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Trump cards of inland navigationDe binnenvaart is de vervoersmodaliteit van de toekomst. Dat is een evidente conclusie bij het kijken naar de troeven van de waterweg.
Vast network of inland waterways
In Flanders waterways are managed and operated by two waterway management authorities, which are in fact agencies that were established by the Flemish government. For viewing a map of the Flemish waterways, according to the resort of waterway management, click here. Waterways are subdivided in five classes, according to the allowed tonnage. For a map of Flemish waterways according to this so-called CETMEF-classification, click here. The network of Flemish waterways is directly connected to the network of five other ‘inland navigation countries’: the Netherlands, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Austria. The Rhine and the Dabube, as well as their side-rivers, are the backbone of the European waterway network. . Accessibility
All major clusters of industry and al important concentrations of population in Europe can be reached via Flemish waterways. A part of this European network is not directly connected to the rest of the European inland navigation waters. However, when combining inland navigation with shortsea shipping, both the Po-valley in Italy, the lakes district in Sweden or Finland, the British estuaries and canals, or the great rivers on the Iberian peninsula become within reach of inland navigation. . Environmentally friendly
Inexpensive
Versatile
Revaluing valleys and patrimonyCreating, adapting and maintaining waterways give shape to the landscape. These activities are part of structural policies for town and country planning. In some places, the creation of waterways or the course of a river have significantly improved living conditions. Canals have drained wetland. From an aesthetic point of view, waterways are also a surplus value for the landscape: towns and villages along a waterway enjoy a pleasant atmosphere of their own, and valuable arable land is recovered. Protection against floodingThe design and execution of water-related infrastructure works is often a crucial and critical factor to protect against flooding. The fight against flooding is of vital importance for the riparian population. This factor is always taken into account, when works on waterways are planned or when adaptations are being executed. Managing water levelsAdaptations at locks and weirs secure sufficient depth for guaranteeing commercial traffic in all circumstances. Fauna and flora are also taken into account, when these kind of works are executed. Dams create huge water reservoirs. They are exceptionally important for local population to meet their water needs. Water supply for cities and industryWaterways are truly reservoirs, from which water can be pumped to fill water reservoirs and basins. Production of hydro-electricityBesides locks and weirs that are used for navigation, a variety of power plants can be built on big and smaller waterways. It is a very cheap and environmentally friendly way of producing electricity.
Speed and on-time
Safety
Less external costsExternal or social costs can be caused by accidents, noise, pollution, climate change, infrastructure, and traffic jams. Inland navigation by far enjoys the best score, in a EU-comparison of the average external costs. External costs for road transport have been calculated at € 24,12 per 1000 ton-kilometres. For transport by railway, external costs are € 12,35 and for inland navigation they are estimated at a maximum of € 5.
High tech
Innovation and increase of scale
The skipper: a professionalSkill, training and refresher courses guarantee the high standards of inland navigation. Skippers and crew are fully informed about the regulations that deal with dangerous goods, or to sail on very busy waterways such as the Rhine. At technical schools, targeted actions are undertaken to motivate increasing numbers of youngsters for a career and a profession in inland navigation. As such the inflow in the profession and the future of the business is secured.
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Navigable waterways in Flanders extend for 1375 kilometres, of which 1076 km are used for professional navigation. These figures correspond to one of the densest river and canal networks in the whole world. By contrast to the road and railroad network, inland waterways still enjoy a considerable reserve capacity. Inland navigation is able to contribute to the improvement of our overall mobility, by picking up part of the traffic increase that is forecasted on our roads.
Flemish inland waterways are located at the crossing of the major European trade routes, at the centre of the north-south link and at the beginning of the west-east axis. In addition, 80 percent of all Flemish companies are located at less than 10 km from a navigable waterway. The accessibility of the 30.000 km spanning Flemish and European waterways network, is even more enhanced by the construction of quay-walls, which are truly an interface between road and waterway.
A 1350 tonnes barge is consuming four to seven times less fuel per ton-kilometre than a road truck. With only 5 litres of fuel, an inland barge can transport one tonne of cargo over a full 500 km. With the same amount of fuel, a train would come to a halt after 333 km, a truck after barely 100 km, and an airplane would crash after only 6,6 km of flight.
Since inland navigation infrastructure is intensively used, this mode of transport enjoys a much lower cost than railway or road transport. The intensive use of infrastructure results in a much lower cost than in the case of other modes of goods transport. Per kilometre of infrastructure, some 3,5 million tonnes of cargo are transported on a waterway. For railways, the corresponding figure is 2,5 million tonnes, and for the road system it is barely 1,5 million tonnes. A 1200 tonnes barge can take as much cargo as 40 railway wagons or 60 trucks. A 1500 tonnes barge can take 90 TEU (= Twenty Feet Equivalent Unit) of containers at a time. The same volume would require 70 road trucks.
A big variety of people can use inland waterways. Infrastructure allows for a versatile use, meaning that costs can be shared by a variety of users. Besides the primary use as a mode of transport, inland waterways are instrumental in recreation and tourism (see 
Inland navigation is sometimes perceived as a “slow” mode of transport. However, when transported volumes are taken into account, a completely different picture comes to mind. In less than 24 hours, inland navigation can transport more than 50.000 tonnes from Antwerp to Liège. No other mode of transport even comes close to this speed. In fact, it is not speed itself but reliability and expected time of arrival that matter for most companies. Nowadays, a shipping agent can impossibly predict the time of arrival of goods that are transported on a road truck. 
Although an ever-increasing volume of dangerous goods is transported, inland navigation remains by far the safest mode of transport. One of the reasons is that passenger traffic on inland waterways is almost completely separated from transport of goods. Inland navigation barges are specialized vessels, complying with very strict regulations. In addition, skippers are well trained and have attended refresher courses in the field of transport of specific cargo. 
If you ever visited the bridge of a modern inland barge, you will have noticed how big a role information- and communication technology is playing in today’s inland navigation. Every little gadget is available: mobile phones, wireless internet access on the water, computer screens for navigation and communication, electronic navigation charts. Recent surveys suggest that knowledge and the use of telematics among skippers has well improved. In some way, the skippers on an inland barge are more familiar with modern informatics systems than their colleagues in road haulage. On the water, many services are available in an electronic way, via RIS or River Information Services. These are services that are provided by various European authorities, both to users of the waterway and, in a short future, to logistic service providers on the wall just as well. These services include a.o. notices to skippers, electronic navigation charts, electronic messaging and noticing of journey and goods, tracking & tracing. 
Inland navigation is investing and innovating. New types of vessels are developed for transporting new types of cargo. Young entrepreneurs again build inland barges and they invest quite considerable amounts of capital in it – an unmistakable sign of belief and confidence in the future. Older vessels are modernized at the same time. Engines are being retrofit and upgraded, or they are being replaced by environmentally friendlier and more economic ones. New kinds of sulphur-poor fuels are being developed. It is a long-term trend that the number of inland barges has decreased, but deadweight capacity has increased. In barely one decade, both dry cargo barges and tankers perform 20 percent better.