Improve inland waterway ship operator training

摘要

The growing amount of heavylift cargo being shipped on Germany's canals and rivers presents inland waterway operators with ever greater challenges. This is why a commission of Germany's federal expert group for heavylift transportation and crane work (BSK) has called for the training of inland waterway ship operators to be revamped. Wolfgang M. Draaf, a member of the board and a director of Germany's federal expert group for heavylift transportation and crane work (Bundesfachgruppe Schwertransporte und Kranarbeiten, BSK) and chairman of that body's Frankfurt am Main-based expert commission on inland, maritime and ferry shipping, has demanded that 《the training of inland waterway ship operators must be significantly expanded in the context of the requirements of oversized and heavylift consignments.》 Draaf said the fact that 《heavylift cargo transportation by road closes two bridges a day in Germany》 is one of the reasons for the growing importance of inland shipping for the transportation of heavy industrial goods. He added that a trend towards modular construction methods in the plant and mechanical engineering industry is another cause, as is the fact that parts are steadily growing in size. In order to move gigantic power stations worth millions of euros and weighing up to 500 t through canals without damaging them, inland waterway ship operators need a tremendous amount of segment-specific know-how, have to plan transportation tasks together with logisticians and engineers, and then carry them out successfully whilst heeding all the criteria for achieving high quality service.