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Sustainable inland shipping: WISTAR project connects city and country!
On September 30th, the University of Duisburg-Essen will present the results of a project on sustainable inland shipping and regional growth.
Sustainable inland shipping: WISTAR project connects city and country!
On September 25, 2025, it was announced that a significant project led by the University of Duisburg-Essen was working to improve waterway infrastructure. Called WISTAR, which stands for “Waterways for Green Inland Sustainable Transport and Rural businesses”, the project aims to better connect rural and urban areas through sustainable inland waterway transport. A presentation of the results will take place on September 30th at the Nano Energy Technology Center – NETZ in Duisburg.
The project goes beyond pure logistics and focuses on the economic potential and growth of rural regions. The focus is on emission-free, shallow-water ships. These are intended to revolutionize the transport of goods between town and country. Work is also underway to develop simple, green transshipment points that enable flexible and decentralized logistics.
Extensive collaborations
WISTAR is based on close collaboration with partners from various areas. These include agriculture, industry, science, research, local governments and associations, not only from Germany, but also from France and Belgium. This international cooperation is supported by a comprehensive analysis of the legal, organizational and technical feasibility of the concept.
Particular attention is also paid to the results in several regions. The presentations in the Lower Rhine, Ruhr area, Normandy and Wallonia are intended to provide valuable insights into sustainable inland shipping logistics.
The role of inland waterway transport
Inland shipping plays a crucial role in multimodal freight transport in Germany and Europe. Loud BMVI it has immense traffic and environmental significance. Inland waterway vessels are not only known for their high mass capacity and energy efficiency, but they also significantly reduce the load on the road infrastructure. German and European transport and climate policy therefore sets targeted incentives to promote emission-free drive systems.
From 2024, a funding program for the sustainable modernization of inland waterway vessels will be launched. This consists of three funding guidelines that support a shift in freight transport from roads to waterways. In addition, measures to retrofit emission reduction systems are supported.
Innovations in shipping
Innovative developments such as the “Mannheim I+II” from the Rhenus Group show examples of the environmentally friendly transformation of inland shipping. These ships are equipped with scalable lithium-ion batteries, modern Stage VI engines and hydrogen fuel cells. They meet the highest safety and environmental standards, as evidence of the industry's innovative strength.
The “Mannheim I+II” have already received the exclusive platinum label for environmentally friendly shipping and were awarded the 2024 Inland Shipping Innovation Prize. With good trim and operational readiness from a draft of just 1.20 meters, these ships can be operated reliably even in low water phases.
These developments, coupled with initiatives such as WISTAR, underline the clear trend in the industry towards more sustainable and efficient inland shipping that is both economically and ecologically sustainable.