IWI is proud to be partnering with the Arab Academy for Science Technology & Maritime Transport in broadening the scope of the 14th international conference on Maritime Logistics, to take place in Alexandria, Egypt, on 24-25 February 2025. Researchers from both organisations worked on PIANC Working Group 219, to produce a report on Guidelines for Inland Waterways Infrastructure to Facilitate Tourism. Another report by Working Group 228 on the Extended values of Low-Use Inland Waterways will also be referred to in the presentation by IWI’s delegate David Edwards-May. The main theme of the conference is Artificial Intelligence Implementations: Towards Shaping the Future of the Digital World. IWI naturally focuses on the implications of AI for inland waterways. The loss of human contact for tourism on the smaller canals is regretted by many boat owners, but it has to be recognised that waterway authorities like Voies Navigables de France, with thousands of locks and movable bridges to manage, is under increasing pressure to cut operating costs. AI will also be used extensively in operating the new Seine-Nord Europe Canal to open in 2030.
The navigation simulator representing the Scheldt Estuary in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, during a PIANC/IWI meeting in February 2023. © DEM
