Coast­er MS Danio from Schwedt to Eng­land (07.04.2011)

The board of the Nation­al Park Foun­da­tion Unteres Oder­tal, Dr. Ans­gar Vöss­ing, wel­comed the suc­cess­ful trips of the coast­er MS Danio in unin­ter­rupt­ed trans­port from the bul­wark of the LEIPA paper mill to Eng­land as a far-sight­ed deci­sion of the paper mill. An effi­cient and prof­itable indus­try is the pre­req­ui­site for suc­cess­ful nature con­ser­va­tion in Ger­many. It is sen­si­ble to use the exist­ing water­ways instead of the over­crowd­ed motor­ways for com­mer­cial traf­fic and to make selec­tive improve­ments, for exam­ple dredg­ing, where they are necessary.

The suc­cess­ful voy­ages of the Danio also show that the pre­vi­ous­ly planned max­i­mum expan­sion of the Hohen­saat­en-Friedrich­sthaler water­way between the port of Schwedt and the West­oder to 4.50 m depth and 55 m width is not nec­es­sary for unin­ter­rupt­ed traf­fic with coast­ers between the paper mills and Eng­land . There are already coast­ers that are adapt­ed to the giv­en water­ways. In addi­tion, LEIPA has had the con­struc­tion plans for new, adapt­ed coast­ers in the draw­er for a long time. It is grat­i­fy­ing that eco­nom­ic effec­tive­ness and nature con­ser­va­tion con­sid­er­a­tions are not mutu­al­ly exclu­sive, but rather go hand in hand.

In this con­text, Fed­er­al Trans­port Min­is­ter Peter Ram­sauer (CSU) deserves express praise. He is the first Fed­er­al Min­is­ter of Trans­port in twen­ty years who has enough insight and courage to no longer expand the water­ways accord­ing to the sup­ply, but to the needs. In view of a declin­ing pop­u­la­tion and an exor­bi­tant nation­al debt, we can no longer afford to waste mon­ey any more. Peo­ple who are for­ev­er yes­ter­day may con­tin­ue to polemi­cize against this far-sight­ed deci­sion. But the future belongs to you.