Berlin: German Post delivers parcels with solar-powered ship
As early as this summer, the German postal service could shift its parcel shipments to the water. But some logistics questions still need to be clarified.
Waterways are increasingly being used for small deliveries. In London, for example, the logistics company DHL already delivers by mail boat. Now it is the turn of Berlin and Deutsche Post. In mid-May, it announced a project to shift part of its deliveries to the water. Now the entrepreneur announced the planned start date. From this autumn at the latest, Deutsche Post will use a solar-powered ship to transport parcels across the Spree.
The small ship, which is powered by solar cells, is to bring parcels across the Spree to moorings in the various parts of the city. The deliveries are then to be reloaded from the moorings onto transport vehicles for delivery. However, according to Deutsche Post, thorough discussions with the districts are to be held for this purpose. In particular, agreements are to be made regarding the necessary infrastructure for loading and unloading the ships. However, the starting point is already fixed. The fully loaded solar ship will depart from Berlin's Westhafen. Initially, it is planned that only one boat will go into operation for the first phase of the project.
But Deutsche Post is already dreaming of expanding and optimising the delivery system. The entrepreneur is not only planning to expand the fleet. But there is also talk of a transformation into a form of autonomous driving. Namely, the project is part of a joint research project in which, among others, the Technical University of Berlin is also involved. Called "Autonomous electric shipping on waterways in metropolitan regions" (A-Swarm), the project aims to use waterways as transport routes and thus relieve the burden on roads. "In metropolitan regions with an existing waterway infrastructure with low capacity utilisation, the transport mode ship usually offers massive free capacities for shifting freight traffic from congested roads to water," the "A-Swarm" website states.
If Deutsche Post's project goes according to plan, this could have a massive impact on the entire road transport system. By shifting the majority of mail deliveries to the water, not only would the roads be used by significantly fewer delivery vehicles, but the Post would escape upcoming driving restrictions. In view of the increasing number of environmental zones, many postal vehicles that do not yet have an environmentally friendly drive system would no longer be able to reach many places.
In the case of a functioning already existing fluvial infrastructure, shifting to the water could be the solution for many logistics entrepreneurs. Because even if the river flows through an environmental zone, the emissions caused by river transport are currently not taken into account. But this does not mean that all sustainability projects should be put aside. Deutsche Post's more climate-friendly approach could be a good starting point from which other companies can draw inspiration.