• strengthening its position in traditional areas of application, i.e., the transport of liquid and dry bulk cargo
• searching for market niches such as the transport of passenger cars, waste, and recyclable goods
• serving new, dynamically developing sectors such as the transport of consumer goods and food
• strengthening its position in handling containerized cargo.
Premises for the development of containerization in inland shipping
In connection with the expected further dynamic development of containerization in new EU member states, the future position of inland shipping is largely linked to the inclusion of this branch in handling container traffic in seaports. This need stems largely from its natural predisposition to handle this type of transport. The main premises for the development of containerization in inland shipping include:
• the existence of significant waterway capacity reserves
• the lack of congestion on inland waterways
• the high load capacity of river vessels
• competitive transport time via waterways
• low transport costs
• relatively environmentally friendly transport.
Since 1990, over 15 years, container transshipments at Europe’s largest container port in Rotterdam have almost doubled; in Hamburg, they have increased 3.5-fold; in Antwerp, 4-fold; and in Bremen and Bremerhaven, almost 3-fold (Figure 1). The rapid development of container traffic in seaports and the increase in the size of cellular container ships have contributed to significant changes in the position of inland water transport in the hinterland of seaports. None of the hinterland transport modes were able to meet the new challenges, primarily due to limited possibilities for infrastructure expansion; the exception is inland water transport, whose routes have large capacity reserves. Furthermore, the appearance in ports of ships carrying 6,000 TEU or more at a time has increased the attractiveness of inland water transport, which offers the transport of several hundred containers at once. The ability to transport an entire batch of cargo using a dozen or so pushed convoys instead of several thousand trucks means additional benefits not only in terms of costs but also in transshipment time, not to mention savings on external costs.
Container transport in inland shipping in Western European countries
The presented premises have resulted in inland shipping occupying a significant position in handling container traffic in seaports in Western European countries. Estimates show that over 1 million TEU per year, which is about 60% of total container transport on the Rhine (Figure 2), is hinterland service for the ports of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Antwerp. In the early 1990s, the share of inland shipping in the container traffic of these ports was 15%, and according to 1995 forecasts, it was to reach 30% in 2000 and 40% in 2010. These forecasts were exceeded much earlier, and currently, for example, the share of shipping in the container traffic of the port of Rotterdam is about 60%.