Transport decision-marks speak: the Seaport Development in the Europena communities Reasearch Project —Part I

This paper, in two parts, reports on the Seaport Development in the European Communities Research Project wherein forty interviews with decision-makers were help in European seaports, and another forty were held with shipowning organization. Respondents were also asked to fill in a questionnaire, and it is these questionnaire, and it is these questionnaire findings that are reported in this the first part of the paper. Expected contrasts between planning philosophies in Britain, Ireland, and Denmark on the one hand and the rest of the EEC on the other were confirmed, and regularity of cargo on offer appears generally belived as the most important factor in route planning of ships. Among other major conclusions (see table 5) are the view that ship congestion at ports is a more scute problem than the over-provision of berths and that short-term low operating costs are considered more important than the security offered by mediumterm plans.