Abstract
Even though inland navigation represents the safest transport mode, consequences of accidents are significantly higher, because of the larger quantities of cargo transported, compared with the conventional means of transport. Accidents in inland waterways are a regular phenomenon throughout the year, causing deaths, injuries, and monetary loss, and endangering the environment. At present, comprehensive research on inland navigation accidents including their causes and consequences is lacking. For this purpose, data about real accidents on the Danube River were collected and analysed in this study. This paper provides a comprehensive study of the hazards (causal factors) and resulting risks in inland waterway transport. Two methods were applied to fulfil the aim—a cause and effect diagram, used for hazard identification, and a risk matrix, used for risk assessment. The analysis confirmed the presence of recurring hazards, resulting mainly from human behaviour. This study can be used for the methodology and design of preventive measures to ensure safe inland navigation.
Highlights
Inland water transport plays a crucial role for the transport of goods and passengers in Europe
All accident data for the past decades were collected—the database contains about 185 accidents that occurred on the Slovak part of the Danube River
There has been a significant increase in shipping accidents that occurred on the Slovak part of the Danube since 2015
Summary
Inland water transport plays a crucial role for the transport of goods and passengers in Europe. More than 37,000 kilometres of waterways connect hundreds of cities and industrial regions. The Danube, the longest waterway in the EU, serves as the backbone of this region, ensuring better transport connections and economic growth. Since the opening of the Main–Danube Canal in 1992, Danube has been connected with Western European waterways through the Main River, the right-side tributary of the Rhine River [1]. The. Danube River is an integral part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) [2]. Danube River is an integral part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) [2] Via this complex canal network, the Danube connects the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands with the Black Sea. In addition to its global importance, the Danube has been significant for the development of the countries through which it flows
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