6. CARGO FLEETS

• The newbuilding rate for dry and liquid vessels showed an increase in 2023, compared to 2022. Thirty new vessels were added to the dry cargo fleet in western Europe, and 45 new vessels added to the tanker fleet.
• The average loading capacity for newly built dry cargo vessels amounted to 2,664 tonnes in 2023 which was a slight increase compared to the average of 2,499 tonnes in 2022. The average loading capacity of the new tanker vessels increased from 2,868 tonnes in 2022 to 4,022 tonnes in 2023.
• In 2023, the capacity utilisation of the fleet was lower than in 2022. This was due to a reduced transport demand and higher water levels. The strongest reduction in capacity utilisation was recorded for large dry cargo vessels.

SIZE OF FLEETS PER MACRO-REGION AND COUNTRY IN EUROPE

TABLE 1: SIZE OF FLEETS (NUMBER OF INLAND VESSELS) PER MACRO-REGION AND VESSEL TYPE IN EUROPE

	Dry cargo vessels	Liquid cargo vessels	Push & tugs	Total number of vessels
Rhine fleet	6,928	1,398	1,332	9,658
Danube fleet	2,652	204	499	3,355
Other countries *	1,561	26 #	719	2,306
Total number of vessels	11,141	1,628	2,550	15,319


* Other countries = Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, United Kingdom, Finland, Lithuania
# Comprises 9 tanker vessels in Poland, 1 in the Czech Republic and 16 in Lithuania, but an unknown number in the other countries.
Sources: 1) Rhine countries: VNF (France), CBS/Rijkswaterstaat (Netherlands), ITB (Belgium), German Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV), inland waterway register of Luxembourg, Swiss Waterway Administration 2) Danube countries: Danube Commission 3) Other countries: Eurostat [iww_eq_loadcap], [iww_eq_age], Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic, Statistics Poland, Statistics Lithuania
For push boats and tugs: Eurostat [iww_eq_age]

 
• The following figures show the number of dry and liquid cargo vessels taken together (self-propelled vessels and barges) and the number of push and tugboats per country in Europe.

 

FIGURE 1: NUMBER OF DRY AND LIQUID CARGO VESSELS PER COUNTRY IN EUROPE *


Sources: Eurostat [iww_eq_loadcap] and national sources for Rhine countries
* Most data are from 2022 and 2023.

 

FIGURE 2: NUMBER OF PUSH BOATS AND TUGBOATS PER COUNTRY IN EUROPE *


Source: Eurostat [iww_eq_age]
* Most data are from 2022.

 

EVOLUTION OF THE RHINE FLEET

DRY CARGO FLEET IN RHINE COUNTRIES


• Fleet data used for this part are entirely based on national fleet data from waterway administrations. The reason for this is that a distinction between dry and liquid cargo vessels is only available in national fleet databases and in the IVR database, but not in the Eurostat databases.
• Data used for the Dutch fleet contain the inland vessels that are registered in the Netherlands, and which were active (in the Netherlands as well as abroad) in 2023.³³ The total number of dry cargo vessels registered in Rhine countries was, according to these sources, 6,928 in 2023, compared to 7,288 in 2022 and 7,437 in 2021. As these figures show, there has been a clear downward trend, in particular in the most recent past. This downward trend is due to problems of company succession in the dry cargo market segment, but also due to the more recent export of dry cargo vessels from the Rhine to the Danube region within the Solidarity Lanes initiative.

 

FIGURE 3: NUMBER OF DRY CARGO VESSELS IN RHINE COUNTRIES IN 2023 *


Source: CCNR based on national data (see Table 1)
* Data for Germany relate to 2022.

 

FIGURES 4 AND 5: DRY CARGO FLEET IN RHINE COUNTRIES *




Source: CCNR based on national data (see Table 1)
* Data for Germany relate to 2022.

 
• The total loading capacity of the dry cargo Rhine fleet has remained rather constant since 2008 and amounted to 10.0 million tonnes in 2023. The average loading capacity per vessel was 1,447 tonnes in 2023, compared to 1,296 in 2012.
• It is often cited that the number of small vessels in the inland navigation sector is decreasing. Long-term data tend to confirm this hypothesis (see 2022 Annual Report, Chapter 6).

 

LIQUID CARGO FLEET IN RHINE COUNTRIES

• The share of the Dutch fleet within all liquid cargo vessels in Rhine countries is 52%. Switzerland and Luxembourg have relatively high numbers of tanker vessels (share of 4% and 2% respectively). The total number of tanker vessels has decreased since 2012, as the number of vessels being phased out (mostly single hull vessels) was higher than the number of new (double hull) vessels entering the market.

