Implementation of River Information Services in Serbia

NEED AND ADDED VALUE FOR THE DANUBE REGION STRATEGY: Implementation of river information services is recognized as one of the priority projects in the Master Plan for IWW Transport in Serbia (2006). For the development of an efficient and sustainable transport system in the whole region, River Information Services (RIS) needed to be developed on the Serbian section of the Danube. OBJECTIVE(S) OF THE PROJECT: - Enhance the traffic safety by monitoring and managing the traffic on the Danube waterway; - Optimize utilization of the Danube waterway (esp. at bottlenecks like locks, shallow water / narrow passages and similar); - Establish manageability of the traffic on the Danube by providing the possibility of giving navigational / directional aids to the traffic; - Enable the authorities to manage and plan the traffic operation and strategy; - Enable quick and timely response in the event of an accident or similar; - Improve safety, manageability and esp. timely response in any incident which involves hazardous cargo; - Enable the authorities to distribute information to other operators and organizations to integrate the information in logistic chains and enable seamless transport operations; - Ensure compliance with the International Border Management Strategy and other existing RIS in the region. CONDUCTED PROJECT ACTIVITIES: 1. Supply of necessary RIS equipment. 2. System integration. 3. Supervision of implementation. TRANSBOUNDARY IMPACT: Serbian River Information Services now cover the entire stretch of the Danube River in Serbia, including cross-border sections which form a crucial part of the system. Implementation of RIS in Serbia is harmonized with the existing RIS systems in Europe. PROJECT BENEFICIARIES / TARGET GROUPS: Main beneficiaries of the project were the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy and the Directorate for Inland Waterways. Within Serbian administration, RIS is being used by Iron Gate I and II navigation locks, Customs, Ministry of Interior (river police, border police, gendarmerie, sector for urgent situation – the fire brigade). The number of commercial users has been increased.