CEVNI: The European Inland Waterways Code

Prerequisites

This lesson is part of the ICC (International Certificate of Competence) course. Before you start you should:

• Be comfortable with the basics of boat handling and the collision regulations at roughly Day Skipper or RYA Powerboat Level 2 / Inland Helmsman level.
• Know the main COLREGs ideas: lookout, safe speed, overtaking, head-on and crossing situations, and the standard navigation lights.
• Understand what the ICC is: a certificate issued under UNECE Resolution 40 that proves to a foreign authority that you are competent to skipper a pleasure craft. You need an inland category on that certificate, plus a pass in the CEVNI test, to use it on European rivers and canals.

No previous inland experience is needed. Many students meet canals and rivers for the first time on a charter, which is exactly why the CEVNI test exists.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• Explain what CEVNI is, who wrote it, and why it differs from the COLREGs.
• Name the main national and river codes built on CEVNI (BPR, RPR, BinSchStrO, RGP and others) and explain why you must check the local one.
• Use the key CEVNI definitions correctly, especially "small craft", "motorised vessel", "convoy", "fairway" and "upstream and downstream".
• Describe how the rules treat small craft, and the priorities between small craft.
• List the documents you should carry on an inland cruise.
• Apply the general duty of care, and understand the role of inland VHF, ATIS and inland AIS.

What CEVNI Is

CEVNI stands for the Code Européen des Voies de la Navigation Intérieure, the European Code for Inland Waterways. It is a set of model rules written by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in Geneva. The first version was adopted in 1962. It has been revised several times since; recent revisions brought in new rules on small craft, inland AIS and berthing, and current RYA material is written to CEVNI revision 6.

CEVNI is to inland waterways roughly what the COLREGs are to the sea, with one big difference. The COLREGs are an international convention that applies directly to ships on the high seas. CEVNI is a model code. It has no legal force on its own. Each country, or each river commission, writes its own regulations and bases them, more or less closely, on CEVNI. What you actually obey on a given river is the national or river code, not CEVNI itself.

So why learn CEVNI? Because all those national codes share the same backbone: the same signs, the same lights and shapes, the same sound signals and the same basic priorities. Learn CEVNI once and you can read the signs and signals from the Netherlands to Hungary. Then you look up the local differences before you go.

Why inland rules are different from the sea

Rivers and canals are not small seas. Several things change the way vessels must behave:

• Narrow, fixed channels. Big commercial barges cannot leave the fairway. They often cannot stop or turn in less than several hundred metres.
• Current. On rivers like the Rhine, Danube or Rhône, a vessel going downstream has far less control than one punching upstream. The rules give the downstream vessel priority in narrow places for this reason.
• Structures. Locks, bridges, weirs, ferries and moored vessels are everywhere, and each has its own signals.
• Professional traffic. The waterways are commercial highways. A 135 m push-tow carrying gravel is earning money. Pleasure craft are expected to fit around it.
• Distances in kilometres. Inland charts and signs use kilometres and km/h, not nautical miles and knots. River distances are marked by kilometre boards along the bank.

The COLREGs balance the duties of vessels of roughly equal status. CEVNI is more openly hierarchical: commercial vessels come first, and small craft, which includes almost every yacht and charter boat, keep out of the way.

Where CEVNI Applies and the National Codes

CEVNI applies, through national law, on the inland waters of most continental European countries. The way it is adopted varies a lot. Some countries copy it almost word for word; others keep older national rules that differ in detail. Major rivers that cross borders usually have their own code written by a river commission.

The table below lists the codes you are most likely to meet as a cruising skipper.

You do not need to memorise every code for the test. You do need to understand that:

1. CEVNI gives you the common language.
2. Each waterway has its own rules on top: speed limits, opening hours of locks, compulsory radio channels, rules on mooring, vignette or toll requirements, and the acceptance of the ICC itself.
3. Many countries require you to carry a copy of the relevant national rules, or at least to know them. Charter companies usually provide a handbook covering the main points.

Rules, tolls, speed limits and even whether a foreign authority accepts the ICC change from time to time. Always check the current national source before a trip: the waterway authority's website (for example Voies Navigables de France for France, Rijkswaterstaat for the Netherlands), the charter company's briefing, and the RYA's own guidance on boating abroad. The RYA book G17 European Waterways Regulations ("the CEVNI rules explained") is the standard study text for the test, and the RYA G106 Handy Guide to CEVNI is a useful pocket reference.

