About Binnenschifffahrt

Binnenschifffahrt

Binnenschifffahrt — das Magazin für Technik und Logistik — is the monthly specialist magazine for inland navigation and the maritime economy, published by the Schiffahrts-Verlag "Hansa" in Hamburg. In its 81st volume in 2026, it is the only monthly trade journal of its industry: the magazine for all topics of the maritime economy, informing the industry's decision-makers each month about the developments and trends in shipping, shipbuilding and ship technology, in the ports and on the waterways. With a monthly distributed circulation of 4,394 copies (3rd quarter 2025), it serves the readership of executives and decision-makers in the maritime economy. Under editor-in-chief Michael Meyer, with Peter Kleinort as responsible editor since August 2025, the magazine carries the official-organ status for a whole flotilla of industry institutions — from the Rhine-Main-Danube waterway association to the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine in Strasbourg.

Overview

The inland waterway is Europe's freight artery: the Rhine, the Danube, the canal network carrying the bulk goods, the containers, and the project cargoes. Binnenschifffahrt addresses the people who operate this system — the shipowners, the port operators, the logistics providers, the shipyards, and the authorities — with the monthly magazine's program: shipping, ship technology, logistics, shortsea, waterways, ports, and law. The standing sections — the Buyers Guide and the job market — make each issue the industry's working instrument: the suppliers' directory and the personnel exchange alongside the journalism.

The readership is the maritime economy's leadership: the executives and decision-makers in all branches of the industry. The official-organ flotilla deserves its institutional portrait. The nine bodies span the inland navigation's governance: the Deutscher Wasserstraßen- und Schifffahrtsverein Rhein-Main-Danube — the waterway association for the Main-Danube canal corridor; the Europäische Binnenschifffahrts-Union — the European industry union in Brussels and Rotterdam; the Hafenschifffahrtsverband Hamburg — the port-shipping association; the Moselkommission in Trier — the Moselle river commission; PIANC — the Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses, the waterway engineers' world association; the Verein für europäische Binnenschiffahrt und Wasserstraßen in Duisburg — the Duisburg-based European inland-navigation and waterways association; the Zentralkommission für die Rheinschifffahrt in Strasbourg — the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, the world's oldest international organization still in operation; the Berufsgenossenschaft für Fahrzeughaltungen in Hamburg — the employers' liability association; and the Deutscher Fähr-Verband in Rüdesheim — the ferry association. For the magazine, these statuses mean the guaranteed institutional readership and the authoritative access; for the associations, the professional communication channel to the industry. No other German trade journal carries such a broad official-organ portfolio. The annual subscription costs 136 euros domestically, 186 abroad.

History

The magazine's 81st volume in 2026 dates its founding to the mid-1940s — the postwar reconstruction years when the inland waterways carried the rebuilding. The Hansa publishing house's 160-year history frames the magazine's standing. Founded in 1864 for the "HANSA – Zeitschrift für deutsches Seewesen," the Schiffahrts-Verlag Hansa has published maritime journalism through the German Empire, the world wars, and the container age: the Hansa – International Maritime Journal today ranks among the leading international maritime trade journals. The Binnenschifffahrt — the inland-navigation monthly — complements the seagoing flagship: the rivers and the seas under the one Hamburg roof, with the Hansa-Forum conference (since 1997) as the industry's annual meeting place. The Tamm family's publishing — Prof. Peter Tamm's era and Peter Tamm jun.'s leadership with Thomas Bantle — continues the house's maritime specialization: the small, focused publisher (eleven employees on annual average in 2017) serving the global shipping industry's German-language core. The late Prof. Peter Tamm — the Hamburg shipping publisher — was the magazine's publisher (Herausgeber); the management (Geschäftsführung) is listed as Peter Tamm.

