28 oktober 2008

EFIP Re-elects Presidents and Discusses Multimodality

The European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP) re-elected its president and vice-presidents at its General Assembly. In addition, the cooperation with the European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO) was discussed and the concluding seminar brought forth some interesting thoughts on multimodality.

After holding the position for 2.5 years, Willy Robijns (picture), Director of the Flemish Waterwegen en Zeekanaal NV, was re-elected at the position of president of the Federation at the EFIP’s General Assembly. Roland Hörner, Director of the Port of Mannheim, and Bernard Pacory, Director of the Ports of Lille/Delta 3) were again chosen as vice-presidents.
 
The General Assembly was held on 17 October at the “Espace International du World Trade Center” in Lille. This was also the occasion to welcome a new member, the Port of Mantova (Italy), which exploits ports installations on the river Po.
 
Cooperation with ESPO
The reinforcement of the platform of cooperation with the ESPO was also on the agenda. Indeed, the interactions and interdependences between inland ports and seaports appear more and more clearly. Even if these port entities differ on certain points, originating from their statutes and missions, it seems obvious that they have a common interest in collaborating more closely. The General Assembly decided to continue in this direction.
 
Seminar on Multimodality
As usual, the assembly was followed by a seminar organized by the host port, the port of Lille, with the support of CCI Grand Lille, the “Conseil régional Nord-Pas-de-Calais”, the WTC of Lille and the AFPI (French Federation of Inland ports).
 
Dedicated to the function of multimodal hubs, which inland ports are becoming, this seminar, moderated by the journalist Jean-Michel Lobry, brought together directors and representatives of ports from all over Europe, shippers (Auchan, Roquette), railway and river operators (the SNCF, DB, Voies Navigables de France, Compagnie Française de Navigation Rhénane, Comité of the River Shipowners), and other organizations such as the European Rail Freight Association and the BöB (Federation of the German inland ports).
 
At the conclusion, the principal ideas which emerged were:

• multimodality in transport is necessary;
  
• multimodality must be accompanied by a reliability and increased frequency of the operators;
  
• railway and waterway must collaborate more than they do today;
  
• inland ports are willing to extend their supply, not being limited to waterway transport, but also being engaged in railway transport;
  
• collaborate more intensely with their maritime colleagues.

The topic of sustainable development was also present throughout the debates, thus proving that a real mental shift is taking place. Whereas price remains the crucial factor when decisions need to be made, the environmental factor becomes more important and is taken into account in operators’ strategies.
 
Seine-North project
The participants also welcomed the recent decision of the French government concerning the declaration of public utility of the Seine-North Europe project, in particular the construction of a new channel between the North of France and the Paris basin, allowing ships of 4.400 tons.

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