EMMA -Enhancing freight Mobility and logistics in the BSR by strengthening inland waterway and river sea transport and proMoting new internAtional shipping services
The Baltic Sea Region (BSR) with its growing transport volumes especially between East and West and its insufficient road and rail infrastructure needs innovative and pragmatic solutions to cope with future requirements on transport facilities. Rivers, canals and also the Baltic Sea have huge capacity reserves, whereas road and rail infrastructure already is in some parts of the Baltic Sea Region overloaded.
However, Inland Waterway and River-Sea Shipping (IWT) still do not play the adequate role in the transport system to its potential. All in all ship transportation has many advantages compared to alternative modes like road and rail. In particular, it is cost efficient and environmentally friendly compared to the other modes. However, too often, inland shipping is not even considered as transport alternative by many forwarders and stakeholders in the transport sector.
The question that needs to be answered is how the modal share of IWT can be increased in the Baltic Sea Region countries. The implementation of pilot activities, their promotion for wider acceptance and information that addresses the specific target groups is required! This is why Port of Hamburg Marketing jointly developed the EMMA project with 20 partners from the 5 BSR countries.