Pro Danube - News

: 22 June 2020

Pro Danube contributes to the development of a minimum standard for resuming river cruises in Europe under COVID-19

Pro Danube – with the involvement of its member from the white fleet – has collaborated to the IG River Cruise´s and European Barge Union´s initiative to develop a guideline for a minimum standard for resuming river cruises in Europe under COVID-19. The guideline includes the minimum standards regarding issues such as safety distances, disinfection, hygiene in all rooms of the ship (including kitchen and crew rooms) and regulates the reporting in the event of any illnesses. The clear aim of the measures is that the ship remains a safe place to stay and work for both guests and crew. The measures are strongly geared towards the hotel industry. In our opinion, this guide offers the desired flexibility for all companies in the river cruise shipping sector.

These measures have also been discussed at the last online Steering Group meeting of the EUSDR PA1a in May 2020 where Pro Danube also gave an update from the industry perspective

: 03 April 2020

Request for action to support the change of the vessel crew during the COVID-19 crisis in each of the Danube Riparian Countries

Pro Danube International acted on behalf of the shipping industry and officially contacted the Secretariat of the Danube Commission for action to support the change of the vessel crew during the COVID-19 crisis. The past weeks with the COVID-19 crisis have shown how important solidarity, transparency and widely harmonised actions are. It is also being proven every day that transport and logistics are essential elements not only to ensure the flow of cargo, but to serve the citizens daily needs in these difficult times.

In respect of harmonised solutions for transport and logistics, Pro Danube International pointed out, that the most urgent action to be taken as soon as possible, is to ensure the free circulation of the crew members for river-vessel. In line with the EU’s Green Lane, PDI urged for a solution in order to allow the change of vessel crew members in each of the Danube Riparian Countries.

The full letter with detailed proposals is available here.

: 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.