SELECTED RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

The Institute is recognized around the world for its work in the areas of strategic planning, institutional reform, and economic, financial, operational, and management analyses of ports, fleets, and waterways. Appendix 1 presents a profile of some of NPWI's research experience. The following sections describe some of our experience within recent years according to various subject areas in which the Institute has core expertise, including:

Strategic Assessment/Market Analysis

Our many maritime sector research programs typically consider a host of strategic issues. Whether the project consists of a master plan or technology assessment, the strategic analysis component of the research program requires the ability to obtain access to candid and informative responses from shippers and operators. In our standard practice of incorporating extensive strategic elements into our projects, we have developed a close relationship with the carrier industry and shippers around the world. This enables the research to gain from access to strategic decision makers and their current insight and perspectives, many of whom in the past have been our clients. Of our many relevant programs, the following are typical:

Development of a Transition Strategy for Assumption of Responsibility for Operation and Management of the Panama Canal

Panama

The primary objective of this effort was to assist the Panamanian government in formulating a transition strategy for the government's ultimate stewardship of the Panama Canal in accordance with the Panama Canal Treaty. The Institute was required to conduct an extensive review of shipping deployment practices and the current situation in Panama to define issues associated with the Canal's transfer, assist in the formulation and analysis of alternative institutional, design and maintenance, operating, and management arrangements, and assist in the preparation of a plan encompassing transition strategies and a time frame for strategy implementation. The project also defined an action plan towards the ultimate transfer of the Canal.

Strategies Study for Reducing Central American Shipping Costs

Central America

Central America historically has been at a competitive disadvantage in the maritime sector, attributed in part to the lack of economies of scale in cargo volumes and operational inefficiencies in the region's ports. Institute researchers, under the sponsorship of the World Bank and COCATRAM, an association of Central American transport organizations, formulated the strategies that Central America can pursue to improve service levels and reduce costs; defined the role that government and the private sector can play in support of these strategies; enhanced the capabilities of the private sector to monitor and negotiate transport rates through a training program; established a process for continuous pricing and cost data base updates and review of maritime transport charges; formulated a program for enhancing COCATRAM's analytical skills relative to continuous strategy review and development; and conducted training seminars for the six countries of Central America.

Port Development Strategies Study for the Southern Sumatra and Western Java Region

Indonesia

The effort encompassed the formulation of a long term port development strategy for the 25-year period ending 2019. The study formulated a variety of strategic scenarios based on extensive analysis of trade patterns, vessel services, and carrier industry strategies and vessel deployment practices. Accordingly, the study identified facility requirements based on these strategic scenarios, examined port operational practices and vessel service requirements, identified physical distribution practices of shippers and carriers, examined investment and financing needs, developed port service privatization options for a variety of services, and formulated a long-term development strategy.

The Maritime System of the Americas

United States

This research program was conducted in cooperation with the U. S. Maritime Administration and the Maritime Industry Advisory Committee. The Maritime System of the Americas links the mid-United States, Canada and Mexico (countries of the NAFTA region) via the Great Lakes, the U.S. inland waterways, and the Gulf of Mexico. Through the Caribbean Sea, the system adds linkages to Central America and the northern rim of South America. Panama Canal traffic is an important component of the system. Commercial liberalization in the region has resulted in very rapid increases in international trade. Accordingly, the objective of the program was to provide an action plan defining the market share for maritime transportation and determining the appropriate technologies, operating methods, and institutional framework necessary to meet expected demand. Technological/operating options under study include river/ocean vessels, short-sea vessels and barges, rail and trailer ferries, and conventional intermodal shipping by ocean carriers.

Selected Research Experience-contd.....

Capabilities and Activities