A lifeline for Serbia’s waterways

The Danube, Sava and Tisa rivers that flow through Serbia give the country a natural advantage in water transport. The country has a dense waterway network stretching nearly 1,000 kilometres, but it has suffered from decades of underinvestment.

“Serbia sits at the crossroads of key river corridors that link Western and Central Europe to the rest of the world,” - says Aleksandar Banjac, Serbia’s assistant transport minister.

The Danube River connects Serbia to major European ports and markets. The river is part of a European Union transport network called Corridor VII.

This corridor connects the Adriatic and Black seas, running through Italy, Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. The corridor is part of a larger European project to improve road, rail and waterway connections across the continent.

Serbia is doubling its efforts to strengthen water transport. The European Investment Bank’s development arm, EIB Global, has supported this process by investing €131 million in two separate loans in 2018 and 2023 to rehabilitate the country’s waterways.

The European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility also gave a €11.4 grant and technical support for the rehabilitation plans. EIB Advisory staff, via the JASPERS programme, played a key role as well, offering guidance to Serbian transport offices as they used the EU grant.  

Co-financed by the European Commission, the JASPERS programme (Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions) advises on strategies and projects that contribute to a greener, more connected, and more innovative Europe.

“Our goal is to make the waterway sector more competitive, operational and sustainable,” - says Damien Sorrell, head of the European Investment Bank’s regional hub for the Western Balkans. “By shifting more cargo to river transport, we are reducing the environmental impact of freight. Safer and more efficient navigation is a shared objective across Europe, and Serbia plays an important role in advancing these efforts.”

Around 16 million tons of cargo are shipped annually at ports and other transfer points in Serbia. “We aim to increase this figure year by year,” - Banjac says. “We are modernising lock operations, upgrading port infrastructure and introducing advanced systems for monitoring and controlling waterway traffic.”

Using EIB financing and advisory assistance and a grant from the European Commission, both navigational locks at the Đerdap Gorge, known as the Iron Gates, have been renovated, with the final work completed in 2024.

They were built over 50 years ago to overcome a height difference on the river, which ranges from 21 to 34 meters, depending on the Danube’s flow.

The upgrades were long overdue to improve transport on this vital stretch of the Danube in eastern Serbia, near the Romanian border.

“Dams on rivers pose an obstacle to navigation because the water level upstream and downstream of the dam differs,” - says Vladimir Jovičić, general manager of Goša Montaža, the company responsible for the reconstruction project.

Navigational locks transfer boats and ships from one level of a dam to the other using a water chamber. When a boat enters the chamber, it fills with water or is drained to raise or lower a boat.

The locks in this area are large – the Titanic could fit inside the Iron Gates lock and still have more than 130 meters to spare. That’s like adding a whole football field behind the Titanic.

The modernisation has extended the lifespan of the locks by 30 to 40 years and increased their reliability.

“The increase in river traffic and cargo transport on the Danube has required improvements in the speed, safety and predictability of vessel movement, as these locks handle over 10 million tons of cargo annually,” - Jovičić says.

Many countries use the Danube River for shipping. Nearly 80% of all transport on the Danube in Serbia is international. The revitalisation of the locks is improving this traffic.

Transport delays have decreased significantly, and safety has increased. Energy efficiency has improved by 50%, resulting in annual savings of 400 MWh of electricity. These improvements are a result of a new hydraulic drive system, upgraded lighting and heating, as well as climate-control systems.

Maintenance costs have dropped by up to 30% because of the modernisation. The duration of one locking process at both locks has been reduced by about 25%.

“The automation and digitalisation technologies in this industry have undergone the most dramatic changes globally over the past decade,” -  Jovičić says: “They are now made available to our engineers.”

The new system is easier for operators to control.

“The visibility of the locking process has greatly improved,” - Jovičić says: “Many processes have been automated, which has tremendously reduced the operators’ workload, while increasing safety.”

Newer technologies, such as a navigational radar tool, marine traffic monitoring system, video surveillance and river information systems, help ship captains when they are steering and getting vessels into position for the locks, creating less waiting time.

“Thanks to an advanced graphical user interface that displays real-time traffic conditions, the boat masters are supported during the entire locking process,” - Jovičić says.

Another improvement involves the removal of German shipwrecks near Prahovo Port, located just downstream from the locks. These wrecks have been in the water since World War II.

The project to remove shipwrecks received a €16.5 million grant from the European Commission in July 2024 and a nearly €14 million loan from the European Investment Bank the same year. This work will make the waterway safer, especially when water levels are low.