Water Transportation

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Er. Yogesh K. Singh
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 Water Transportation
 Water transportation described as the movement of people and freight by boat, ship,
barge or sailboat across ocean, sea, lake, canal, or river, or through other modes of water
transportation. It is a vital method of transportation.
 Water transportation is the most cost-effective method of moving large, perishable, and
heavy products across long distances. This method of travel is mainly used to carry people,
as well as perishable and non-perishable items together referred to as cargo.
 Water transport is the most economical and historically significant method of transport. It
runs on a nature track and, with the exception of canals, does not need significant financial
expenditure in the building and maintenance of its route.
 Water transport also has a very low operating cost. It has the greatest load capacity and is
thus best suited to transporting huge quantities of heavy items across long distances. It has
been instrumental in bringing the world’s many regions closer together and is essential to
international commerce.

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Inland water transport (IWT)
• Inland water transport (IWT) is the movement of people and goods
on navigable waterways like rivers, canals, lakes, and other inland bodies of
water. Navigable waters are categorized based on their size, depth, and the
type of vessels they can support.
• Major categories include:
• Class I: Small rivers and canals suitable for vessels and barges with shallow
drafts.
• Class II and III: Larger rivers and canals that can accommodate medium-sized
vessels.
• Class IV to VI: Large rivers and waterways, capable of supporting substantial
commercial ships and bulk carriers.
• These categories help understand the capacity and capability of different
inland waterways to support various types of cargo and vessel sizes.
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Who is involved in inland water transportation?
• Who uses it: Manufacturers, industries, and businesses dealing with large quantities of
bulk goods like coal, iron ore, agricultural products, and construction materials heavily rely
on IWT.

• Manufacturers and industries often also own the quay facilities needed to load/unload the
goods at their sites, while other businesses often rely on the use of third-party
terminals/quays to connect the goods from waterway to shore and vice versa.

• Who operates it: Government agencies or private companies manage IWTs, depending on
the region. This can involve maintaining infrastructure, regulating traffic, and ensuring
safety.

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Why is inland water transport important in the supply chain?
Cost efficiency
• Lower infrastructure costs: Compared to building and maintaining roads and
railways, inland waterways are generally cheaper to develop and upkeep —
needing a terminal / quay side investment mostly.
• Bulk transportation: IWT excels at moving large volumes of bulk goods like
grains, ores, and construction materials over long distances. This translates to
significant cost savings per unit transported.
Environmental benefits
• Reduced congestion: By taking bulk goods off roads, IWT helps alleviate traffic
congestion on highways and railways, improving overall supply chain
efficiency.
• Lower greenhouse gas emissions: Compared to trucks, barges and other
vessels used in IWT produce less air and noise pollution. It is also more fuel-
efficient than land vehicles.
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Resilience and reliability
• Alternative route: IWT provides an alternate solution for transporting goods, which can be
crucial during disruptions in land-based transportation systems due to bad weather,
accidents, or infrastructure issues.
• Enhanced capacity: Inland waterways can transport heavy cargo that may be impractical
or too expensive to transport by land. This is especially important for industries like
construction and manufacturing.
• High/low water situations: IWT will be impacted by either low water (need to lighten the
ships to reduced draft) or high water (reduced air draft under bridges, limiting load out of
vessels as well). While a low water situation that fully prohibits navigation at a period of
time is rare, it can occur with the need of replanning cargo until water levels improve
again.
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Inland Waterways In Nepal: Brief introduction
Realizing the possibility of water transport, the Government of Nepal
had established Nepal Shipping Office (NSO) on Feb 2019 with mandate
of both developing inland water transport as well as shipping in
international water.
Number of mechanized boat are in operation mostly for passenger
transportation and recreational purposes mainly on the Koshi River and
Narayani (Gandak) River.
For the proper regulation of the vessels, the enactment of updated
Shipping Act is in the process.
Planning for the registration of sea going ships.

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Potential in Nepal
Most of the rivers in Nepal originate from the Himalayan range and all these
rivers drain southwards to the Ganga.
Bathymetric surveys and feasibility study of navigation in various large rivers
in Nepal.
In average 70-90 % of river length has depth more than 2 m in major rivers in
Nepal, Koshi, Narayani (Gandak) and Karnali.
The navigation of up to 100 Ton vessel seems feasible in most of the large
rivers in Nepal but sufficient construction works will be needed.
Development of waterways in Koshi and Narayani river in certain stretches
has been planned.
Experience of coastal countries like India and Bangladesh in water transport
will be very helpful for Nepal.
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Possibility of Cross-boarder Water Transport
Government of India is developing Ganga river as NW1.

Identified Gandak and Koshi as feasible waterways for ships up to 100 ton. And
listed Ghaghra river (Known as Karnali in Nepal) as viable waterway.

The use of waterways of India was included in recently signed Treaty of Transit,
between Nepal and India and an intermodal terminal is also under construction in
Kalughat in Ganga River.

Development of waterways in Koshi or Gandaki river from boarder of Nepal to

Ganga river will create better connectivity to the sea through water and reduces the
transportation cost significantly
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Challenges
•Lack of Feasibility Studies: Insufficient assessments of the potential for cross-border
river connectivity.
•Absence of Legal and Policy Frameworks: Lack of regulatory frameworks on water
transport discourages transboundary navigation discussions with neighboring countries.
•Infrastructure Challenges: Large-scale projects like high dams and embankments are
politically sensitive, as seen with the proposed Saptakoshi High Dam.
•Historical Controversies: Water-related issues and past treaties, particularly with
India, have created public distrust regarding new agreements.
•Trade Infrastructure and Procedures: Challenges include:
•Establishing integrated customs points.
•Addressing procedural complexities in transshipment and liability regimes in multi-
modal systems.
•Meeting documentary requirements for cross-border trade.

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Challenges
Barrage in Indo-Nepal boarder in Koshi and Gandak River and irrigation
canal.

High sedimentation in river.

High investment and operation cost. (Dredging, channeling, spur etc)

Low water level in the river during dry season.

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THANK YOU
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