Modelling sailing time and cost for inland waterway transport

Abstract

Transport time and cost are decisive factors for shippers when they choose a mode for their transport. For inland waterway transport in particular, these aspects are more uncertain and less easy to generalize than for road and rail. This is due to the highly variable waterway conditions on free-flowing rivers and due to the large variety of inland ships. Today´s transport models, however, do not take these factors into account. This paper shows that dynamic fairway conditions, the ship’s amount of propulsion power, and the captain’s behaviour have a substantial impact on the attainable speed and fuel consumption of inland ships. This in turn has a significant impact on attainable sailing schedules and transportation cost, as we demonstrate through a case study for ships sailing on the Rhine-Danube corridor. We, therefore, conclude that there is a clear potential to improve the representation of inland waterway transport in freight models by modelling the effects of actual ship characteristics and waterway conditions at the micro-level.

Validation of a Key Performance Indicator Framework Demonstrating Economic Benefits Gained through Resolving Nautical Bottlenecks on Selected Sections of the Danube

“…Maintaining an adequate fairway depth also translates to reduced fuel costs, as inland vessels require less engine power to attain a given speed when the fairway depth meets the required standards [22]. The decrease in fuel costs directly contributes to an overall reduction in transportation expenses [21].…”

“…In addition, captains generally navigate more cautiously as less space is available (cf. [8,22]). Some experts state that these effects do exist but are so marginal that they are hardly significant in practice (cf.…”

Modal shift to inland waterway transport

“…For the extended use of IWT in particular, barriers to service quality include insufficient reliability (Kotowska et al, 2019a) and long transport times (Konings, 2009;Meers et al, 2017;Platz, 2009;Vierth et al, 2012), particularly due to transhipment (Konings, 2009). In IWT, loading capacities and transport times vary according to waterway conditions (Dorsser et al, 2020), especially on free-flowing rivers (Hekkenberg et al, 2017). Caris et al (2014) have added that IWT also requires lock and quay coordination to avoid delays.…”

“…in Sweden (Garberg, 2016), even if examples exist of a lower price compared to road (Platz, 2009). Meanwhile, physical barriers such as water levels (Christodoulou et al, 2020;Dorsser et al, 2020;Hekkenberg et al, 2017;Vierth et al, 2012) and bridge clearances (Christodoulou et al, 2020;Konings, 2009) hinder shipping companies from using large vessels that would lower costs and support competitive pricing. In certain geographical areas, wave height (Vantorre et al, 2012) and ice conditions require vessels with sturdier designs, which raises costs even more (Olsson and Ronold, 2017).…”