 

FIGURE 6: NUMBER OF LIQUID CARGO VESSELS IN RHINE COUNTRIES IN 2023 *


Source: CCNR based on national data (see Table 1)
* Data for Germany relate to 2022.

 

FIGURES 7 AND 8: LIQUID CARGO FLEET IN RHINE COUNTRIES *




Source: CCNR based on national data (see Table 1)
* Data for Germany relate to 2022.

 
• Despite a decline in the number of tanker vessels, the loading capacity of the entire tanker fleet has increased in recent years. This reflects the growing average size of newly built vessels in the tanker market. Due to this trend, the average loading capacity of a tanker vessel in Rhine countries has risen to 2,510 tonnes in 2023, compared to 1,919 tonnes in 2012.

 

EVOLUTION OF THE DANUBE FLEET

DRY CARGO FLEET IN THE DANUBE REGION

• According to the Danube Commission (DC) statistics (with clarification based on surveys of shipping companies in the DC Member States), by the end of 2017,³⁴ there were around 400 push boats, 242 tugs, 409 self-propelled dry cargo vessels, and circa 2,100 dry cargo barges in the Danube fleet (the German-flagged fleet is counted by port of registry on the Danube). More than 70% of the total transport volume is carried by pushed convoys, whose composition is set out in the table below, depending on the waterway class and shipping conditions.

 

TABLE 2: TYPE OF DRY CARGO TRANSPORT ON THE DANUBE (SHARE OF TOTAL TRANSPORT IN %)

Push boat + 7-9 pushed barges (lighters)	40-42%
Push boat + 6 lighters	20-23%
Push boat + 4 lighters	12-14%


Source: Danube Commission market observation
 
• The total Danube fleet of dry cargo vessels has diminished as from 2005. However, from the year 2014 onwards, this decreasing trend came to a halt, and the fleet size has now stabilised. The Romanian dry cargo fleet is the largest in the Danube area with a share of around 48% of all dry cargo vessels. Its size is increasing.

 

LIQUID CARGO FLEET IN THE DANUBE REGION

• According to the statistics of the Danube Commission (with clarification based on surveys of shipping companies in the DC Member States), by the end of 2017, there were 74 self-propelled tanker vessels and 128 tanker barges, with a total cargo capacity of around 0.22 million tonnes.³⁵

 

NEW VESSEL CONSTRUCTION IN RHINE COUNTRIES³⁶

• In 2023, newbuilding activity has accelerated compared to 2022, a year in which the newbuilding activity had slowed down acutely for several reasons (decline in transport of goods, cost increase in shipbuilding, uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions). Both the number of new dry cargo vessels and new liquid cargo vessels have increased significantly, with 32 new dry cargo vessels and 47 new liquid cargo vessels having been built, which is respectively 9 and 14 more than in 2022.

 

DRY CARGO

• The majority of the new dry cargo vessels entering the market in 2023 are registered in the Netherlands (23 out of 32), followed by Belgium (5 out of 32), with Germany, France, and Switzerland contributing very little to the total.

 

FIGURE 9: NEW DRY CARGO VESSELS COMING ON THE MARKET PER COUNTRY OF REGISTER (NUMBERS, 2011-2023)


Source: IVR
 
• As often, the most common loading capacity for newly built dry cargo vessels in 2023 was in the 3,000 < 4,000 tonnes range. The average loading capacity amounted to 2,664 tonnes which was a slight increase compared to the average of 2,499 tonnes in 2022.

 

TABLE 3: NEWLY BUILT DRY CARGO VESSELS ACCORDING TO LOADING CAPACITY

Loading capacity	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
0 < 1,000 t	5	4	4	17	5	1	5
1,000 < 2,000 t	6	4	7	7	0	5	6
2,000 < 3,000 t	7	8	12	8	3	8	2
3,000 < 4,000 t	16	6	13	14	11	7	16
> 4,000 t	2	3	6	1	2	0	3
Total	36	25	42	47	21	21	32


Source: IVR
Note that in 2023, for three newly built vessels, the deadweight was partly estimated due to initially missing values. Estimations were also made in the previous years.
 

TABLE 4 : NEWLY BUILT DRY CARGO VESSELS IN 2023 BY LENGTH

Length	Number of vessels
< 55 metres	5
55 to < 70 metres	2
70 to < 86 metres	5
86 to 110 metres	16
> 110 metres	4
Total	32


Sources: IVR, CCNR analysis

 

LIQUID CARGO

• According to the IVR database, 47 new tanker vessels entered the market in 2023, a significant increase compared to 2022, when only 31 were built. This number is closer to the figures of previous years, which were 46 in 2019, 56 in 2020, and 58 in 2021. As usual, most new vessels are registered in the Netherlands (31), followed by Germany (11).

