DBA Forum (B) - Andy Soper
2014-10-20 17:47:34 UTC
I attended the European Boating Association (EBA) six monthly meeting on 17/18 October. The EBA has 30 member federations from across Europe representing 2 million pleasure boaters both motor and sail (http://www.eba.eu.com/index).
The issues affecting our barges that were discussed were:
Cruising
A questionnaire has been designed and will be sent out shortly to all member organisations seeking information that is needed when going to a member country as a visitor in your own boat. This will be a useful addition to our own information on our web-site (http://www.barges.org/knowledgebase/cruising). I reminded members that there are often local additioinal regulations and requirements and both the French and Italian supported my comment and I emphasised the need to update the information regularly. It is likely to be an annual process.
Harbours
An ISO standard for harbours and marinas has now been established which is a voluntary standard for marinas and boat club harbours to show good practice.
Charging
The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) contains clauses requiring member states to make charges for water usage which has been construed to include navigation. Germany challenged the European Commission and won. Charging under the WFD can only be for consumption or extraction. That does not stop navigation authorities charging boat users under existing powers but it does mean that the WFD cannot be used for that purpose.
Invasive alien species
The European Council has adopted a regulation on action to be taken to prevent the spread of Alien species such as quagga mussels. It is to be published soon and will be binding on all member states.
Automatic Information Service (AIS)
The Rhine Commission (CCNR) held a workshop earlier this year to discuss their proposed changes to the requirements for AIS. All vessels over 20m will need to be fitted with approved Inland AIS (AIS A standard) with an approved ECDIS (chart plotting programme) from 1 Dec 2014 on the Rhine. CCNR rejected a proposal for AIS B to be approved for over 20m pleasure craft.
CCNR encourage pleasure craft under 20m to fit either AIS receivers or AIS B transponders as this will also improve safety. They discourage the use of iPads and PCs attempting to use AIS information relayed from third party internet suppliers such as MarineTraffic as the information can be patchy or inaccurate.
Inland AIS will become compulsory for all craft over 20m much of the Netherlands in 2015 (more news as it comes available but both Rotterdam and Amsterdam are at the forefront) and in France from 1 Jan 2016.
(Antwerp made AIS compulsory for inland barges from 1 Jan 2012 but enforcement seems to continue to be light touch for rec craft)
Both the NL and DE police have stated that their policing will be light touch and educational during the first year.
Both PC Navigo and Open PCN are approved ECDIS programmes along with half a dozen other more expensive systems.
President
Peer Bent Nielsen's term as President of EBA ended with this meeting. Willem Dekker, a Dutchman was elected as his successor. He is a yachtsman (and Engineer) but has a keen interest in inland waterways. This bodes well for increasing EBA interest in inland waterways in the future. He lives in Haarlem and we have agreed to meet up during the winter months while we are in Zaandam.
The issues affecting our barges that were discussed were:
Cruising
A questionnaire has been designed and will be sent out shortly to all member organisations seeking information that is needed when going to a member country as a visitor in your own boat. This will be a useful addition to our own information on our web-site (http://www.barges.org/knowledgebase/cruising). I reminded members that there are often local additioinal regulations and requirements and both the French and Italian supported my comment and I emphasised the need to update the information regularly. It is likely to be an annual process.
Harbours
An ISO standard for harbours and marinas has now been established which is a voluntary standard for marinas and boat club harbours to show good practice.
Charging
The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) contains clauses requiring member states to make charges for water usage which has been construed to include navigation. Germany challenged the European Commission and won. Charging under the WFD can only be for consumption or extraction. That does not stop navigation authorities charging boat users under existing powers but it does mean that the WFD cannot be used for that purpose.
Invasive alien species
The European Council has adopted a regulation on action to be taken to prevent the spread of Alien species such as quagga mussels. It is to be published soon and will be binding on all member states.
Automatic Information Service (AIS)
The Rhine Commission (CCNR) held a workshop earlier this year to discuss their proposed changes to the requirements for AIS. All vessels over 20m will need to be fitted with approved Inland AIS (AIS A standard) with an approved ECDIS (chart plotting programme) from 1 Dec 2014 on the Rhine. CCNR rejected a proposal for AIS B to be approved for over 20m pleasure craft.
CCNR encourage pleasure craft under 20m to fit either AIS receivers or AIS B transponders as this will also improve safety. They discourage the use of iPads and PCs attempting to use AIS information relayed from third party internet suppliers such as MarineTraffic as the information can be patchy or inaccurate.
Inland AIS will become compulsory for all craft over 20m much of the Netherlands in 2015 (more news as it comes available but both Rotterdam and Amsterdam are at the forefront) and in France from 1 Jan 2016.
(Antwerp made AIS compulsory for inland barges from 1 Jan 2012 but enforcement seems to continue to be light touch for rec craft)
Both the NL and DE police have stated that their policing will be light touch and educational during the first year.
Both PC Navigo and Open PCN are approved ECDIS programmes along with half a dozen other more expensive systems.
President
Peer Bent Nielsen's term as President of EBA ended with this meeting. Willem Dekker, a Dutchman was elected as his successor. He is a yachtsman (and Engineer) but has a keen interest in inland waterways. This bodes well for increasing EBA interest in inland waterways in the future. He lives in Haarlem and we have agreed to meet up during the winter months while we are in Zaandam.