Where CEVNI does not apply

CEVNI is not used on UK inland waters, which have their own byelaws (for example those of the Canal and River Trust or the Environment Agency). Irish inland waters also have their own rules. The CEVNI test is therefore about cruising abroad. It is still required to validate the inland category on an RYA ICC, even if you only plan to use the coastal part, because the inland category on the certificate shows knowledge of CEVNI.

Key Definitions

CEVNI starts, like any legal code, with definitions. These matter because the rules apply differently to different categories of vessel. The test often asks what a term means.

Three definitions trip up nearly every student.

Motorised. If your engine is running and driving the boat, you are a motorised vessel, even with full sail set. Under sail alone, you are a sailing vessel. This matters for the priority rules below and for the lights you show.

Small craft. The cut-off is 20 m. Almost every yacht, motor cruiser, narrowboat-style charter boat, RIB, canoe and sailboard is small craft. The exceptions (ferries, passenger vessels for more than 12, pushers) are commercial. If you are on a typical charter boat, you are small craft, and the rules expect you to keep out of the way of everything bigger.

Right and left bank. The right bank is on your right when you face downstream, whichever way you are actually travelling. Heading upstream, the right bank is on your left. Bank buoyage follows the same logic, which is covered in the signs lesson.

How the Rules Treat Small Craft

Small craft and other vessels

The single most important rule for a pleasure skipper is simple: small craft must leave enough room for all other vessels to hold their course and have room to manoeuvre. Small craft cannot demand that a commercial vessel gives way to them. If a barge appears, you move.

That does not mean commercial vessels may run you down. Everyone keeps the general duty of care described below, and a commercial skipper who sees you in difficulty must take action. But the expectation is clear: as small craft you stay out of the way early and obviously.

In practice this means:

• Keep to the starboard side of the fairway (and often right out of the buoyed channel where there is safe water) unless signs say otherwise.
• Do not cross close ahead of a barge. Its skipper may be 100 m behind the bow and cannot see small boats close under it.
• Watch for the blue board signal (see below), which shows that a commercial vessel wants to pass on an unusual side.
• Never moor or anchor in the fairway.

Priorities between small craft

Among small craft the rules set a pecking order, which is easy to remember if you think "the more control you have, the more you give way":

1. Motorised small craft give way to all other small craft.
2. Small craft that are neither motorised nor sailing (rowing boats, canoes, pedalos) give way to sailing small craft.
3. Sailing small craft meeting each other use rules very like the COLREGs: a vessel with the wind on the port side gives way to one with the wind on the starboard side; if both have the wind on the same side, the windward vessel gives way to the leeward vessel.

A small motor cruiser therefore gives way to a sailing dinghy and to a canoe. A canoe gives way to the sailing dinghy. If you are a sailing yacht motoring with sails up, you are motorised and give way like any motorboat.

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These priorities do not override the narrow-channel logic. In a narrow canal, a sailing dinghy cannot expect a motor cruiser to drive onto the bank. Common sense and the duty of care apply.

Meeting, overtaking and the blue board

Vessels meeting on an inland waterway normally pass port to port, keeping to their own starboard side, exactly as at sea. The difference is that on large rivers a commercial vessel going upstream may choose to pass starboard to starboard, for example to stay on the slack-water side of a bend.

It signals this by showing a light blue board (often with a white flashing light, called the blue board or "blauwe bord") on its starboard side, visible ahead. The downstream vessel then passes it starboard to starboard. The blue board is a matter for vessels that are not small craft: as small craft you simply keep clear and stay predictable. If you see a blue board coming towards you, the barge intends to pass on its starboard side, and it may cross your side of the river to do it. Move out of its way early.

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In narrow places where two vessels cannot pass safely, the vessel going downstream normally has priority, because it has less control in the current. The upstream vessel waits below the narrow section. Signs and lights at narrow stretches may say otherwise, so always read them.

Overtaking is only allowed when it is safe and the overtaken vessel has room. The overtaking vessel keeps clear, and the overtaken vessel must make it as easy as possible, slowing down if needed. Overtaking is forbidden in places signed as no-overtaking areas (sign A2) and is unwise near locks, bridges and bends.

Sound signals in outline

CEVNI sound signals are set out in its Annex 6 and are covered in the test preparation lesson. The core set for a small craft skipper is:

A "short blast" lasts about one second and a "long blast" about four seconds. Small craft are not required to give every manoeuvring signal that a large vessel gives, but you must understand them all, and the danger and distress signals apply to everyone.

