The project aims to facilitate a balanced development of Danube Ports as eco-friendly, well accessible multimodal hubs for the transport system of the region and to turn Danube Ports into buzzing economic centres functioning as catalysts for economic growth and creation of high value jobs. The project will establish a well-managed and permanent working platform which tackles the most urgent insufficiencies with the help of guidelines, recommendations and concrete pilot activities based on best practices and leading into an overall development strategy and action plan. The solutions elaborated by the consortium will be shared with more than 60 Danube ports as possible blueprints. Improved coordination and transnational integration achieved via pilot actions and common tools developed by private and public members of the port community will lead to joint solutions for revising and harmonizing port legislation, port administration and port management in the entire Danube region.

DAPhNE facilitates Danube ports to become key-elements of a more efficient and sustainable transport network in the Danube region. In order to fully exploit their economic potential and to transform them into eco-friendly multimodal hubs, a more dynamic and more harmonized development as regards infrastructure and service levels are required. Ports from the Upper Danube will cooperate with those from the Central & Lower Danube to support them in improving the regulatory framework, as well as port management and port development practice. Best Practices, guidelines, recommendations and several tools will be developed and disseminated into the port community by establishing a Port Network in order to eliminate the gaps between the stakeholders, both from public and private sectors. Special attention will be paid to the improvement of the eco-performance of the ports in order to contribute to the ecological balance of the river and to improve the situation of the port municipalities.

There are approximately 70 ports along 2.414 km length of Danube and out of these only those in Germany and Austria display an adequate level of infrastructure, modern facilities and technologies that allow them to provide high-quality transport & logistics services with a substantially reduced negative effect on environment. Ports downstream of Austria are facing a series of drawbacks that prevent the Danube waterway from being used to its full potential as key transport corridor. There is the issue of poor access infrastructure linking the ports to other major transport modes (roads and rail). To this, obsolete port infra- & super-structure, outdated equipment and insufficient waterway maintenance is added. Due to diverse legal & regulatory frameworks applicable in the region, there is a high diversity of ownership and administrative & operational models, which make private investments into the ports as well as the provision of high quality services rare and difficult. Although there are EU funding programs available for port projects, the lack of human resources and/or expertise on the level of current managers of the public ports has resulted in very low absorption and in a limited number of success-stories regarding port upgrade & development initiatives. Owing to the authorities’ lack of knowledge, there have also been very few attempts at creating more adequate legal and financial frameworks that allow and encourage private sector investments in port infra- & superstructure. The functioning of Danube Ports at a level equal to their Western European counterparts shall be ensured by creating a project platform for a permanent port network which facilitates a transnational strategy and targeted actions to improve the current situation. DAPhNE will operate this network and produce tangible results in port legislation, port administration, management & development, turning Danube ports into catalyst of sustainable economic growth in the entire Danube region.

“DAPhNE – Danube Ports Network” project is co-funded by European Union Funds (ERDF, IPA) under the Danube Transnational Programme and will run for 30 months (January 2017 – June 2019). The project is implemented by a transnational consortium of 16 co-funded organisations and 7 associated strategic partners (public authorities, consulting companies, universities and NGOs) from 9 European countries (AT, SK, HU, HR, RS, RO, BG, UK, MD). The project has a total budget of 2.985.406,15 Euro, out of which ERDF contribution amounts 2.415.219,42 Euro & IPA contribution amounts 122.375,77 Euro.
National Company Maritime Danube Ports Administration Galati participate as a partner in the Consortium's project Danube Ports Network - Daphne (Network Ports Danube), organized by Pro Danube International (Austria), financed under the Danube Transnational Program.

Total Budget: 2.985.406,15 Euro
CN APDM SA Galati Budget: 237.696,00 Euro
Funds from UE-FEDR (85%): 202.041,60 Euro
Co national funding MDRT(13%): 30.900,48 Euro
Own sources Co national funding (2%): 4.753,92 Euro