Chapter 1. Introduction -- Part I. Factors That Influence the Design of Contemporary Danube Vessels -- Chapter 2. The Danube Waterway with its Tributaries -- Chapter 3. Intermodality and IWT -- Chapter 4. Waterborne Transport - Representative Ship Types -- Chapter 5. Overview of Regulatory Framework From a Viewpoint of the Design of Danube Vessels -- Chapter 6. Transport Efficiencies and Performance Indicators -- Part II. Design Guidelines with the Basics on Shallow Water Hydrodynamics -- Chapter 7. Basics on Inland Waterway Vessel Hydrodynamics -- Chapter 8. Essential Expressions and Design Guidelines for the Preliminary Design of IW Vessels -- Part III. Innovative Technologies and Design Solutions for Contemporary Inland Waterway Vessels -- Chapter 9. Technologies for Improvements of Energy Efficiency and Environmental Performance -- Chapter 10. Concepts of Contemporary and Innovative Vessels -- Chapter 11. Conversion and Retrofitting Options.

This book addresses key aspects for the design of contemporary, shallow draught IW vessels for the transport of dry cargo (containers and bulk cargo). Most of the logic that is presented is applicable to the design of river vessels for any river, but the material that is presented is focused on vessels for the River Danube and its tributaries. The term 'contemporary river vessel' assumes that the present-day technology and current Danube river infrastructure are taken into consideration in its design. It is believed that the technologies and concepts that are proposed here are applicable for all new vessel designs for the next 10 to 15 years. Other innovative technologies should be considered for designs beyond that horizon. Moreover, nowadays contemporary IW vessel must be in harmony with the Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) policies and hence special attention is paid to both ecology and efficiency. Note however that shipowners and ship operators usually tend to choose the conventional cost-effective transport technologies. Given that potential divergence of interests, the concepts and technologies treated here may be regarded as innovative.