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The General Duty of Care

Like Rule 2 of the COLREGs, CEVNI contains a general principle that sits above all the specific rules. Skippers must take every precaution that general practice as a boatman (good seamanship) and the circumstances require, to avoid:

• endangering life;
• damaging other vessels, banks, structures and installations of any kind;
• creating obstacles to navigation;
• causing harm to the environment or to the waterway.

The code also says that, to avoid an immediate danger, a skipper must depart from the rules if the circumstances demand it. The specific rules are never an excuse for an accident you could have avoided.

Linked to this are several general duties that apply to every skipper:

• The skipper is responsible. Every vessel must be under the command of a person with the right qualifications. On your charter boat, that is the ICC holder. You remain responsible even when someone else is at the helm.
• Fitness. You must not navigate while impaired by alcohol, drugs, fatigue or illness. Several countries set legal alcohol limits for skippers, often similar to road limits and sometimes stricter. Check the local rule.
• Obey the authorities. Lock keepers, bridge keepers and waterway police have the power to give orders, and you must follow them.
• Wash. You must adjust your speed so your wash or suction does not damage moored vessels, banks, structures or people working on the water. Excessive wash is one of the most common complaints against pleasure craft.
• Report accidents and obstructions. If you cause or witness an accident, or lose an object overboard that could obstruct navigation, you must report it to the nearest authority.
• Help. If another vessel is in danger, you must help as far as you can without endangering your own vessel.

Documents to Carry

Inland authorities check documents more often than coastal ones. Waterway police on the Rhine, Moselle and in the Netherlands carry out spot checks, and charter bases check them before handing over a boat. Carry originals, not photocopies, where possible.

For a charter, the company provides the boat's papers and usually the waterway licence. You provide the ICC, your identity document and any radio certificate. Some charter areas, notably parts of France, allow people without any licence to hire small canal boats after a short briefing, under a special exemption. That exemption is local and does not replace the ICC elsewhere. If you want to use your own boat or larger hire boats, or cruise in other countries, the ICC is the normal standard.

Acceptance of the ICC also varies. Most CEVNI countries accept it on inland waters, but some only accept it from citizens of countries that have adopted Resolution 40, and the rules for residents differ. Check with the RYA or the national authority before you travel.

VHF, ATIS and Inland AIS

Inland VHF

Radio is much more organised on major inland waterways than at sea. Each stretch has its own working channels:

• Ship-to-ship channels for vessels talking to each other about passing arrangements.
• Nautical information channels for traffic and waterway information.
• Ship-to-shore channels for locks, bridges and traffic posts.

Sign B11 (and information sign E23) tell you which channel to use or monitor. On busy rivers such as the Rhine, a vessel fitted with VHF is expected to listen on the ship-to-ship channel and the relevant traffic channel at all times.

On many inland waterways, VHF use is governed by the Regional Arrangement on the Radiotelephone Service on Inland Waterways (often called the Basel Arrangement or RAINWAT). It requires a VHF set to transmit an ATIS code (Automatic Transmitter Identification System), a digital identifier sent automatically at the end of each transmission. Most marine VHF sets sold in Europe can be switched into an ATIS or inland mode. The UK SRC (Short Range Certificate) is the normal operator qualification for UK skippers, but some countries ask for an inland radio endorsement as well. Check the national rules for each country you will cruise in. Note also that DSC is generally switched off when a set is in inland ATIS mode.

Inland AIS

Inland AIS is a version of the marine Automatic Identification System adapted for rivers. It is compulsory for most commercial vessels on the Rhine and on many other major waterways, so barges show up clearly on an AIS display. For pleasure craft it is usually voluntary, but very useful: it lets you see barges approaching round a bend and lets them see you. If you fit AIS, it must be correctly programmed with your vessel's details.

Worked Example: Your First Day on the Moselle

You have chartered an 11 m motor cruiser at a base on the German Moselle. Five crew are aboard. Let us apply what you have learned.

