Most collisions on inland waterways occur in daylight and in good visibility and it is here there is most scope for improvement. Elaborate traffic control schemes such as that planned for the Panama Canal may not be suitable on European rivers where the density of shipping is very high and the nature of the traffic mixed. Local control may be feasible, but between control areas vessels will have to rely on self-contained aids, ship-to-ship communications and local navigational rules to avoid collision. The congestion of traffic, particularly at Customs clearance points, must be relieved.

The paper discusses various aids to river-radar navigation, which are making fundamental changes in the methods on European inland waters.