25 year anniversary of the link between the North and the Black Sea

25 year anniversary of the link between the North and the Black Sea

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Main-Danube Canal, the Bavarian State Chancellery invited to a trip in the Altmühltal valley on 8 September 2017 together with Federal Minister of Transport Alexander Dobrindt and Joachim Herrmann, Bavarian Minister of Internal Affairs, Construction and Transport.  Martin Staats (MSG eG), President of the Federal Association of German Inland Navigation(BDB), and BDB Vice President Friedrich Weigert (Kuehne + Nagel Euroshipping GmbH), BDB Board Member Andreas Dicke (Bavaria Schiffahrts- und Speditions-AG) participated in the event. 

On the occasion of this anniversary, BDB President Martin Staats emphasized: “The Main Danube Canal has finally closed the gap between the North Sea and the Black Sea and facilitated transporting goods on the waterway across Europe.  It is not only a great achievement in water engineering, but is also particularly important for securing prosperity in Bavaria,” he stressed. 

An appreciation of the 171 kilometers waterway, connecting the Main at Bamberg with the Danube in Kelheim, which was approved for transport on 25 September 1992, is more than appropriate.  With a construction period of 32 years the canal was a “mammoth project”.  This is also reflected by the fact that no more waterway project of this magnitude has been implemented in Germany since then. 

On average, 6.7 million tonnes of goods have been transported on the canal annually since 1992, with a peak of just under 9 million tonnes – thus surpassing the expectations previous to the construction.  The canalplays a major role in the German and European waterway network, particularly for the transport of bulk goods such as food and feed (28% of the total transport volume in 2016), fertilizers (16%), agricultural and forestry products (15%) as well as iron, steel and others Metals (12%).