Electronic reporting enables electronic data interchange for reporting purposes between vessels and competent authorities in inland navigation. The goal is to avoid multiple reporting of skippers to competent authorities and to limit the provision of the same data related to a voyage to different authorities and/or commercial parties, and thus to reduce the administrative workload for boat masters and inland waterway managers.
International standards and procedures for the interchange of electronic messages are in force. Public authorities and other parties concerned (ship owners, skippers, shippers, terminals, ports) shall exchange data in conformity with these standards and rules.
Electronic reporting is supported in many countries, until recently mainly for supporting traffic management. EuRIS now enables the orderly sharing of information with both public and private parties (always with consent of the ship owner).
Various platforms are available to waterway users to electronically fulfill reporting requirements of the authorities:
- BICS: www.bics.nl
- enables electronic reporting via the BICS application, widely applicable in the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany, on the Rhine and the Mosel.
- CEERIS: www.ceeris.eu
- covers most of the Danube and the Czech Elbe, enabling electronic reporting in the CEERIS partner countries Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.
- eRIBa: https://eriba-platform.be
- allows you to report digitally more easily on all waterways in Flanders and on the Western Scheldt (including the Dutch side of the North Sea Port).
For the future, a Europe-wide interconnection of the different electronic reporting systems is being considered in order to reduce the workload of the users and to enable single entering of data and reporting only once.
More information on the European Standards can be found on https://www.cesni.eu/en/
More information on the regulations in force can be found within the National authorities and the respective International River Commissions:
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