Semi-autonomous push units: Securing the future for the Elbe-Lübeck Canal!

Semi-autonomous push units: Securing the future for the Elbe-Lübeck Canal!

The Elbe-Lübeck Canal (ELK) is facing a groundbreaking revolution: A new study, which was carried out by the Fraunhofer Center for Maritime Logistics on behalf of the Lübeck Port Authority and the IHK Lübeck, recommends the use of semi-autonomous push convoys. The aim is to ensure the economic viability of the canal until it is comprehensively expanded. The concept could not only increase the attractiveness of the ELK, but also respond to the shortage of skilled workers.

“Something has to happen!”, one might think when looking at the current challenges. Due to its 125-year history, the ELK's infrastructure is no longer suitable for modern ship sizes. This also led to frequent closure times for maintenance work. According to the study, existing but unused transport capacity should be activated. Semi-autonomous push convoys could be used here in a logistically sensible manner and enable unmanned cargo containers to be transported efficiently through the canal.

Urgent need for action

Dr. Thomas Rössler, Managing Director of HTC, recently emphasized that the logistics and port companies in the Hanseatic Belt should demand more commitment from politicians. Although inland shipping offers free capacity, too little is being done to shift traffic from road to water and rail. According to Rössler, competitiveness is crucial for this modal shift. “The trimodality in the port of Lübeck is insufficiently developed,” he notes, especially the connection via the rail network.

In order to promote change, the expansion of the Elbe-Lübeck Canal is urgently needed. The existing locks are outdated and offer too little space for modern ships. Currently these can only be 80 meters long, which does not do justice to the transport volume of recent years. In order to increase transport capacities, experts suggest using smaller units until the canal is completely modernized. Similar systems are already being used successfully in Belgium and on the Rhine.

A long journey of development

A look into the future shows that the expansion of the ELK has been included as an urgent need in the 2030 Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan. In order to make the necessary changes, six locks must be extended to 115 m and the canal bed deepened to 2.80 m. Some bridges even need to be raised to 5.25 m. It could take decades for these measures to be implemented.

There were also calls for the canal to be included in the priority requirements of the new federal transport infrastructure plan so that the Elbe-Lübeck Canal remains part of the German and European inland waterway network. This should help to comprehensively mobilize the region's potential and ensure a functioning infrastructure.

The concept of semi-autonomous push convoys could act as a short-term interim solution and ensure seamless connections to larger inland waterways such as the Elbe and the Elbe Lateral Canal. The managing director of the Lehmann group, Sven Lohse, calls on politicians to act more energetically. Unlike truck transport, which often remains the better choice despite rising costs, inland shipping could score points with its advantages in price and reliability, as Rüdiger Schacht from the Schleswig-Holstein Chamber of Industry and Commerce shows.

The challenges are great, but time is of the essence: It is high time for those responsible to pull out all the stops to make the Elbe-Lübeck Canal fit for the future and to ensure trimodality in the port of Lübeck beyond the ELK's anniversary.