Flanders is known to be by far the European leader in remotely piloted ships. Wallonia will join soon. Spirits are also maturing in neighboring countries. This is urgently needed, because the shortage of personnel – especially skippers – threatens the future of inland shipping.
Three types of crew members work on board an inland vessel: captains, helmsmen (sailors with simple steering qualifications) and sailors for daily tasks. There is a staff shortage in all three jobs, which is especially problematic for captains: they must be trained and have a ‘certificate of competence in inland navigation’.
“Fewer captains graduate every year than priests are ordained,” is the cynical conclusion. The personnel shortage in inland shipping is therefore seriously increasing: the number of active inland skippers in Flanders fell from 1,114 to 807 in ten years. The aging population is increasing and the influx is too small. This threatens the sector, while it has to play a crucial role in the modal shift.
The fact that few young people follow captain training has to do with the nature of the job. Many skippers/captains accept that they are on the road for a long time, but there are also – more and more – who strive for a better ‘work/life’ balance. Remotely controlled barges offer a solution: after their shift in a digital steering cabin on land, captains simply return home. In the long term they will even serve several ships at the same time. In short, a future-proof solution for the growing staff shortage.
Flanders is taking an even further lead
The major problem with the ‘remote’ control of ships is the regulations. Not in Flanders, on the contrary. A decree came into effect as early as 2019, making experiments possible. Deviations from the crew regulations, police regulations, technical requirements, etc. are possible for these pilot projects. They may continue on the entire Flemish network of canals and waterways. Today, three pilot projects with 14 ships are already underway; and more are in the pipeline.
Now Flanders is going one step further. A new decision from the Flemish government (BVR) provides a new legal framework for these projects, with more (legal) certainty. Only the green light from the Council of State is still missing. Erik Schrooyen, project manager inland shipping innovation at De Vlaamse Waterweg: “While the pilot projects currently have a maximum duration of 10 years and must be renewed annually, the BVR allows deviations for an indefinite period. These apply to known technology with equivalent safety and after advice from the expert committee.” “That is good news for the projects that are already running,” says Schrooyen. “The BVR provides a sustainable framework for mature technology, such as that of Seafar, which can move up a gear. And new pilot projects can be started that aim for a higher degree of autonomy.”
Also in Wallonia
Pilot projects have also recently become possible in Wallonia, thanks to a decree of 2022. “A decision of 2023, which came into effect in 2024, determines the practical modalities for these projects: the maximum duration of a project is five years, whereby the SPW (ed.: the “Walloon FPS”) must renew the authorization annually after evaluation, in the context of risk management and the learning process,” says Guillaume Defays, attaché to the management Regulation and Control of Waterways at the SPW Mobilité et Infrastructures. “After those five years, an extension or improvement of the project may be requested for a new period of five years.”
“To date, only one company – the shipping company Novandi, which already sails in Flanders – has submitted a file. It was approved in June. There is another project in the pipeline, but no application has been officially submitted yet. So there is little demand yet, but you have to take into account the fact that everything has only recently started,” he adds. “What also plays a role is that the procedures in Flanders and Wallonia are different. Pilot projects in Flanders cannot therefore simply be extended one-to-one in Wallonia.” Defays emphasizes that the political will is there to give semi-autonomous sailing a boost. This is also explicitly confirmed in the strategic plan 2020-2050 for the Walloon waterways.
From Antwerp to Namur
It is not at all surprising that the shipping company Novandi is a candidate. It has been asking for four years to be allowed to sail further ‘remote’ on the Albert Canal than the language border. Cyrielle Böttcher, Project Manager at Novandi: “In a first phase (of four), we will sail between Kanne and Trilogiport, a distance of 6 km, from January 2026. We will first carefully check the stability of the telecommunications (4G, 5G and Starlink). Phase 2 will start in March: sailing between Kanne and Renory, past Liège. This is a ‘tricky’ piece of the Maas, with the ‘S’ of Liège and its erratic current. During We will sail for three weeks with a full crew, so that the captains have a good control of the sailing conditions and later they can safely control the ship remotely.”
“Phase 3 is sailing from Kanne to Grand Malade near Namur, an even bigger challenge through some difficult sections and locks. Training the crew on that route will require at least 20 test runs. In phase 4 we will also sail at night and at different water levels,” she continues. During those four validation tests the crew will be full, but afterwards there will be no captain on board (he or she will work remotely from Seafar’s control center in Antwerp); only one or two helmsmen and one or two sailors.
“So we are not going to make any decisions overnight. That is why we think it is sad that the Walloon government is so cautious and limits the projects to five years. We would not take risks with questionable technology on expensive economic tools, would we?”, Böttcher regrets. This fear is even greater in neighboring countries. Tests are already underway, but always with the full crew. Seafar, which is the furthest along in the world with technology for remote control of inland vessels, also plays an important role in this.
