Holidays by the water are popular – and not just since Corona. In the past year alone, according to the German Tourism Association, the number of activities on, in and on the water rose by three percent. Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) recognized this and presented his “Recreational boating master plan“With this, the minister wants to ensure that even more recreational cutters can be on German rivers and lakes in the future. But is the plan working? The most important questions and answers on the subject.
What does the master plan include?
The federal government wants to become active in the area of recreational waterways within five years – among other things, investments could flow into new port facilities, the modernization of existing locks and digitalization. In the future, on board your recreational ship, you should be able to see immediately on the Internet how big the rush is at individual locks. That should shorten the waiting times. The question, however, is: will this work? Because the network coverage of the mobile phone providers is still poor, especially in rural areas. Therefore, the plan envisages improving network coverage along the waterways.
Are there any further plans for digitization?
Yes. Better network coverage is also a prerequisite for autonomous ships to be able to come onto the water at some point – although this point is not explicitly listed in Scheuer’s plan. Since the beginning of the year, the ministry has been supporting a Research project by Titus Research financially. The researchers take photos along the Spree-Oder waterway for over a year. The on-board computers of the ships are then fed with this photo data. After all, artificial intelligence should ensure that the watercraft navigate the waterway by themselves. However, there is still a long way to go. And: The project has so far only been aimed at commercial inland shipping; It is therefore unclear whether and when recreational skippers can travel on an autonomously driving boat (if they want to do so at all).
Who should benefit from the plan?
Basically everyone who is active in their free time on, in and on the water – in addition to travelers with their motor boats, sailors, swimmers, stand-up paddlers and people on excursion steamers. At the same time, however, the minister wants to make “an important contribution to the protection of diverse habitats of often threatened animal and plant species as well as to coping with the consequences of climate change,” as it is said.
What is specifically planned on the subject of ecology?
First and foremost: to reduce the exhaust emissions of the recreational boating. However, no specific figures are given. Just so much: The federal government is still planning to support the installation of filter systems. According to the plan, this has been subsidized with subsidies for inland shipping since 2007 – and could be extended to the leisure sector in the future. In addition, ship hulls are to be given a special coating so that they rot less quickly in the water and at the same time do not bring invasive plants and algae into the water. These can pose a threat to human health and the environment. The federal government is also planning to better protect the banks from erosion and waves if necessary. The animals living there would also benefit from this. And one last point applies to companies in the field, for example boat rental companies or operators of excursion boats: The federal government would like to support them in organizing their operations in a more environmentally friendly manner – by voluntarily submitting to an environmental management system (similar to the European EC eco-audit) .
What do environmental associations say about it?
“The master plan is again a missed opportunity that could have been used well for environmental protection,” says Manfred Krauss, biologist and water expert at the BUND environmental association. Lowering emissions alone is not enough, because Scheuer is planning to expand water tourism – and this will ultimately lead to the construction of more slipways for the use of boats as well as ports and marinas. This in turn takes away space for animals and plants to live in areas near the shore. In addition, a motorboat would hit 30 to 40 centimeters high waves, which would break the natural rhythm of the waters. In addition, there is the noise of the ship’s engines. Animals have to move to other areas or adapt, some plants disappear completely, says Krauss. The master plan simply falls short: “After the commitment to nature conservation, there are simply too few concrete measures. There is hardly anything in it.”
And what does it all cost?
That remains open. There is not a single indication of this in the entire 70-page plan. In addition, the ministry has stipulated that if funds are scarce, the money should mainly flow into the renovation of old systems. Environmental protection would then only come second. In any case, the total amount of money available to shipping is limited. And: Measures for leisure and commercial shipping must be paid for from a common pool. The plan therefore speaks of a “revision of the prioritization of investments in federal waterways”. That means: money could be diverted from professional to recreational shipping.
What do the inland navigation operators think of Scheuer’s plans?
In principle, inland and recreational shipping are clearly separated from each other – all water-related fun is limited to so-called secondary waterways, on which only a few large ships are allowed to sail anyway. More leisure traffic is unlikely to get in the way of the freighters. Nevertheless, the Federal Association of German Inland Shipping (BDB) is critical of the plans. Because the minister had already presented the “Inland Shipping Master Plan” in 2019 – and at the time he promised to significantly strengthen freight traffic on the water, also for reasons of climate protection. The problem, however, is that, according to the BDB, too little money is available for this alone. The association calculates that from 2023 onwards, 300 million euros per year will be missing from the federal budget. If funds are now also diverted for recreational shipping, as Scheuer is planning, the gap for expanding the “core network” for professional boaters will be even greater, argues the BDB. The bottom line, according to the BDB, is that this contradicts the plans to strengthen inland shipping.