Bremenports, together with the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics, has recently conducted a large-scale online survey to increase satisfaction of inland barge operators, improve planning on-shore, and to find out how digitalisation in particular can make the stay at Bremen’s ports smoother and more pleasant.

Overall, the port of Bremen performed very well in the survey, however, it became clear that there is a potential for further digitalisation.

The Europe-wide survey clearly showed that Bremen’s major strengths include nautical conditions, short waiting times, good availability of berths, efficient billing process, and the general availability of reliable information. Respondents noticed a possibility for improvement mostly for the first-time access to on-shore side electricity.

It also became evident that digital services, such as an app or an online portal, could make inland navigation much more efficient and therefore, more pleasant for the end-users. Participants of the survey were especially interested in online registrations of port stays and corresponding access to on-shore power facilities, having an online overview of their port stays, booking options for berths and locks, and information about bridge clearance heights plus further services in the port.

Bremenports Managing Director, Robert Howe said: “The potential of inland shipping is far from being sufficiently exploited in hinterland traffic. Therefore, it is crucial to further improve standards in Bremen and thus to improve the competitiveness of this environmentally friendly mode of transport.”

The survey took place as part of the EU-funded research project “IW-NET”. In this project, bremenports and its partners are investigating how digital services (web applications or mobile apps) can enable more sustainable and competitive inland navigation and further promote Bremen as a major port player. The prototypes of an inland navigation app and compatible on-shore power systems are currently being built and programmed. By taking advantage of digitalisation, overall port operations further be optimised in a holistic manner and build a foundation for a smart port in the long run.

Source (incl. photo): bremenports website – click HERE to access original version in German