How to navigate? The rules of inland navigation in Europe

The European Code for inland waterways (CEVNI) contains a set of harmonized rules for inland navigation providing model rules for national and international legislation and relate to rules of the road, signalling on inland waterways, night and day time marking of vessels as well as waterway signs and marking. The Code is complemented by the regional and national special requirements, which are tailored to the specific navigational conditions of a particular waterway.

 

The Guidelines for Waterway Signs and Marking (SIGNI) establish homogeneous rules for waterway signs and marking as well as for their visibility and installation. This instrument is complemented by Guidelines for Waterway Signs and Marking - Resolution No. 59.

 

The Standardized UNECE Vocabulary for Radio-Connections in Inland Navigation (Resolution No. 35) contains standardized phrases in Dutch, English, French, German and Russian recommended for usage by crew members and shore based personnel during radio communications in order to avoid language barriers.

The full list of the UNECE instruments dealing with the status and parameters of European network of Inland Waterways is available here.