Bulgarian Ports
Infrastructure Company

For skippers and logistics partners, up-to-date information is indispensable for reliable route and voyage planning. Access to static and dynamic information that gives actual, 24/7 insight on the situation of the waterways is of utmost importance. In recent years, a partnership of 13 European countries has therefore set up a completely new online environment to provide this: EuRIS – European River Information Services.

The platform at www.eurisportal.eu will help inland waterway users to plan their voyage and arrival times throughout Europe in a user-friendly portal.

Formerly skippers had to consult numerous websites and information sources to retrieve all relevant information, especially when travelling cross-border. EuRIS offers one-stop-shopping for all relevant fairway and traffic related information by combining the data of 13 countries at one platform.

Real-time information

Skippers and other users can at any time collect real-time information and gain insight in the actual traffic situation on their sailing route, waiting times, incidents or disruptions that affect the travel time. They can also share information with others, for example their ETA. This is offered in a protected environment, so that the privacy of all users is guaranteed.  

Interconnected inland waterway network in Europe

The platform covers the major interconnected inland waterway network in Europe. This includes the 7 main corridors (Rhine, Danube, Elbe, Moselle, Dunkirk – Scheldt, Amsterdam - Antwerp – Liège, Amsterdam - Antwerp – Brussels) and much more.

The current partnership consists of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. The cooperation resulted in this jointly designed transboundary system, which is unique in its span and high added-value services.  The countries will continue their partnership to further develop the platform in the upcoming years, depending on the needs and user demands.

Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company is the Bulgarian beneficiary

The international platform with continuous access to static and dynamic information on European and inland waterways has been developed and implemented within the RIS COMEX project, where the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company is the Bulgarian beneficiary. The RIS COMEX project was financed by the Connecting Europe Mechanism and aims at the introduction of sustainable functioning of the river information services at Corridor level. The project implementation is expected to result in a better planning of the transportation on the inland waterways, reduction of the waiting and travel times, effective performance of inland navigation and mitigation of the administrative barriers. The final event under this project took place on 29.09.2022 in Berlin, Germany.