Ports on the Danube may be relocated from the city centre of Budapest
The Municipality of Budapest is planning major changes to the navigation sector. The local assembly has already approved plans to amend the so-called Danube Coast Building Code, which would almost completely ban boats from the city centre, mainly from the 13th district section of the Danube.
Many of the tourists arriving in Budapest try the cruises on the Danube. To make it safer, the capital may implement plans to reduce the number of ports in the city centre and build new ones in the suburbs, Portfolio reports.
Ports in Budapest may be relocated to the suburbs
Theoretically, the rules on navigation on the Danube in Budapest have been tightened, but hotel ships often do not respect them. This is the opinion of Botond Szalma, the former CEO of Mahart and former president of the Hungarian National Association of Navigation (MAHOSZ): “It would be good if the big hotel ships could be moved to Újpest Bay or the shores around Csepel and only be allowed to dock there. From there, smaller, typically Hungarian-operated boats should take tourists who want to go cruising.” This, he says, would avoid the turmoil and of course, the risks of sudden manoeuvres by large ships, referring to the 2019 tragedy of the Hableány.
The expert added that Mahart receives an annual dividend of HUF 3 billion (EUR 7.5 million) from the leasing of the ports, which could perhaps be used to build new ports on the southern and northern sections of the Danube in Budapest. According to him, building 10-15 such ports could solve the problems and the investments could be profitable in two years.
Under the amendments to the Danube Coastal Building Code, only 9 of the 24 ports in Újlipótváros, which are suitable for permanent docking, would remain, and these could only be used for embarking and disembarking. New marinas would be built on the Újpest and Csepel coastline to replace those that would be closed. The new rules would come into effect from 1 January 2025.
However, the new regulation is so flexible that the decision of the Municipal Assembly itself calls on the Mayor of the capital to examine the need for further measures by a working group consisting of representatives of the concerned district municipalities, shipping companies and public authorities, to address the need for further measures due to the tourism, transport and other uses that are also important for the economy of the capital, including in particular the possibilities of building new ports.
Party boats on the Danube also affected by the changes
The Municipal Assembly asked the Mayor of Budapest not to issue a public land use permit for the operation of “party boats” on the XIII. district’s coastline. Moreover, the possibility of docking these boats would be abolished in the case of noise violations.
Mihály Tóth said that together with Greenpeace and the Clean Air Action Group, they had repeatedly measured air pollution levels and had found that noise and pollution levels on the quayside spiked between 7 and 10 AM when there was no boat traffic. However, he acknowledged that the evening tourist boat traffic could indeed increase the number of people on the waterfront, but he did not believe that the solution was to ban tourists. “Every year, 5 million tourists come to Budapest, 4 million of whom take a boat trip on the Danube for a shorter or longer period, which brings significant revenue to the capital,” he argued.
Read also:
- Demonstration on the Danube: boatmen protest in Budapest – Read here
- Tourism in Hungary at huge risk: proposed changes threaten Danube’s future – Read here
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