Objective: This study investigates the implementation of the waterborne platooning transport concept in two of the largest European inland navigation corridors, the Rhine and the Danube region. Each region has different geo-economic and environmental features. These features are compared, and their effects on implementing a waterborne platooning transport concept are studied. The waterborne platooning concept, referred to as the Vessel Train, aims to reduce crew cost by automating the navigation tasks and moving the navigational responsibility to the leading vessel of the platoon, which is fully manned. Methods: The implementation of the Vessel Train is assessed by making use of a developed model, which allows the assessment of the concept's viability by comparing the annual cost per transported ton of a reference vessel that sails individually to a vessel that sails as a part of a VT on the same route. Results: The results conclude that the application of waterborne platooning on the Rhine is more promising than on the Danube. The low wages hamper the implementation of the concept on the Danube in the region, the low traffic density on the waterway, and the common use of large push tows instead of self-propelled vessels. Implications for research: As determined in the analysis for the Rhine case, a reduction in transport cost would make waterborne transport more attractive. However, other factors, such as the further integration of the VT in the overall supply chain, play a role in the successful implementation of this IWT transport concept. Applying the VT concept in the Danube case requires more potential cargo flows, which can be obtained by adding push convoys into the vessel train. This way of transport is more numerous on the Danube than self-propelled vessels. Both of these aspects should be studied further.

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The research in this thesis is a viability study of a waterborne platooning concept called the Vessel Train (VT). This manuscript describes the VT characteristics. It explains how the VT’s advantages are reaped, as well as the VT’s challenges that need to be considered and dealt with. To assess the potential of the platooning concept an inland navigation and a short sea shipping case are studied. They elaborated upon detailed information on viable operating requirements for different vessel types and operating conditions. A general outlook regarding geographical application differences is considered by analysing the difference between European inland corridors, bridge interaction in urban areas and the global application potential.@en

To achieve a modal shift towards waterborne transport and to deal with the shortage of crewmembers, a platooning concept called the “Vessel Train” is explored for the inland navigation sector. A Vessel Train consists of a lead and various follower vessels. The lead vessel is fully manned and takes over the navigational and situational awareness responsibilities for the follower vessels. This leading action benefits the followers through increasing the vessels’ productivity and enabling crew cost savings. This article investigates the viability of the concept for the lower Rhine region, by presenting a cost model that compares the Vessel Train conditions to the current sailing conditions. This model is used to assess a case study where lead vessels operate on a liner service between Antwerp and Duisburg. Economically viable cases for the concepts’ early-stage application and fully matured implementation are identified, and boundary conditions are presented. The viable conditions vary depending on the vessel type and the operating regime of the reference vessel. A fully matured VT implementation requires a minimum of 26 participants, whereas an early-stage implementation requires 40 participants. The early-stage implementation additionally includes a minimum distance of 200 km to be spent sailing in the VT and the distance sailed in the VT has to amount to a minimum of 50% of the entire trip.

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A waterborne platooning concept, i.e. a Vessel Train (VT) it is composed of a fully manned lead vessel that takes over navigational responsibility for the followers. Joining a VT helps improve the competitiveness of smaller vessels and increase their use, as it allows a vessel to sail continuously with a small crew. This paper identifies the challenges created when penetrating urban areas and models the viability of the VT. The influence factors of the implementation hinge on the maximum opening times and on the simultaneous opening of adjacent bridges. The results provide guidelines for a successful integration of the semi-autonomous platooning system in urban areas.@en

The potential to implement the concept of waterborne platooning in the European short sea transportation system is currently being explored. In the concept, a platoon is referred to as a “Vessel Train” (VT). A VT is composed of a fully manned lead vessel and a number of follower vessels. The lead vessel takes over the navigational and situational awareness responsibilities for the follower vessels (FVs). This enables automation of the navigational tasks on these follower vessels, which in turn leads to a potential reduction in crew size and associated cost. This paper describes the economic viability of the VT concept. It is applied to a short sea case study in which a fully matured system and an early implementation stage are mimicked. The assessment shows that viability is strongly influenced by the number of crew members removed from the FVs and the departure intervals of consecutive trains. It concludes that while economically viable cases can indeed be identified, the benefits created by this VT implementation are present but not very large. This is making it questionable if a successful application of the concept can be achieved given the risk and uncertainty surrounding the individual parameters.

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The Vessel Train (VT) concept, aims to increase the level of autonomy of ships in order to develop a competitive low-manned waterborne transport concept. A transport model has been developed to determine the concept’s performance. In this paper, that model is used to assess the impact of the concept for the lead vessel on the overall performance of the VT. If one knows the cost of the Lead Vessel, the required benefit for the follower vessels can be determined. The model uses multiple scenario simulation to gather data for a sensitivity study of the LV features. The insights gained into the behavioural properties of the VT leads to recommendations on boundary conditions for a profitable implementation of the VT.@en

Autonomous ships have received significant attention in recent years. However, they are not yet widely adopted in the maritime industry yet. A wide range of predictions have been made about when the technological change will occur. This paper analyses technologies that are critical to autonomous shipping and forecasts a range of times when they will reach technical and economic viability. The researched technologies include data transfer, navigation, cargo handling, fuel cells and diesel engines. The results indicate that the GPS navigation precision required for autonomous shipping is not yet technically feasible and the expected feasibility time frame is between 2030 and 2058. The remaining technologies all show technological feasibility, but not yet economic viability. The forecasted range for economic viability of data transfer is a narrow range of 2024-2025, while cost of automated cargo handling will reach the current expense levels somewhere between 2036 and 2101.@en