Kleinort's 2025 arrival as responsible editor brought the newsroom pedigree to the trade journal: the former Financial Times Deutschland and Deutsche Verkehrs-Zeitung editor, the former Täglicher Hafenbericht editor, and Hamburg's former deputy senate spokesman — the political-communication experience meeting the maritime journalism. His appointment signals the publisher's editorial investment in the title's ninth decade: the inland navigation's current transformation — the fleet's decarbonization, the waterways' digitalization, the low-water adaptation — demands the journalistic depth the new responsible editor's career represents. Together with Meyer and Westerkamp, the Hamburg editorial team covers the industry from the Elbe to the Danube: the monthly issues, the daily portal news, and the newsletter briefings. The publisher's leadership: Thomas Bantle and Peter Tamm jun. The magazine's eight decades track the inland navigation's transformation: from the postwar bulk trades through the containerization to the current decarbonization and digitalization.

Coverage and Content

Each monthly DIN-A4 issue covers the maritime economy's agenda. The shipping coverage treats the industry's business: the freight markets, the fleet developments, the company strategies, and the personnel. The ship-technology coverage addresses the engineering: the propulsion systems — increasingly the alternative fuels and the electrification — the shipbuilding, and the retrofits. The logistics coverage follows the cargo flows: the combined transport, the port hinterland connections, and the supply chains. The shortsea coverage treats the coastal shipping. The waterways coverage addresses the infrastructure: the locks, the fairways, the low-water challenges, and the waterway administrations. The ports coverage follows the terminals: the investments, the handling, and the port politics. The law coverage treats the regulation: the Rhine navigation law, the EU rules, and the labor law.

The standing sections complete the program: the Buyers Guide — the industry's supplier directory — the job market, and the fairs and events. The magazine's self-description — "independently and solidly researched, bringing the industry's topics to the point, convincing with an appealing layout" — names the editorial standard. The e-mail newsletter (2,105 recipients) and the portal extend the monthly rhythm into the continuous flow: the daily news from shipping, personnel, ship technology, finance, insurance, offshore, and ports, complemented by the Buyers Guide and the job exchange.

Organization and Ownership

Binnenschifffahrt is published by the Schiffahrts-Verlag "Hansa" GmbH & Co. KG, the Hamburg specialist publisher for maritime trade journals and events, founded in 1864. The publisher's leadership: Thomas Bantle and Peter Tamm jun.; the magazine's publisher (Herausgeber) was the late Prof. Peter Tamm. The editor-in-chief is Michael Meyer; the responsible editor since August 2025 is Peter Kleinort; Jannik Westerkamp serves as editor; Benjamin Felgner advises the advertisers.

Commercially, the magazine follows the B2B trade-press model: subscriptions from the maritime economy's companies and institutions — the 136-euro domestic annual price — and advertising from the industry's suppliers: the shipyards, the engine manufacturers, the equipment makers, the ports, and the service providers. The official-organ statuses — the nine associations and commissions from Nuremberg to Strasbourg — provide the institutional circulation base and the credibility. The media data document the reach: 4,394 distributed copies monthly (Q3 2025), some 24,621 page impressions per month on the portal, and 2,105 newsletter recipients.

Digital Presence

The brand's digital home is binnenschifffahrt-online.de, the portal for the maritime economy: the daily current news from shipping, personnel, ship technology, finance, insurance, offshore, and ports, complemented by the Buyers Guide and the job exchange. The e-mail newsletter delivers the regular briefing to the 2,105 subscribers. The e-paper serves the digital issue readers; the archive (for subscribers) documents the volumes.

The digital strategy follows the trade-press logic: the print monthly for the curated industry reading — the 81st volume's DIN-A4 issues — the portal for the daily news flow, the newsletter for the briefing, and the Buyers Guide and job exchange as the digital services. As the inland navigation's monthly magazine — from the postwar founding through eight decades to the decarbonization present — Binnenschifffahrt remains the industry's medium: the decision-makers' monthly, the associations' organ, the waterway's journal — in print from Hamburg, daily on binnenschifffahrt-online.de.