FAIRway Danube 2

Project overview
 
The multinational project "FAIRway Danube 2 (FD2) - future steps to improve navigation on the Danube" was approved for EU co-financing through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) at the end of 2023.
 
FAIRway Danube 2 is a continuation of FAIRway Danube (https://www.vodniputovi.hr/eu-projekti/fairway/), a multi-user project of transnational cooperation with a total of eight project partners from six Danube countries (Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria) which was implemented in the period from 2015 to 2021..
 
The FAIRway Danube project started with the ambitious goal of improving the waterway conditions along the entire Danube. A long list of planned activities soon contributed to the road to success with a number of significant milestones in the harmonization of waterway information and service standards on the Danube, all thanks to the intensive engagement of the EU and representatives of waterway administrations along the Danube. In addition to the feasibility study for the rehabilitation of the Gabčikovo lock in 2015, the creation of national action plans and reports on the state of the waterway in certain Danube countries, the FAIRway Danube project achieved great success in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. As part of the project, 37 measuring stations, 5 vessels for recording the waterway and 4 vessels for marking the waterway were installed and put into operation. On the basis of the model WAMS - Waterway Management System - developed by the Austrian viadonau, the transnational waterway monitoring system WAMOS was launched.
 
Successful projects point to successes, and extraordinary ones pave the way for further successes. Bearing in mind the need for the continuation of previous cooperation as well as for the harmonization of data and activities of administrations responsible for waterways, the FAIRway Danube 2 project plans the following:
 

• Implementation of regular transnational monitoring of the state of the waterway,

• Procurement of sensors for measuring water level, waterway depth and bridge clearances,
• Upgrading the national waterway management systems (WAMS) and the transnational waterway monitoring system (WAMOS) in order to increase their performance and efficiency and improve the provision of information to registered users,

• Increasing the number of days covered by the water level forecast - a key tool for logisticians,
• Testing of flexible infrastructure elements in Austria, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. This unique approach will provide a non-invasive, almost natural solution to periods of low water, as it can be used to flexibly influence the depth of the waterway. In this way, the reliability of inland navigation will be improved without permanent impact on habitats and ecosystems,

• Modernization of existing moorings in Austria and Romania in order to improve the infrastructure, especially in terms of crew safety and mobility, and investing in green energy solutions for power supply from the shore at each mooring point,
• Development of plans for additional investments in mooring places in Austria, Slovakia and Croatia.

This project will also contribute to the implementation of the Fairway Rehabilitation and Maintenance Master Plan adopted by 10 Danube Ministers of Transport (June 2022) and which is also referred to in the Rhine-Danube Corridor Work Plan of the European Coordinator.
 
Link to the project website: https://www.viadonau.org/en/company/project-database/fairway-danube-ii/fairway-danube-ii
 

Partners and beneficiaries
 
 
 
Austria: Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) and viadonau - Austrian Waterway Administration (viadonau),
 
Hungary: Ministry of Construction and Transport (EKM) i The General Directorate of Water Management (OVF),
 
Slovakia: Slovak Watermanagement Enterprise (SVP),
 
Croatia: Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure (MMPI) i Vukovar Port Authority (LUV),
 
Bulgaria: Executive Agency for Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube River (IAPPD),
 
Romania: Galati Lower Danube River Administration (AFDJ) i Administration of the Navigable Canals (ACN).
 
Key facts
Project duration: April 2023 - December 2027.
Project budget: 23.4 million euro
European Union co-financing (CEF): 19.6 million euro
 
Contacts
Andreas Bäck (project coordinator)
via donau - Österreichische Wasserstraßen-
Gesellschaft mbH Donau-City-Straße 1, A-1220 Vienna, Austria
Tel: +43 (0) 50 4321 1609
Email: andreas.baeck[at]viadonau.org
 
Lidija Hubalek (national coordinator)
Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure
Parobrodarska 3, 32000 Vukovar, Croatia
Tel: +385 (32) 445 051
Email: Lidija.Hubalek[at]mmpi.hr