore used by international shipping traffic.

Alongside road and rail, inland waterway transport is the third most important mode of transport in Germany. Inland waterway vessels are a very safe and reliable means of transport due to their durability, environmental friendliness and sustainability, as well as being quiet and economical. By comparison, a lorry consumes five times as much primary energy, meaning that a modern inland waterway vessel can replace around 100 to 200 lorries. Inland waterway vessels also allow cost-effective and economical transport in combined transport and are an efficient alternative to land-based transport.

In contrast to motorways and railways, we are not yet operating at the limits of our capacity on the waterways. In the seaports, transhipment by inland vessel can still be optimised, but a significant increase in transport traffic on inland waterways is still possible. The potential lies in traditional segments (bulk goods, mineral oils, chemical products, etc.) and modern ones (general cargo in versatile containers).

Hessian ports such as Frankfurt/Main or Gernsheim play an important role as regional logistics centres in combined transport. In 2014, goods totalling 10.62 million tonnes were handled on Hessian waterways.

The State of Hesse, together with state institutions, associations, research organisations and companies in transport policy and logistics, would like to work towards ensuring that

• the port locations are secured as sustainable freight transport hubs,
• the modes of transport ship/rail/truck are better utilised and networked according to their specific advantages with efficient loading points, and
• the waterways are expanded in line with standards and the known bottlenecks are quickly eliminated.

Finally, port operators or companies with good prospects should be able to promote the development and expansion of multimodal logistics chains.