📋 Tender Overview
(PHOTO: Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure)
The project FAIRWay Danube 2 - future steps to improve navigation on the Danube is co-financed by the European Union through the Instrument for Connecting Europe CEF2, and is implemented by the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure together with waterway administrations from Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. The project started in 2023, and the planned completion is December 31, 2027. The value of the Croatian part of the project is EUR 3,768,650.00, of which the EU co-finances 50%.
Project activities include the creation of periodic reports on the condition of waterways, the procurement of advanced equipment for recording and marking the waterway (AIS buoys, a terrestrial laser scanner that works on lidar 3D technology, a hydrographic drone with a single beam depth gauge, an RTKS aerial drone), further development of the national WAMS system as well as the transnational WAMOS system, and the pilot activity Mobile infrastructure elements.
The implementation of the activity Mobile infrastructure elements represents an innovative approach to solving the problem of insufficient depth of the waterway during periods of low water level. The method is based on the application of a loaded barge as a mobile regulatory element at the confluence of the Drava and the Danube, using natural river flows to move sediment. This method uses only the dynamics of the river, and additional interventions in the form of dredging are not necessary. By removing the barges during periods of favorable hydrological conditions, the impact on habitats and the ecosystem is minimized.
For the project partners from Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria, the Austrian partner viadonau carried out in September 2025 the procurement procedure Mobile infrastructure elements by which the Romanian company NAVROM was selected as the contractor for the installation of barges at the confluence of the Drava and the Danube. The contract was signed for the period until the end of 2027. After signing the contract, the contractor began work on preparing the barge to meet specific technical-operational and safety requirements.
Before arriving at the destination, the barge is partially loaded with 608 tons of gravel, which serves as ballast material, which achieves the required working draft and vessel stability even in more demanding weather conditions.
At the end of November, the barge was delivered to the port of Vukovar, where an inspection confirmed that it meets the technical requirements, after which it was placed at a location between river kilometers 1382 and 1383 on the Danube River.
It is expected that the results of the implementation of the pilot activities will be a confirmation of the innovativeness of the applied methods, because successes give birth to new successes, while exceptional ones lay the foundations for future achievements. The FAIRWay Danube 2 project clearly shows how international cooperation and innovative approaches contribute to the improvement of navigation and the preservation of the natural environment of the Danube.
