The ShortSeaShipping Inland Waterway Promotion Center (spc) Celebrates 20 Years

The Association for the Promotion of Short Sea Shipping e. V. looks back on its 20-year anniversary in May 2021. The association operates the ShortSeaShipping Inland Waterway Promotion Center (spc), a PPP project involving the federal government, states, companies, and institutions. The operation of the spc aims to promote short sea and inland shipping within multimodal transport chains. The goal is to contribute to increasing the share of water and rail transport in the transport chain.

(Bonn) After short sea shipping gained high priority at the EU level in the 1990s, the first Shortsea Promotion Centers were established, such as in the Netherlands. This wave spread to Germany, and as a result, the German spc was founded at the initiative of the Federal Ministry of Transport and the coastal states. Initially focused on short sea shipping, the scope expanded a few years later to include inland waterways, leading to the name change to Shortsea Shipping Inland Waterway Promotion Center. Currently, around 18 Shortsea Promotion Centers are active in Europe.

Multimodal Thinking at the Forefront of EU Transport Policy

Today, multimodal thinking is at the forefront of EU transport policy. As early as 2008, the German spc responded to the increasing importance of multimodal transport chains, which was reflected in an addition to the logo slogan with “Multimodal Transport Solutions.” For example, the Portuguese spc has been renamed to “Intermodal Promotion Center,” and the Croatian one to “Intermodal Transport Cluster.” “The fact that we focused more on multimodal development as early as 2008 shows that the spc is not only keeping up with the times but is ahead of it,” reflects spc Chairman Wolfgang Nowak on the development of the spc.

20 Years of ShortSeaShipping Inland Waterway Promotion Center

“The spc has established itself as a solid entity and a strong network, despite being a smaller project,” summarizes Nowak. “The nearly 60 members from freight forwarding and logistics, shippers, short sea and inland shipping companies, rail transport companies, ports, terminals, IT, chambers, and associations now reflect the entire transport chain. On the public side, alongside the federal government, there are now 11 federal states,” Nowak continues.

Securing Skilled Workers as a Central Topic

The spc pursues four focal points in its daily work, which have been continuously developed over the years. It is more than just a marketing and networking organization. In addition to classic marketing and advisory support for relocation projects, activities in the areas of education and career choice have been taken into account. “Securing skilled workers is one of the central topics of our time. Because without sufficient and well-qualified personnel, we shouldn’t even talk about relocation. We are in direct competition with many other industries,” says Deputy Chairman Heiko Loroff.

A significant reason for increased freight transport by ship and rail is the high efficiency due to the transported volumes and the associated high environmental friendliness. “We expect that with the rapidly increasing demands for climate protection, not only will the importance grow, but ultimately there will also be a stronger utilization of the waterway and rail systems. We want to continue to support this and are confident that the spc has made and will continue to make a contribution in its capacity,” says Nowak.

Unfortunately, the effects of the Corona pandemic do not allow for celebrations. It is planned to make up for this at the ShortSeaShipping Days in March 2022.

Photo: © Loginfo24 / Image Caption: MS Grindelwald passes Düsseldorf

Signet: © spc