 

FIGURE 10: NEW TANKER VESSELS COMING ON THE MARKET PER COUNTRY OF REGISTER (NUMBERS, 2011-2023)


Source: IVR
Note: two tanker vessels, which were excluded from tables 5 and 6 because of missing data, have nevertheless been included in this figure, explaining the difference in total number of newly built ships in 2023.
 
• The most common loading capacity of the new tanker vessels is in the category 2,000 < 3,000 tonnes, with 26 new tanker vessels in 2023. The overall average loading capacity increased from 2,868 tonnes in 2022 to 4,022 tonnes in 2023. This is solely explained by the high number of newbuilt vessels in the > 4,000 tonnes category in 2023 (15) compared to 2022 when only two such vessels were built. In general, an increasing number of vessels are built to have a loading capacity exceeding 4,000 tonnes, often by several thousand tonnes, confirming the trend towards larger vessels being built in the liquid cargo segment observed in recent years.

 

TABLE 5: NEWLY BUILT TANKER VESSELS ACCORDING TO LOADING CAPACITY

Loading capacity	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
0 < 1,000 t	1	2	1	0	0	0	0
1,000 < 2,000 t	14	13	16	10	14	4	3
2,000 < 3,000 t	14	12	16	23	19	24	26
3,000 < 4,000 t	2	4	3	9	13	1	1
> 4,000 t	5	3	10	14	12	2	15
Total	36	34	46	54	58	31	45


Sources: IVR, CCNR analysis
Note that in 2023, for six newly built vessels, the deadweight was partly estimated due to initially missing values. Estimations were also made in the previous years. Two additional tanker vessels were excluded from the analysis, as they were not put in service by the time this report was published.

 

TABLE 6: NEWLY BUILT TANKER VESSELS IN 2023 BY LENGTH

Length	Number of vessels
< 55 metres	0
55 to < 70 metres	0
70 to < 86 metres	5
86 to 110 metres	27
> 110 metres	13
Total	45


Sources: IVR, CCNR analysis
Note: two additional tanker vessels were excluded from the analysis, as they were not in service by the time this report was published.
 
• Six new push boats and tugs were built in 2023 (compared to four in 2022), of which four are registered in the Netherlands, one is registered in Germany, and one in Belgium.
• Figure 11 illustrates the new loading capacity for dry and liquid cargo vessels entering the market by year. Following a prolonged slump post-financial crisis, recent years have witnessed a resurgence in new capacity, with liquid cargo vessels experiencing a more substantial increase compared to dry cargo vessels. The years 2021 and 2022 saw a slowdown in newbuilding activity due to the uncertainty in business induced by the pandemic and the Russian full-scale invasion and war of aggression against Ukraine. However, 2023 witnessed a recovery in newbuilding activity, climbing back to pre-pandemic levels.

 

FIGURE 11: NEW CAPACITY COMING ON THE MARKET FOR DRY AND LIQUID CARGO (LOADING CAPACITY IN 1,000 TONNES)


Source: IVR
Note: two additional tanker vessels were excluded from the analysis, as they were not in service by the time this report was published. In 2023, for three newly built vessels, the deadweight was partly estimated due to initially missing values. Estimations were also made in the previous years.

 

AGE STRUCTURE OF THE RHINE CARGO FLEET

• According to the vessel database of the IVR,³⁷ around 80% of the dry cargo fleet was constructed in the 20th century, whereas this share for the tanker fleet amounts to around 40%. According to this same database, the Netherlands holds the largest number of vessels within the Rhine fleet in almost every vessel category, followed by Germany.

 

FIGURE 12: COMMISSIONING YEARS FOR THE RHINE FLEET OVER TIME (NUMBER OF INLAND VESSELS)


Sources: IVR, CCNR analysis
Note that 135 dry cargo vessels and 31 push and tug vessels have an unknown year of construction.
Furthermore, 255 additional tanker vessels, 1,876 dry cargo vessels and 496 push and tug vessels are recorded in the IVR database as being registered in countries other than Rhine countries.

