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TNO (Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO) is one of the major contract research organisations in Europe. With a staff of approximately 3500 and an annual turnover of 580 million Euros, TNO is carrying out research in order to achieve impact on the following seven themes: Healthy Living, Industrial Innovation, Transport and Mobility, Energy, Built Environment, Information Society, and Defence, Safety and Security.

TNO functions as an intermediary between basic research organisations and industry. By translating scientific knowledge into practical applications, TNO contributes to the innovation capacity of (small and medium sized) businesses and government. TNO is involved in many international projects (about 30% of the market turnover), including EU-funded collaborations.

In the theme of Energy, applied research is carried out in cooperation with the industry, in the areas of Energy Efficiency, Oil and Gas, Raw Materials and Maritime and Offshore. The expertise covers relevant technological aspects as well as the influence of human behaviour.

In the research group of Maritime and Offshore, the main activities include laboratory facilities for experimental test and trials (mechanical and human), the facilitation of alternative solutions within prevailing regulations and the development of new technologies and calculation models. TNO provides knowledge and solutions for the sustainable exploration of the world’s oceans with a strong focus on:

-           Safe, reliable and cost-effective man-machine operations in extreme environments;

-           Development of sustainable solutions and a license to operate;

-           Prediction and extension of life-time asset performance.

TRE-ALTAMIRA is the largest InSAR group worldwide. With over 15 years of experience, it is globally recognised as the world leader in measuring ground displacement with millimetric precision using satellite radar data for a variety of sectors. For the Transport industry ground motion studies using InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) technology provide crucial information to detect displacement related to infrastructure projects and can be implemented during all stages, from planning through to construction and maintenance.

 Radar imagery processing is the core competence of TRE-ALTAMIRA. Its team’s excellent and current knowledge of InSAR is the key to its success and growth in both commercial contracts and publicly funded projects. TRE-ALTAMIRA is a CLS group company with offices in Milan, Barcelona and Vancouver.

The Transport Systems Laboratory of the University of Piraeus has been actively involved in the shipping and transport industry research. The TSL team  has coordinated and/or actively led flagship projects of the European Commission including PROPS, eFreight, eMAR, Contain, SUPPORT, MEDITA, TRAINMOS-II, and has also worked in a series of relevant European projects related to maritime, mobile communications, satellite communications, e-Business, e-Government, Shipping & Transport digital applications. 

The Valenciaport Foundation for Research, Promotion and Commercial Studies of the Valencian region (Valenciaport Foundation) is a non-profit private entity. It has been conceived to further expand the reach of the logistics-ports community by serving as a research, training and cooperation centre of excellence.

CEF project

Watertruck (www.watertruck.eu) is an innovative concept for the transport of goods on small waterways (CEMT I-IV) which can unlock the economic potential of a region by using small, self-propelled or unpropelled barges.

The concept, combined with small or large, environmentally friendly pushers, allows for a maximal flexibility of operations whilst maintaining a maximal regional scope, linking the small inland waterways to the TEN-T core network and vice versa, according to the TEN-T corridor principle of the European Commission.

The Watertruck+ project, a TEN-T/CEF project, aims to do just that. The goal is to provide the market with the tools for the construction of a fleet of 500 vessels, rolling out the Watertruck concept across the various European regions.

As a first step, certain standards will be established in order to reduce production costs and improve the interoperability of the vessels, both in terms of sailing areas and in terms of cargo type. As a proof of concept, a small fleet of 28 barges and 3 pushers will be constructed and deployed in a large-scale trial phase, shipping some 1,6 million tonnes of cargo per year.

The results of the trial phase will be combined with a financial toolbox, to create a Master Plan which will contain business cases for theconstruction and financing of a large European fleet of Watertruck+ vessels.