Over the past three months, nine students from the Master's program "Maritime Management" at Jade University Elsfleth have been intensively exploring innovative possibilities for inland waterway transport in Germany. On June 12th, they presented their two developed business cases at Bremenports. The students developed these concepts within the module "Maritime Project," focusing on the potential of inland waterway transport as an environmentally friendly and economically viable means of transportation. The case studies developed for the module are based on the InnoWaTr project, an EU-funded Interreg project aimed at promoting inland waterway transport.
One group focused on long-distance transport and presented a fictional business case for an inland waterway shuttle connecting German seaports with the southern inland waterway system. The second group developed a business idea for supplying beverages to inner-city restaurants in Bremen via existing waterways. This involved close collaboration with the Bremen beverage wholesaler H. Beckröge, represented by Mr. Jan Richter.
Both business scenarios were presented with great enthusiasm at Sail City in Bremerhaven and were extensively discussed afterwards. Dr. Lars Stemmler from Bremenports and Olaf Danckwerts from InnoWaTr project partner HHX.blue GmbH provided various suggestions and constructive feedback.
Throughout the summer semester, the students were in continuous contact with the Bremenports department for "International Projects," a partner in the EU project InnoWaTr (Innovative Waterway Transportation), which focuses on shifting more goods to inland waterways. Currently, 25 project partners from business and science are working together across borders. This modal shift aims to be promoted through a new form of cooperation in so-called "Freight Flow Coalitions," involving a variety of stakeholders along the transport chain.
"The exchange with the involved experts was particularly valuable for the students of both project groups," said the supervising professor, Prof. Dr. Falk von Seck. "It was an excellent opportunity to approach the topics of sustainability and innovation in transportation with creative solutions."
