14.00 H  Meeting Loss Prevention Committee
15.00 H  Meeting Legal Committee

Afternoon program for all members and guests  
 
13.00 H               Registration and coffee
13.30 H               OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CONGRESS
13.35-14.35 H     OUT OF THE BOX GUEST SPEAKER PETER ROS
14.45- 18.00 H    WORKSHOP

PART 1: Innovation of IWT and challenges regarding new emmisionstandards 

PART 2: Container weights and container contents – How to protect the inland carrier from unknown hazards

Evening program

18.45 H                Departure from the hotel by bus
19.00 H                Cocktail and Dinner at the STAATLICHER HOFKELLER WÜRZBURG
22.00 – 22.30 H    Closure and return by bus to the hotel

Members program

09.00 H            General Assembly in the Congress hotel
10.30 H            Guest speaker: Mr Reinhard Klingen, Head of Directorate-General for Waterways and Shipping, Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), Bonn

11.30 H             Reception in the Town Hall and welcome by the Mayor

Partner program

09.30 H             Guided visit of the “Residence”

11.15 H             Walk to the Town Hall                            
11.30 H             Reception in the Town Hall and welcome by the Mayor

12.15 H             Departure from the Town Hall
12.30 H             Lunch and Boattrip on the river Main

15.00 H             Return to the hotel  
15.30 H             Farewell cocktail  at the hotel and closure of the congress   

Key Note Speaker Peter Ros will emphasise impact of the fast technological evolution & digitalization on business, government, society and leadership in general is one of his key interests. Peter believes that, by making the right choices and seeding the right culture, technology can bring us abundance in wealth, health and freedom. 

The European Union last year adopted a regulation to introduce new emission standards for a.o. inland vessel engines (EU) 2016/1628. This regulation aims to introduce strict EURO VI standards for air emissions of new engines. 

The implementation of this regulation will pose high burdens on the sector. Engines with a power above 300 KW need to fulfill the new stringent prescriptions of the regulation regarding NOX and PM as of 1.1.2020. As engines fulfilling these new requirements are not available on the market the existing engines will need to be equipped with after treatment measures to fulfill the criteria. The costs and the effects on the engine are unknown. In practise this means that in case of renewal of engines or in newly built vessels the new standards apply as of mentioned dates (difference above and below 300 KW). According to our information from manufacturers the engines in combination with after treatment and filters will be much more expensive if even available.

Existing engines excluded

Existing engines do not need to fulfil these strict emission criteria.  The Dutch Ministry on Infrastructure and Environment recently commissioned a study on the emission performance of the existing fleet with a focus on the consequences of the NRMM regulation and its impact on the sector. One of the most important findings is the expectation that due to the high expected costs and additional after treatment investments many ship owners will decide to revise their existing engines or replace the old engines with a new CCNR Stage 2 before the entering into force of the regulation.  By doing so the vessels would meet the new environmental requirements by the Port of Rotterdam as of 2025. The intended effect of the regulation however would be met only many years later.

In this part of the workshop we want to address the consequences of this new regulation for the inland shipping and insurance industry.

How to protect the inland carrier from unknown hazards

Stability issues related to unknown or even wrong notified container weights have been a serious issue in inland container shipping for long. There are well known examples of nearly capsized or heavily listed inland barges and feeder ships causing serious damages and congestions. In the maritime world the new SOLAS VGM resolution has entered into force on 1st July 2016 with the aim that all container gross weights are verified before loading.

Unidentified hazards from the cargo stowed within containers have been a serious issue in shipping as well. A recent fire on board of a container vessel in the port of Hamburg revealed that cargo loaded within a number of containers caused an explosive atmosphere in the cargo hold without that the carrier or the crew had any knowledge of the hazards. What can be done to protect the inland barge carrier from those hidden hazards resulting from wrongly marked dangerous goods?  

In this part of the workshop we want to address the issue of container weight and container contents verification for inland shipping with a focus on safety, liability and insurance.