 

CAPACITY MONITORING

DRY CARGO VESSELS

• The year 2023 was difficult for the dry cargo fleet. Weak economic prospects, consequently low industrial production in Germany and global trends such as energy transition, reduced transport demand for traditional commodities and containers. More locally, the nitrogen crisis in the Netherlands caused declining volumes in the construction sector and less demand for animal feed raw materials. The container market, which was for years an unprecedented growth market for the dry cargo fleet, also showed a sharp drop in volumes in 2023 across all transport markets, both domestic and international. This was partly due to global factors as all major seaports also saw declining figures. However, the decreasing volumes transported by inland navigation also indicates a possible reverse modal shift which in turn can be linked to reliability issues due to congestion in seaports and more frequent low water levels, as for instance in autumn 2018 and more recently, in summer 2022. Overall, a sharp drop in cargo volume for dry cargo vessels was observed and, despite continued high demand for vessel capacity in the Danube countries, this manifested itself in declining capacity utilisation.

 

FIGURE 13: EVOLUTION OF CAPACITY UTILISATION FOR DRY CARGO VESSELS IN WESTERN EUROPE


Source: Panteia
 
• From the viewpoint of capacity utilisation, it could be seen as a ‘blessing in disguise’ that the fleet capacity of the dry cargo fleet has fallen sharply in recent years, mainly due to exports of vessels towards the Danube basin. In the Danube region, as a result of the war in Ukraine, there is a high demand for small, medium and large dry cargo vessels to carry grain shipments in particular. Estimates for 2023 again show exports towards the Danube countries of around 50 motor vessels and a similar number of barges. As a result, the fleet capacity of the dry cargo fleet in western Europe has fallen very sharply in recent years. In 2023, a solid decrease representing around 3% of the total fleet capacity available, could be observed.
• The year 2023, unlike 2022, showed encouraging navigation conditions on the Rhine with relatively favourable water levels. Except for a short-lived period of about 2 weeks in the month of October, there were no significant restrictions on navigation depth. This contrasts sharply with the year 2022, during which water levels were very low over a relatively long period during the summer months. This forced goods destined for ports on the Middle and Upper Rhine to be switched via alternative modes of transport.
• It is important to realise that dry cargo shipping must once again start to position itself as an attractive alternative to road freight transport. Indeed, there is a risk of substantial overcapacity of large vessels in particular, in the short and medium term. Traditional cargo segments such as coal and ores will not show growth in the coming years. The same applies to agribulk, while in the construction materials market, national restrictions (especially in the Netherlands) are reducing volumes. Fleet capacity will continue to decline to a limited extent in the coming years.

 

LIQUID CARGO VESSELS

• In the liquid cargo segment, unlike in the dry cargo market, volumes remained relatively stable with only limited declines. Of particular note was the decline in chemical product volumes, while the petroleum product market remained stable. This, combined with more favourable navigation conditions than the previous year 2022, and fleet capacity expansion through new construction of several tankers, led to lower capacity utilisation rates in the tanker market. Nevertheless, the situation is still acceptable and comparable to recent years without prolonged low water periods.

 

FIGURE 14: EVOLUTION OF CAPACITY UTILISATION FOR LIQUID CARGO VESSELS IN WESTERN EUROPE


Source: Panteia
 
• The tanker shipping market characterises itself as hypersensitive to situations with extreme low water levels. Seen in this light, 2023 was a favourable year with only a brief period of not too extreme low water in the month of October. While this led to low loading rates of vessels in relation to the Middle and Upper Rhine, it did not cause extreme tightness on the market as water levels towards the Lower Rhine remained at an acceptable level. As a result, capacity utilisation of the tanker shipping market changed significantly compared to 2022, in which extreme low water levels occurred in the month of August. In that year, a substantial part of the fleet was unable to pass over the shallow water at Kaub, forcing refineries and chemical plants along the Middle and Upper Rhine to implement production restrictions. There were no such restrictions in 2023.
• The outlook is also favourable in smaller niche markets of the tanker sector. The edible oil tanker market shows stable volumes and is expected to continue to grow in the coming years. For powder tankers, products such as cement and fly ash (residue from coal-fired power plants) will be replaced by alternative materials in the concrete industry. As the construction sector – despite restrictions in the Netherlands and also in Flanders due to nitrogen – does have a favourable outlook in the longer term, these submarkets will also continue to be well used. For the more traditional market segments, such as petroleum products, bio-alternatives will generate more rather than less demand in the shorter term. In the longer term, some of the domestic petrol distribution traffic will be phased out. The chemicals sector is currently experiencing a downturn, partly due to investment decisions by major industrial players in north-western Europe. But as long as the population continues to grow, practically speaking, demand for chemical products will also continue to grow.
• There is, however, a threat of overcapacity in tanker shipping due to the large amount of new construction in the longer term. However, given high sensitivity to low water levels and the importance of security of supply, some degree of overcapacity is not necessarily a problem if it is contractually well regulated between carriers and shippers. The sectors on both sides of the chain currently seem to be aware of this.³⁸

