The first issue of the AUTOFLEX Newsletter is out now! You're interested in the Newsletter but have not yet signed up for it? Go to the AUTOFLEX Homepage and read it there. https://lnkd.in/dYTb6mNt #newsletter #iwt While you're there, you can sign up for the newsletter and have it directly send to your inbox. SINTEF Ocean Maritime Robotics AS Fraunhofer CML Institut für Strukturleichtbau und Energieeffizienz gGmbH (ISE) DST - Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems National Technical University of Athens / Maritime Risk Group (MRG) Zero Emission Services DFDS North Sea Port
About us
AUTOFLEX is a European Research Project facilitating the transition to climate-friendly, flexible, and resilient transportation. In the project, new inland cargo vessels are being developed that can reliably carry out transport services in small waterways, even in confined waters and in extreme-low water situations. New distribution hubs are designed as an interface to road transport, which will ensure both cargo transshipment and zero-emission energy supply for the ships and trucks at the same time. Geographically, the two use cases of AUTOFLEX are situated in the Randstad Holland region around Amsterdam and the other three major cities of the Netherlands, and in the East Flemish city of Ghent. AUTOFLEX is funded with 4.5 million euros over a period of three years by the European Commission in its Horizon Europe program under Grant Agreement no. 101136257.
- Industry
- Research Services
- Company size
- 11-50 employees
- Specialties
- maritime, inland, MASS, autonomy, logistics, IWT, modal shift, research, and innovation
Updates
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How to disrupt the status quo of container transport in densely populated areas? The answer might lie in autonomous, zero-emission inland waterway transport (#IWT). Early in the second project year, Work Package 5 of the AUTOFLEX project officially kicked off, focusing on Realising the Modal Shift (Business Models, Impacts, Standards, and Recommendations). WP5 is all about making the AUTOFLEX HEU Project Transport System a viable alternative to road transport only by developing business models and demonstrating improved logistical, environmental, and commercial performance for a system that includes small autonomous vessels for IWT. A key challenge is proving that the system can integrate seamlessly into existing logistics and ICT systems. Stay tuned as we push the boundaries of innovation in inland shipping! #inlandshipping #zeroemission SINTEF Ocean DFDS National Technical University of Athens / Maritime Risk Group (MRG) Institut für Strukturleichtbau und Energieeffizienz gGmbH (ISE) Maritime Robotics AS Fraunhofer CML DST - Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems Zero Emission Services North Sea Port
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AUTOFLEX is part of the Inland Waterway Transport Projects Cooperation Platform! We're looking forward to collaborate with the other projects and we at AUTOFLEX will be more than happy to share our results with you and revolutionise inland waterways! SINTEF Ocean DFDS National Technical University of Athens / Maritime Risk Group (MRG) DST - Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems Maritime Robotics AS Institut für Strukturleichtbau und Energieeffizienz gGmbH (ISE) Fraunhofer CML Zero Emission Services North Sea Port
𝗜𝗻𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱! ▶️ https://iwtprojects.eu/ The Inland Waterway Transport (IWT) Projects Cooperation Platform was officially launched today at the occasion of the #waterbornedays in Brussels. It brings together 𝟯𝟳 projects to create synergies, boost the impact and visibility. The Platform provides a unique overview of a collaborative ecosystem of EU funded projects in the field of research, innovation and demonstration in IWT. As a hub for European research, development and innovation projects for IWT, the Platform provides information on the ongoing projects. It also creates an environment where project coordinators and consortia connect, share insights and best practices, and strategically align their objectives. It addresses critical industry needs, such as deployment of zero-emission technologies, improving digitalisation, ensuring climate resilient infrastructure, enhancing logistics and a quality workforce. By providing a common space, the platform empowers stakeholders to overcome market barriers, support research work and to jointly make recommendations for policy measures. This Platform increases visibility of innovative projects to a broad range of stakeholders. It is also foreseen to jointly organise dissemination and stakeholder events. By driving collaboration, raising synergies and making joint recommendations, the IWT Projects Cooperation Platform contributes to shaping the future of inland waterway transport!
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Thanks for hosting such a nice event and putting the AUTOFLEX Project in the spotlight! #waterborne #inlandwaterway #autoflex
🌊Looking back to the #WaterborneDays 2025! What an incredible start to two days of inspiration and collaboration in Brussels. Day 1 brought together leaders from across the waterborne world to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the sector: decarbonisation, innovation, and resilience. Highlights from Day 1: 🚢 Opening Session: Industry leaders like Magda Kopczyńska (DG MOVE) and Rosalinde van der Vlies (DG RTD) set the tone for a future of sustainable waterborne transport. 💬 Keynote Speech: Minister Christos Stylianides reminded us of shipping's vital role in global trade and resilience. He said, “The Waterborne TP is the key actor to have member states and all the actors joint forces, come together in this rapidly evolving waterborne setting.” ⚙️ Panel Discussions: Experts explored alternative fuels and pathways to a greener waterborne future. The workshop on sustainable fuels was particularly insightful, offering solutions from policy to finance. The energy in the room was palpable, and the commitment to a sustainable future was clear. #HorizonEurope #ZEWTPartnership #MaritimeInnovation #SustainableTransport
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What exactly is a Temporary Port Terminal? How could last-mile delivery be optimised using Mobile Distribution Centres? Where a the best locations for Stow & Charge in the Use Case area? Very important questions for the AUTOFLEX Project. Yesterday a team of Work Package 3 met in Duisburg to discuss details, concepts and strategies for the novel AUTOFLEX Transport System. Learn more about the AUTOFLEX Building Blocks at https://lnkd.in/d9nnt23G.
