Pro Danube - News

: 25 March 2020

Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) on IWT

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has thrown the whole transportation system into a never before seen level of uncertainty.

Representing a network of more than 150 businesses, Pro Danube International is closely following the measures introduced by the different Danube-riparian countries announced in national notice(s) to skippers. In order to keep track of the measures and also to prepare for the next steps, we kindly ask our members to inform us on additional measures and changes based on their daily experiences and/or information received from authorities.

We kindly ask you to do this via the PDI Administrative Barrier Reporting Tool (available in all languages of the Danube Region) and/or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We will consolidate the inputs and update our community on a regular basis.

The current status of national measures and actions adopted so far by national authorities can be seen below.

Germany	Measures
River Cruise	All activities practically stopped.
Cargo transportation	No restriction to foreign fleets.
Port operations	Working normally.
Austria	Measures
River Cruise	All activities practically stopped.
Cargo transportation	No restriction to foreign fleets.
Port operations	Working normally.
Slovakia	Measures
River Cruise	All activities practically stopped.
Cargo transportation	No restrictions to foreign fleets; Foreign crew members are not allowed to go on shore.
Port operations	Working normally.
Hungary	Measures
River Cruise	All activities practically stopped.
Cargo transportation	No restrictions to foreign fleets; Foreign crew members are not allowed to go on shore.
Port operations	Working normally.
Croatia	Measures
River Cruise	All activities practically stopped.
Cargo transportation	Restrictions to foreign fleets; Foreign crew members are not allowed to go on shore; Inbound & Outbound revision to be done in either Bezdan or Pancevo;
Port operations	Working normally.
Serbia	Measures
River Cruise	All activities practically stopped.
Cargo transportation	Restrictions to foreign fleets; Foreign crew members are not allowed to go on shore; Inbound & Outbound revision to be done in either Bezdan, Pancevo or Veliko Gradiste; Transiting Serbia is limited to certain sailing hours up- and downstream;
Port operations	Working normally.
Romania	Measures
River Cruise	All activities practically stopped.
Cargo transportation	Restrictions to foreign fleets; Foreign crew members are not allowed to go on shore in Calafat, Giurgiu and Moldova Noua; Revisions not possiblee to be done in Orsova, Severin, Bechet, Magurele, Zimnicea; Also, it is forbidden to access the maritime and fluvio-maritime vessels in the ports located on the maritime Danube, until the 14-day quarantine period from the last port of call located in a red / yellow area, in the next two parking areas in anchor: a) the port of Sulina port, for vessels coming from the Black Sea; b) The Danube, naval mile 44, for ships coming from the Bâstroe canal.
Port operations	Working normally.
Bulgaria	Measures
River Cruise	All activities practically stopped.
Cargo transportation	No restrictions to foreign fleets; Foreign crew members are not allowed to go on shore.
Port operations	Working normally.
Moldova	Measures
River Cruise	All activities practically stopped.
Cargo transportation	No restrictions to foreign fleets; Foreign crew members are not allowed to go on shore.
Port operations	Working normally.
Ukraine	Measures
River Cruise	All activities practically stopped.
Cargo transportation	No restrictions to foreign fleets; Foreign crew members are not allowed to go on shore.
Port operations	Working normally.

: 24 January 2020

GRENDEL: second public consultation on fleet modernization successfully organised in Budapest on 22 January 2020

Attended by experts of the European Commission (DG MOVE and DG COMP), the Danube Commission as well as national public and private entities, the core objective of the second public consultation organised in the framework of the GRENDEL project was to discuss and analyse the ongoing drafting process of the Model State Aid Scheme. Initiated by Pro Danube International, the ambitious plan to provide a widely harmonised State Aid Scheme for Danube fleet modernisation across borders has to take several legal aspects into consideration in order not to interfere with European legislation.

The current status of the draft proposal was thoroughly evaluated by the attendees. As a result, valuable input was provided to further develop and fine-tune the text contentwise. European and national experts furthermore discussed scenarios for the concrete implementation process of this innovative financing instrument and the possibility to support the scheme through the Cohesion Fund. Since the lower parts of the Danube are severely affected by low investment capacities of vessel operators, providing tailored funding incentives for fleet modernisation through specific Operational Programmes could be regarded as a fitting solution.

: 15 December 2019

Pro Danube’s success stories presented at the EUSDR PA 1a Steering Group Meeting

The key achievements of DAPhNE and expected results of GRENDEL were presented by PDI’s General Secretary, Mr. Róbert Rafael, in the framework of the EUSDR PA 1a 17th Steering Group Meeting organised earlier this month in Brussels.

Based on the successful implementation of the policy initiative “Green Deal for Danube River Transport” developed by Pro Danube International, the DANTE and DAPhNE projects produced tangible results that are widely recognized on the European level. Meanwhile, the expectations set for GRENDEL´s ambitious plan to propose a harmonized State Aid Scheme on the transnational level in proactively supporting the challenging modernisation process of the Danube fleet are extremely high. The main conclusion was that even though Pro Danube`s initiatives managed to have a positive impact on the overall development of waterborne transport in the Danube Region, there is still a long way to go until IWT is exploited at its full economic and environmental potential.

: 12 December 2019

STEERER project: an important step ahead towards zero-emission waterborne transport

STEERER (Structuring Towards Zero Emission Waterborne Transport) will coordinate the establishment and communication of a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda and an Implementation Plan towards zero-emission waterborne transport, in cooperation with all key stakeholders needed to facilitate the transformation to clean waterborne transport. In the definition of STEERER, as well as cutting green house gas emissions, all harmful environmental emissions, water pollution and noise emissions have to be eliminated. STEERER’s mission is to bring the various initiatives and sectors’ stakeholders together to join forces for a combined effort with the maximum impact for the climate, people’s health and Europe’s economy. STEERER is coordinated by the Waterborne Technology Platform, counting with participation of a total of seven partners from six EU countries.

STEERER has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 875285. The consortium will function as a Secretariat, where the broader expertise is involved in the Scientific Committee and the Green Shipping Expert Group to be established by the project. STEERER is funded by the European Commission research and innovation programme Horizon 2020, with an investment of 1,5 million euro over the course of 30 months, starting in December 2019.

For detailed information, please refer to attached press release here.