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Dedicated to the resilience of the Rhine corridor

After four years, the European research project NOVIMOVE finished with a range of different solutions for improving inland waterway transportation and intermodal logistics on the Rhine-Alpine corridor between Basel and the seaports of Rotterdam and Antwerp.

With the conclusion of the NOVIMOVE research project (funded as part of Horizon 2020, the EU funding program for research and innovation), DST and its research partners presented various solutions for improving inland waterway transportation and intermodal logistics on the Rhine-Alpine corridor between Basel and the seaports of Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium).

The consortium of the four-year EU research project NOVIMOVE gathered in the seaport of Rotterdam (Netherlands) at the end of the project. (Photo: TU Delft)

On 28 May 2024, the consortium of the research project funded by the European funding program Horizon 2020 met on the occasion of its internal project conclusion in Rotterdam and visited FutureLand Maasvlakte, the visitor center of the port of Rotterdam, on land and on water (as part of a port cruise). In addition, various solutions from the project were presented to an interested specialist audience at the Maritime Industry trade fair in Gorinchem (Netherlands) in the form of lectures, presentations, and demonstrators. These included the retractable side boxes for inland vessels developed by DST for the passage of extreme shallow water points, the Smart River Navigation System from TNO, Seafar and other partners, the Rhine-Alpine Corridor simulation model implemented by Systems Navigator for the planning and investigation of inland waterway transportation on the corridor, the NOVIMOVE serious game from the University of Antwerp, and the results of the simulation-based performance investigation of the modular mobile terminals in the seaports of Antwerp and Rotterdam compiled by DST.

Benjamin Friedhoff (left) and Sophie Martens (right) present an exhibit of an inland vessel retrofitted with retractable side bodies at the Maritime Industry trade fair in Gorinchem, Netherlands. (Photo: Aristoi)

Benjamin Friedhoff presented the innovative vessel concepts, which the DST was in charge of investigating, for overcoming extreme-low-water phases on the Rhine in his talk.. (Photo: DST)

On behalf of the DST, Benjamin Friedhoff and Sophie Martens presented the various solutions from the field of innovative vessel concepts for overcoming extremely low water situations on the Rhine. Of the numerous concepts that were examined during the project, three concepts emerged as favorites: retractable side boxes, pipe-based buoyancy bodies, and inflatable buoyancy bodies.

In conversation with Erwin van der Linden (left), Cyril Alias (right) presented the simulation results of the modular mobile terminals in Rotterdam and recommended a more in-depth investigation. (Photo: DST)

In a video produced as part of the project, Jonas zum Felde comments on the results of the logistics simulation study on the modular mobile terminals in the seaport of Antwerp. (Photo: DST)

Jonas zum Felde and Cyril Alias also presented the results of their simulation-based investigations into the integration possibilities of the modular mobile terminal in Rotterdam and Antwerp for the purpose of providing additional transshipment capacity. Representatives of the two port authorities concerned were present when the results of the various service and operational concepts were presented.

The event in Gorinchem marks the conclusion of the four-year project with a total of 21 partners. Some of the knowledge gained will be transferred to further developments closer to the market and to new research projects for the purpose of further development and investigation.

The presentation of the results of the NOVIMOVE project met with keen interest from visitors. (Photo: Aristoi)

Team DST at the Maritime Industry trade fair in Gorinchem. (Photo: Aristoi)

Two weeks earlier, Cyril Alias and Jonas zum Felde presented their results, findings, and conclusions on the modular mobile terminals in the iconic Port House building of the port authority of Antwerp. As part of the underlying logistics simulation study, DST examined different service and operational concepts for the terminals and compared the results with each other in order to provide the Port of Antwerp with information and recommendations for further action.

Sophie Martens also represented the DST in Basel, Switzerland, at the NOVIMOVE Stakeholder Meeting in the Upper Rhine region, where the most important research results were presented to regional stakeholders in a hybrid event organized by the Port of Switzerland. Among other things, the solutions developed by the DST to maintain operability in extremely low water phases were the focus of public interest.

Cyril Alias und Jonas zum Felde bei der Endpräsentation der Simulationsergebnisse zu den schwimmenden Umschlagterminals in Antwerpen. (Source: Aristoi)