AUTOFLEX transport system is taking shape Live from the HaFoLa Port Research Lab: The AUTOFLEX team members from SINTEF Ocean, DFDS, and DST - Entwicklungszentrum für Schiffstechnik und Transportsysteme e. V. have come together to discuss the AUTOFLEX transport system components and develop potential scenarios in the AUTOFLEX use case areas. Defining the precise scope of the innovative system components and determining their role in the different scenarios to be examined in the later course of the project was on the agenda today. Tomorrow, a set of field trips in and around #Duisburg will complement the agenda and allow the researchers develop and finetune their solutions. AUTOFLEX HEU Project is a three-year research project on temporary port terminals, mobile distribution centers, and stow & charge services belong to the AUTOFLEX transport system – along with small, flexible, autonomous, and zero-emission inland vessels. #DST #dstduisburg #smartshipping #logistics #binnenschifffahrt #inlandwaterwaytransport #iwt #portlogistics #autoflex #horizoneurope #innovation 📷 DST
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AUTOFLEX HEU Project is proud to be part of WaterborneTP-Days. If you're attending, we invite you to visit the room where we're presenting alongside other outstanding EU-funded projects. It’s a great opportunity to explore innovative ideas and connect with inspiring initiatives. Feel free to reach out to Jonathan Weisheit and Odd Erik Mørkrid — they’d be happy to connect and discuss more about our work. #WaterborneDays #EUProjects #Innovation #AUTOFLEX #waterborne
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We invite all participants to join the 'PROJECTS in the SPOTLIGHT' Session on Day 2! AUTOFLEX HEU Project is joining the WaterborneTP Days 2025. Simon Veil Room at 10:00! Odd Erik Mørkrid from SINTEF Ocean and Jonathan Weisheit from Fraunhofer CML will give a project overview and are looking forward to meeting you there.
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Long before AUTOFLEX was the AUTOFLEX HEU Project two use case areas were identified as highly interesting. Several facts and findings about the two use case areas have confirmed the correctness of the selection of both and motivated the further development of the envisioned AUTOFLEX transport service. Shout-out to lead author DST - Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems! Our latest deliverable presents the inland waterways of the relevant use cases with detailed information on fairway parameters for efficient sailing, relevant berths and transshipment points for vessel and cargo handling, and locks, and weirs as well as bridges and overhead structures with their precise technical and organisational requirement. The deliverable includes a series of exemplary transport cases with the pertaining transport routes and residual information about the envisioned waterborne transport service. #iwt #iww #transportservice SINTEF Ocean DFDS National Technical University of Athens / Maritime Risk Group (MRG) Maritime Robotics AS Institut für Strukturleichtbau und Energieeffizienz gGmbH (ISE) Fraunhofer CML DST - Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems Zero Emission Services North Sea Port
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AUTOFLEX HEU Project is proud to join the upcoming Waterborne Days. While you are there, do not miss the opportunity to learn about the objectives and ambitions of AUTOFLEX. We'll bring a roll-up, some flyers, an all new project video and two delegates of the project will be around!
11 Days from now, we will kick-off the second edition of the Waterborne days. With 450 registrations received, 70 speakers confirmed and around 25 different sessions over 2 days, it will be the key event of the 20th anniversary of the WaterborneTP. This event would not have been possible without the sponsors and projects participating to the exhibition during the event. The programme, and further information, is available here: https://lnkd.in/eEQpfxP4 #HorizonEurope #EUPartnerships
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What is the transport demand within the AUTOFLEX use cases and what cargo is actually suitable to be shifted from road to water? Our new deliverable D2.2 Market Analysis is analysing the transport demand in areas important for AUTOLFEX. Regarding the observed transport of different commodity groups, a clear picture cannot be obtained. It is not the case that inland waterway #IWW dominates bulk cargo, unitised cargo is present as well. Several different types of cargo are transported on different modes of transport, neither does any single commodity nor one transport mode stand out. In summary, the study shows that there is a significant opportunity for a modal shift from road to inland waterways. Besides costs which could be very competitive in the case of autonomous barges, quality issues to meet include flexibility and frequency, which could be achieved with a higher number of smaller vessels operating also on CEMT water class 2 inland waterways. Fraunhofer CML SINTEF Ocean DFDS National Technical University of Athens / Maritime Risk Group (MRG) Institut für Strukturleichtbau und Energieeffizienz gGmbH (ISE) DST - Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems Maritime Robotics AS Zero Emission Services North Sea Port
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