Numbers of Boats on the Inland Waterways:

Report of the 2008 AINA Survey

This report addresses the deficiency outlined on the previous page by providing numbers of boats on AINA members’ waterways and their use, including private leisure, commercial hire for leisure use, commercial freight/passenger carrying, etc.

The report includes: 

• data on boat numbers, broken down by navigation authority and their capabilities to license or register them
• for each navigation authority, comparative data on boat numbers in total and by type between 2002 and 2007 data on the numbers of moorings operated directly by the navigation authorities
• a standardised list of definitions for all types of boats on the inland waterways based on previous work undertaken by AINA and reviewed in the light of new information provided by the navigation authorities. Such a list could be used to provide a framework for future surveys and also assist in determining the requirements for a nationally consistent licensing/registration regime. 

This report also provides, in relation to each navigation authority, brief updated descriptions of their ownership, constitutional status, nature of operation and use of their waterways for recreational and commercial activities.This includes lengths of waterway by type (as rivers, canals or open spaces of fresh water), basic navigational dimensions and numbers of locks.

Looking forward, AINA aims to update this report annually to assist the strategic development of the network, to provide information to help plan the provision and investment in facilities and to assist studies to determine the economic benefits of the waterways network. In doing this, AINA will seek to work in collaboration with BMF to provide an overall view of boat numbers and moorings.

This document is available to download/view as a pdf file here (pdf 2mb)

Sept 09