The European Committee for drawing up Standards in the field of Inland Navigation (CESNI) met on 19 October 2023, in Strasbourg (France). Ms Marleen Coenen, representing Belgium, chaired the meeting. The agenda included further work on alternative fuels, greenhouse gases and air pollutant emissions from inland navigation vessels, crews and information technologies.
 

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Successful continuation of CESNI’s work
 
In the field of technical requirements for vessels, draft requirements for the storage and use of methanol on board inland vessels, as foreseen for the draft ES-TRIN 2025 (European Standard laying down Technical Requirements for Inland Navigation vessels), were presented at the meeting on 19 October. In particular, these requirements will be shared with the bodies responsible for police regulations and with the ADN Safety Committee, demonstrating a concern for good cooperation with UNECE. In addition, a new task has been added to CESNI’s work programme. This concerns the development of a standard relating to a methodology for measuring and calculating emissions from inland navigation vessels as well as defining emission classes. The aim of this standard is to indicate the environmental performance of a vessel (in terms of greenhouse gases and air pollutant emissions), thereby supporting the greening of the fleet. Finally, the Committee adopted a corrigendum of ES-TRIN 2023. The corrigendum aims to make editorial corrections (translations and obvious errors) before ES-TRIN 2023 comes into force in January 2024.
 
In the field of professional qualifications, CESNI has examined a draft European standard for qualifications in inland navigation (ES-QIN, edition 2024/1). The main amendment aims to strengthen the training of boatmasters to better prepare them for navigation in a direct environment with seagoing vessels. The standards of competence for the management level will specify the knowledge required to enhance safety in areas where seagoing vessels and inland navigation vessels operate jointly. The standard will be included on the agenda of the next CESNI meeting on 11 April 2024, with a view to its adoption. The Committee also welcomed the progress made on the future manning standards. Current discussions are focusing on minimum crew tables.
 
In the field of information technologies, work is continuing in line with CESNI’s work programme, particularly with regard to the next edition of the ES-RIS 2025 (European Standard for River Information Services).
 
Chair of the Committee in 2024-2025
 
The current Presidency for the period 2022-2023, chaired by Ms Marleen Coenen (Belgium) and Mr Ivan Bilić-Prcić (Croatia) as Vice-Chair of the Committee, will finish at the end of the year.
 
From January 2024, Mr Ivan Bilić-Prcić will take over the Presidency of the Committee for the following two years (2024-2025). Mr Bilić-Prcić is a naval architect and Inland Navigation Division Manager at the Croatian Register of Shipping. He will be supported during his mandate by Mr Florian Röthlingshöfer (Switzerland), who will take over as the Committee’s Vice-Chair. Mr Röthlingshöfer is the director of the Port of Switzerland (SRH).
 
Participants in the meeting
 
The Committee meeting was attended by representatives of:

• 10 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Switzerland;
• the European Commission, the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR) and the Moselle Commission;
• 2 Observer States: the United Kingdom and Ukraine;
• 4 approved organisations: EBU, ESO, ETF, FEMAS.

 
Next meeting
 
The next meeting of the Committee has been scheduled for 11 April 2024.