A milestone in development of the European waterway network for 3000-tonne barges and push-tows was marked on Tuesday October 4 when the 36m-high Niederfinow shiplift was officially opened.
The first vessel to pass through the new lift, with its striking architecture, was the Waterway Authority’s own icebreaker Frankfurt . Barges and tankers up to 115m long can now transport cargoes between the Polish port of Szceczin and Berlin and far beyond. When we visited the site in May 2022, before attending the World Canals Conference in Leipzig, we saw that even a single-barge Polish push-tow had to split to pass through the original lift, opened in 1933, with its usable length of only 83.50m.
Thanks to the new lift, completing more than 40 years of works throughout the Mittelland Canal and the Havel-Oder Canal from the Rhine to the river Oder, Berlin is now uniquely placed for a revival of its historic status as a strategic inland port. The new lift will significantly boost waterborne trade between the Polish port of Stettin and Berlin, including river-sea vessels. Such vessels are expected to expand trade with the Scandinavian countries and the UK.