1. Which rules? The Moselle has its own Moselle Police Regulations, based on CEVNI. You read the summary in the charter handbook and note the speed limits and lock procedures.
2. What are you? At 11 m and with no commercial passengers, you are small craft. Being motorised, you give way to all other small craft, and to all non-small craft in practice.
3. Documents. Before leaving you check that your ICC shows the inland category and motor vessels, that your passport is aboard, and that the charter company has given you the boat's papers and insurance.
4. Radio. The boat has a VHF in ATIS mode. You hold an SRC and note the locks' working channels from the handbook.
5. Underway. You head upstream. A loaded 110 m barge appears round the bend coming downstream. You keep well to your starboard side and slow down to reduce your wash near moored boats.
6. A blue board. A second barge, overtaking you going upstream, shows a light blue board with a flashing white light on its starboard side. An oncoming vessel will pass it starboard to starboard. You keep clear and stay on a steady, predictable course near your own bank.
7. A narrow stretch. At a narrow bridge arch a sign shows that only one vessel can pass at a time. A downstream vessel is approaching, so you wait below the bridge: the downstream vessel has priority.
8. Duty of care. As you pass a pontoon with anglers and moored dinghies, you drop to tickover so your wash does not harm them, even though no sign tells you to.

At no point did you need to argue priority. Most inland seamanship for small craft is about keeping out of the way early, obviously and courteously.

Common Mistakes

• Treating CEVNI as law. CEVNI is a model. The law is the national or river code. Learn CEVNI, then look up the local rules.
• Thinking a sailing yacht always has priority. With the engine on, a sailing yacht is motorised. Under sail or not, as small craft it keeps clear of commercial traffic.
• Getting right and left bank wrong. Banks are named facing downstream. Heading upstream, the right bank is on your left.
• Using knots. Inland speed limits are in km/h. 10 km/h is only about 5.4 knots.
• Ignoring the blue board. A commercial vessel showing a blue board may move across to pass starboard to starboard. Give it room.
• Leaving documents at home. Spot checks are common. Without the ICC with a validated inland category, you can be fined or stopped.
• Assuming the VHF works the same as at sea. Inland channels are different, ATIS is often required, and some countries want an extra radio qualification.
• Creating wash. Excessive wash damages banks and boats and is a legal offence on many waterways.

Summary

• CEVNI is the UNECE model code for European inland waterways, first adopted in 1962. Countries and river commissions turn it into law through their own codes, such as BPR (Netherlands), RPR (Rhine), BinSchStrO (Germany) and RGP (France).
• The signs, lights, shapes and sound signals are largely common across these codes, but local rules differ. Always check the current national source.
• Small craft are vessels under 20 m, other than ferries, pushers and passenger vessels for more than 12. Almost all pleasure craft are small craft.
• Small craft keep clear of all other vessels. Between small craft, motorised gives way to all others, and non-motorised, non-sailing craft give way to sailing craft.
• A motorised vessel is any vessel under engine, even with sails set.
• Banks are named facing downstream. In narrow places the downstream vessel usually has priority.
• The general duty of care overrides everything: avoid danger to life, damage, obstruction and harm to the environment, and depart from the rules when necessary to avoid immediate danger.
• Carry the ICC with the inland category, ID, registration, insurance, radio documents and any waterway licence.
• Inland VHF uses dedicated channels and often ATIS. Inland AIS is common on commercial vessels and useful on pleasure craft.

Check Your Understanding

1. Does CEVNI itself have legal force on a French canal?

Answer: No. CEVNI is a model code. On French waterways the law is the RGP and the local rules for each waterway, which are based on CEVNI.

1. Your yacht is 12 m long and you are motoring with the mainsail up. How does CEVNI classify you?

Answer: As a motorised small craft. Under 20 m makes you small craft, and using your engine makes you motorised whatever sails are set.

1. You are heading upstream. Which bank is the right bank?

Answer: The bank on your left. Banks are named as seen by someone facing downstream.

1. A motorised small craft meets a canoe and a sailing dinghy. Who gives way to whom?

Answer: The motorised craft gives way to both. The canoe, being neither motorised nor sailing, gives way to the sailing dinghy.

1. What does a light blue board with a flashing white light on the starboard side of a barge going upstream mean?

Answer: The barge intends to pass oncoming vessels starboard to starboard. As small craft, keep clear and give it room.

1. In a narrow section where only one vessel can pass, which vessel normally has priority?

Answer: The vessel going downstream, because it has less control in the current. Local signs can change this.

1. Name four documents you should carry on an inland cruise abroad.

Answer: Any four of: ICC with the inland category validated, passport or ID, registration document, insurance certificate, ship radio licence and operator certificate, waterway licence or vignette, a copy of the national rules.

1. What is ATIS?

Answer: The Automatic Transmitter Identification System: a digital code sent automatically by a VHF set at the end of each transmission. It is required on many inland waterways under the Basel Arrangement.

1. What does the general duty of care require if following a specific rule would cause an immediate danger?

Answer: You must depart from the rule as far as needed to avoid the danger. The specific rules never excuse an avoidable accident.