Motorway of the Sea

The “Motorways of the Sea” concept aims to introduce new intermodal maritime-based logistics chains in Europe, to improve EU transport organisation. These chains will be more sustainable, and should be commercially more efficient than road-only transport.
Motorways of the Sea will thus improve access to markets throughout Europe, and bring relief to over-stretched European road system. For this purpose, fuller use will have to be made not only of maritime transport resources, but also of the potential in rail and inland waterways, as part of an integrated transport chain.

The concept was introduced with the 2001 Transport White Paper- European transport policy for 2010: time to decide. The European Commission proposed the development of “Motorways of the Sea” as a “real competitive alternative to land transport The White Paper also defined that the Motorways of the Sea should be part of the trans-European network (TEN-T) and funds should be made available for its development.