Inland Waterway Traffic Up 1.32% In Crisis Time

• However, freight volume down 7.2%

Dan Nedelcu, Constanţa

Inland waterway traffic has been affected, too, by the global recession, but traffic growth was still achieved in the first quarter of the year, specifically by 5.63% above target and by 1.32% more than in the first quarter of 2008, according to Ilie Valentin Zeicu, CEO of the national company "The Administration of Navigable Inland Waterways" S.A. (ACN) headquartered in Constanta. The volume of freight moved on inland waterways during the first three months of the year was by 7.2% smaller than in the corresponding period of 2008.

According to ACN, the differences are reflected in the weight of various types of freight within the overall volume of freight moved in the first quarter of 2008 and, respectively, the first quarter of 2009. For instance, the quantity of grains moved by waterway was 262,000 tonnes in Q1, 2008 and 1,028,000 tonnes in Q1, 2009, while the quantity of iron ore decreased from 1,045,000 tonnes to 244,000 tonnes. Coal shipments decreased from 684,000 tonnes in Q1, 2008 to 563,000 tonnes in Q1, 2009. The quantity of oil by-products exported from Port Midia increased from 58,000 tonnes to 97,000 tonnes. In turn, the quantity of laminated products decreased from 134,000 tonnes in Q1, 2008 to 89,000 tonnes in Q1, 2009.

The Administration of Navigable Inland Waterways also announced that the number of ships transiting inland waterways increased from 3,762 in Q1, 2008 to 4,438 in Q1, 2009 following an increase in the number of independent self-propelled barges. Container traffic also increased from 1,255 units in Q1, 2008 to 1,876 units in Q1, 2009.