6. Conclusion

Inland waterway transport has developed extensively on the world's major arteries, whether in China, the USA, Vietnam, South America or Europe, thanks to the junction of the Rhine system, easily connected to the three major ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp-Bruges and Amsterdam, with the Danube system, which explains why Dutch inland waterway transport is the leading mode of transport in Europe.

In France, after the decline caused by the shift in transport policy priorities from road to rail, with passenger transport taking precedence over freight, and the consequences of the oil shocks of the 1970s, river transport has largely recovered thanks to the creation of Voies Navigables de France in 1992 and policies to adapt fleets. In the space of just a few decades, this choice has modernized the sector and made it more competitive, under the impetus of transport policies...