A three-dimensional numerical simulation method based on the resolution of Navier–Stokes equations is used to determine the causal relationship between the ship-induced waves and the erosion phenomenon of the inland waterway banks, and also to provide the critical conditions for waterway bank protection. The erosion process of the bank is defined here as the criterion in which the movements of the discrete medium blocks and particles that form the banks by the action of ship waves undergo a significant jump beyond the critical value of Froude number (F r c ). By investigating the wave elevation drawdowns nearby the waterway banks, it is shown that the normal impact force and tangential shear stress caused by ship-induced waves are the main culprits of bank erodibility. The numerical results show that by approaching the F r c , the increasing rate of drawdown reaches its maximum causing a jump in the force of total pressure, which in turn gives a rise to a peak in the shear stress on the waterway bank. • The relationship between shipwaves and waterway bank erosion is studied • Shipwaves hydrodynamic is examined in the vicinity of the critical Froude value F r c • The shipwaves amplitude increases with increasing Froude number F r • shipwaves elevation and total pressure show a significant jump when Fr ∼ Frc • Shear effects and bank erosion due to shipwaves are maximum at F r c [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]