Shipper's councils: role and responsibility—a western view

This paper first presents arguments for having public sector port authorities. They can deal, flexibly and permanently, with property rights within their own areas. They can plan and regulate port areas comprehensively. They can provide ‘public goods’. They can deal, in various ways, with externalities. They can promote efficiency, whether their own (if they operate as a comprehensive port) or that of the private sector (if they are largely landlords). For example, if their policy is to rely on the private sector to produce efficiency through competition then they can see to it that there actually is competition and not any kind of cartel or monopoly. Examples are cited where this last function has not been performed. The exception for single-user ports is noted.

Against them are the general disadvantages of public authorities (or bureaucracies)—though examples are cited where port authorities had very small staffs. The common instances of ‘market failure’ may thus be contrasted with those of ‘government failure’. Finally, a pragmatic approach is advocated, tailored to the needs and resources of the country in question. The increasing effect of the economies of scale in port technology, and its limitation on competition, is, however, noted and to be discussed in the next paper.     

Economic Valuation of Coastal and Marine Resources: Bohol Marine Triangle,Philippines

This article provides results on the net benefits generated from the natural resources in the Bohol Marine Triangle (BMT) in the Philippines. The BMT spans over 112,000 ha and its coastal ecosystems are rich in biodiversity and provide economic opportunities to the coastal communities. With a 10% discount rate, the accumulated total net benefits for the BMT resources over a 10-year period is US$11.54 million. Tourism and the municipal fisheries are the most important direct use values of the coastal and marine resources of the BMT accounting for 44% and 39% of the total net benefits. Annual revenues attributed to ecosystems were as follows: coral reefs, US$1.26 million; beach/intertidal area, US$1.12 million; marine waters, US$646,501; mangrove, US$239,561; and seagrass, US$105,990. The large market values indicate the dependence of the local community on the BMT coastal and marine resources. In the same way, non-market values show the important life-support functions of coastal and marine ecosystems. The net benefits reflect the magnitude of potential losses due to improper management of coastal and marine resources in the BMT. This valuation highlights the importance of the coastal services to the BMT economy and draws attention to the benefits the local stakeholders derive from BMT coastal resources. Policy measures can now take into account these values to justify a sufficient investment in coastal management efforts to sustain the flow of coastal services in the interest of current and future generations.     

Short sea shipping: a Canadian perspective

Short sea shipping has begun to receive attention from governments worldwide, as they seek to reduce traffic congestion and greenhouse gases. Despite a long coastline and its interest in international maritime affairs, the Canadian government had, until 2003, placed greater emphasis on resolving the issues of other transport modes. In July 2003, Canada and the United States signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on Sharing Short Sea Shipping Information and Experience. Subsequently, the federal government embarked on an assessment of short sea shipping through a series of workshops. This paper explores the key issues with respect to further development of short sea shipping from a Canadian perspective. It examines the critical limitations and impediments to further growth of short sea services in Canada and trans-border trade with the USA, and identifies a number of questions Canadian policymakers need to answer.     

Canada and the Liner Code of Conduct: Consumerism and public policy

This paper focuses on the potential effects the UNCTAD Liner Code of Conduct's provisions for cargo reservation on consumers of shipping services, with special reference to Canada. It is clear that as more nations enact flag-discriminating legislation then fewer choices amongest distribution options will exist for the consumer. This will involve nations like Canada in a fundamental reassessment of their current shipping policy, since the rationale of 'free market' competition will no longer be valid: carrier and services options will be curtailed. In the light of this, Canada will be forced to examine the concepts of 'free trade' and 'private sector enterptise' and develope a considered response that protects the consumer interest.     

Parking policy and urban goals: Linking strategy to needs

Parking management strategies have traditionally been used as a means of accommodating traffic demand, with little or no effort made to identify how such strategies might relate to other urban objectives. In this paper, parking management strategies are classified according to the control they exert over the amount of aggregate parking supply, access to parking, spatial distribution of parking supply, or dollar price of parking. Six general categories of urban policy objectives are identified, and the relationship between parking strategies and these objectives analyzed. The parking program in Baltimore is used to illustrate some of the relationships identified in this analysis. This paper concludes that the linkage between parking and the attainment of some urban objectives is potentially quite strong, and that further empirical research is needed to fully establish this relationship. Several different directions for further research are also identified.     

The effects of marine cargo delays in law and commerce

With the development of door-to-door intermodal services and the advent of just-in-time supply systems, punctual delivery of cargoes is more than ever a priority both for shippers and for shipowners. This paper is about the incidence of delay in transportation, particularly in the marine mode, and its legal and commercial consequences.

The fundamental legal obligations of marine carriers have always included delivery with dispatch. Thus the law would seem to support the commercial expectations of shippers for reliable performance. The authors discuss the nature of these obligations, investigate their adequacy under modern conditions of trade and report on a survey of Canadian shippers and consignees.

The authors conclude that there appears to be a divergence in the toleration of delay, but that few of the Canadian companies suffering unacceptable delays received, or even sought, financial compensation and none of them planned to do more. The authors speculate about their reasons for absorbing the losses incurred through unacceptable delays. The evidence from the survey is that shippers, in spite of their dissatisfaction with the resolution or outcome of incidents of unacceptable delay, are loath to seek compensation through legal means, but instead prefer to resort to a range of commercial actions.     

Short sea shipping in North America: understanding the requirements of Atlantic Canadian shippers

This research examines the potential for short sea shipping services on the east coast of North America, and focuses on the factors that freight shippers use to choose a transport mode. While there is significant literature available on modal choice and carrier selection, very little examines the effect of splitting the business on the choice that shippers specifically make between short sea and trucking options. Contrary to existing literature, we find that shippers' perceptions of short sea are favourable in this market. We also identify a new method of collecting data on how companies split business in these decisions.