 

INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INLAND NAVIGATION FLEET CONTRIBUTING TO REDUCING EMISSIONS

• In accordance with the mandate given by the Mannheim Ministerial Declaration of 17 October 2018, the CCNR adopted in December 2021 a roadmap for reducing emissions from inland navigation,³⁹ which called for the creation of a database on innovative vessels.
• To develop such a database, available data on innovative inland navigation vessels was compiled within the framework of the Inspection Regulation Committee of the CCNR, with the following scope:
  – innovative vessel understood as designed to emit less air pollutants or greenhouse gases than a conventional diesel vessel;
  – freight and passenger vessels with a Rhine Vessel Inspection Certificate or a Union certificate;⁴⁰
  – vessels planned, under construction, in service or cancelled projects.
• Even if biofuels contribute to reducing – under certain conditions – greenhouse gas emissions, vessels running on biofuels were not taken into account in the analysis, as switching to biofuels does not call for a specific design or technical adaptation at the level of the vessel.
• For the purpose of this analysis, 64 vessels were considered: 46 freight vessels, 17 day-trip passenger vessels and 1 cabin vessel.⁴¹ The vast majority of the innovative vessels sail with a Rhine Vessel Inspection Certificate. They are mainly new built vessels (around 85%), but also retrofitted vessels (around 15%).
• The number of innovative vessels in service represent less than 0.2% of the entire inland navigation fleet in Europe, 34 of which built, retrofitted or planned from 2021 onwards. Six came into service in 2023, and eight are still considered as projects (newbuilt mainly). Several projects were foreseen to be built in 2022 and 2023 but suffered some delays. Several projects have also been cancelled before their finalisation.⁴² The reasons behind the cancellation of a project could be of a different nature, such as economic (not enough demand, lack of subsidies), organisational (withdrawal of a partner) or even technical (safety or operational issues). Most of the projects cancelled were LNG propelled vessels. Indeed, fossil LNG is no longer considered as a long-term option, notably for reducing carbon emissions in inland navigation. Two vessels operating with fuel cell systems were also cancelled or removed from service.
• This trend does not prejudge the evolution of the number of innovative vessels outside the scope of this database.
• These innovative vessels run or are expected to run on – as the primary energy carrier⁴³ – batteries, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), diesel, methanol, compressed hydrogen (GH2) mainly in combination with batteries, or sodium borohydride with batteries (NaBH4).

 

FIGURE 15:NUMBER OF VESSELS USING ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES AS ONE OF THE MAIN ENERGY CARRIERS *


Source: CCNR database
* The category “GH2” includes 2 vessels operating with a combustion engine and 6 with fuel cell systems. The category “Methanol” includes 3 vessels operating with a combustion engine and 1 with a fuel cell system. The category “Diesel/batteries” consists solely of vessels which are capable of relying on batteries alone for propulsion. In this category, 7 of them are also equipped with a fuel cell system.
 
• Figure 15 above reflects the alternative energies used as one of the main energy carriers (for vessel propulsion). It often comes with other energy carriers onboard, notably diesel engines for redundancy purposes or as an emergency power source. In other words, it is anticipated that different (modular) options for zero-emissions powertrains, using mixes of energy sources/fuels, will play a role in achieving the ambitious emission reduction objectives set at international level. This is confirmed by the profile of the innovative vessels (in service, under construction or project) which almost all use multiple energy carriers.
• Moreover, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for achieving the energy transition. The choice of an appropriate emissions reduction technology depends on several factors, that include the sailing profile of the vessels, their type, the market segment in which they operate, but also the related technical constraints.
• This is reflected in the following figure, showing how innovative applications find their way into the inland navigation sector.

 

FIGURE 16: DISTRIBUTION OF INNOVATIONS PER VESSEL TYPE AND PRIMARY ENERGY CARRIER⁴⁴


 
• Most of these innovative vessels are equipped with a combustion engine as their main energy converter (38), of which 31 are also equipped with an electric motor. In addition, seven vessels running mainly on batteries are also equipped with a combustion engine for redundancy purposes or as emergency power source. This is a positive evolution which should facilitate a modular system approach. Indeed, the integration of batteries or fuel cell systems in existing vessels require a vessel to be equipped with an electric motor in the first place. Eighteen vessels operate with battery electric propulsion systems and nine with fuel cell systems. It should be highlighted that one vessel is designed to use swappable batteries containers. The number of vessels with similar design might grow in the coming years.