Cooperation and International Projects

In cooperation with the Institute of Ship Technology, Ocean Engineering and Transport Systems (ISMT), the DST organises the annual “Duisburg Ship Technology/Maritime Engineering Colloquium”. This is a two-day scientific conference at which current topics are examined. In 2019, the international collo­quium took place for the fortieth time and focused on concepts for reducing emissions.

In 2019 the “AISS 2019 – Autonomous Inland and Short Sea Shipping Conference” was held for the first time. It deals with issues in the context of automated or autonomous inland and coastal navigation and was carried out in cooperation with the UDE, RWTH Aachen University and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Follow-up conferences are being planned.

The DST also plays an active role in the Johannes Rau Research Association (Johannes-Rau-Forschungsgemeinschaft, JRF), organises conferences together with the JRF (e.g. in the “JRF-on-Site” format on “Logistics in Transition” in April 2019 and “Green & Smart Shipping in NRW” in November 2019) and participates in numerous events. The interdisciplinary composition of the institutes in particular opens up new opportunities for cooperation and gives rise to new ideas. Within just a few years, various cooperation projects have already been implemented or initiated.

In addition, DST research results are regularly presented at other international conferences. Through publications in peer-reviewed journals, magazines, conference proceedings, own publications and third-party publications as well as consultancy work, the DST is involved in a broad spectrum of public-relations work.

As already mentioned, the DST is also intensively involved in European research projects in various subject areas. It is also engaged in international consulting activity, including in recent years on the expansion of inland navigation in India. In addition, regular visits and consultations by national and international delegations take place in the DST, including in the context of the SANDRA simulator. These have included, for example, the Dutch waterways authority Rijkswaterstaat, the former Federal Ministers of Education and Research (Wanka) and Transport (Dobrindt), the new Secretary General of the Central Commission for Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR, Bruno Georges), delegations from the World Bank and the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and the PIANC working group on inland waterways.

In addition to the above-mentioned conferences, these activities particularly underline the international competitiveness of the DST.