The shipping industry on the Danube River is facing a deep crisis, prompting Europe's biggest carriers to turn to the European Union for help. Industry representatives demand immediate EU intervention to stabilize the situation, which threatens the sustainability of transportation in the region.

This is stated in the official announcement of the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company (UDP), which is based on a joint statement of the participants of the 66th Conference of Directors of Shipping Companies held in Romania. The participants of the conference emphasized that the critical situation in the river transport market requires an immediate response from the European institutions.

The main topic of discussion was the need to overcome the crisis, which became particularly acute due to the decrease in transportation volumes and the drop in freight rates. In particular, large companies are operating at a loss, and the financial reserves accumulated in 2022-2023 have already been exhausted. According to experts, the current crisis is more serious than the global financial crisis of 2008 and affects all market participants.

The UDP emphasizes that the situation worsened not only due to the resumption of the export of Ukrainian grain through the ports of Odessa, but also due to general problems in the Danube industrial cluster. High energy prices, increased environmental requirements and weak demand significantly reduced production activity. In particular, some key enterprises closed in 2022-2023, such as ISD Dunaferr in Hungary, and Liberty Galati in Romania is in difficult financial condition. In addition, the Austrian company Voestalpine is shutting down one of its blast furnaces, and US Steel in Kosice, Slovakia, is operating at partial capacity.

In addition to the problems in the industry, the logistics infrastructure is also undergoing significant changes. Over the past two years, alternative logistics chains have been established, displacing river transport from the key Danube port of Constanta. Now, most of the goods that used to be transported by river are transported by rail to other EU seaports.

UDP representatives note that 95% of container transportation is now carried out by rail, which further undermines the volume of river transportation. In addition, Constanta plans to increase tariffs by 20% from next year, which will only exacerbate the crisis for river operators.