Thesis (M.M.A.S.) -- U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2009. / "AD-A512 384." Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis provides an analysis of the drop trailer traffic moving between the B.C. Mainland and Vancouver Island. Drop trailers are semi trailers which are literally dropped at the ferry terminal to be transported across the Strait of Georgia without the accompaniment of the power unit and driver. This specialized service is provided only by the British Columbia Coastal Steamship Service, a subsidiary of CP. Rail. One objective of the thesis is to analyze the economics of shipping via drop trailer as opposed to a live unit, or one that includes the driver and tractor unit such as is provided by the B.C. Ferries. A second objective is to determine the size and importance of the market, and to forecast future requirements. A third objective is to analyze the physical facilities available to determine their capacity and possibilities for expansion. The B.C.C.S.S. facility in downtown Vancouver is under pressure from various groups to relocate to a more suitable location. Thus a final objective is an analysis of the benefits and costs of relocating the B.C.C.S.S. terminal to the north Richmond area. Since the drop trailer industry is very specialized, and captive to the B.C.C.S.S., very little information is published or available concerning it. Thus the author has had to rely primarily on discussions with all the parties involved, namely the B.C.C.S.S., City of Vancouver, and numerous carriers. One of the by-products of the thesis is a body of information and data pertaining to the drop trailer industry, that can be used for future research in related topics. The analysis of the economics of shipping via drop trailer shows a substantial savings potential, even though the actual ferry cost is greater. The savings are generated by the elimination of idle driver and tractor time. This saving was estimated at $49.20 per one way trip. During the past decade the volume of drop trailer traffic has been increasing steadily even though railcar traffic has been on the decline. This increase is causing the B.C.C.S.S. to approach the capacity of the present system. Political and physical pressures have raised the issue of relocating the terminal A benefit-cost analysis of a particular alternative, a partial relocation to the north Richmond area shows there can be substantial benefits for carrier as well as the B.C.C.S.S. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

D.Phil. / The progress of the South African economy relies heavily upon earnings from physical exports, which depend increasingly upon the competitiveness in global markets of the maritime supply chains that serve the country. Competition in world markets is becoming increasingly stronger as production resources are obtained globally and subsequently the competition exists between the effectiveness of whole supply chains rather than only production costs. South Africa therefore has great interest in ensuring that its maritime supply chains compare with world best practice. Amongst other things, this world best practice requires those chains to function as entities structured to serve their logistical purpose, i.e. that it should not include links consisting of separate transport businesses. In practice, this requires that links traditionally provided by third parties be structurally integrated as cost centres instead of profits centres in the chains. Such integrated maritime supply chains will inevitably only be developed by the intervention of chain leaders. South Africa’s major supply chains conveying commodities and manufactured products are examined in order to determine the scope for the integration of their links as a means of raising their efficiency as ‘complete chains’. Features of selected maritime supply chains serving other countries that could serve as models for the structuring of South Africa’s are identified. Transnet’s role in the existing maritime supply chains in accordance with the policy of the Government is examined and attention is focused on the under-investment in recent years that has led to the deterioration in the company’s performance. The rejection by the Government of the privatisation of the core assets of the railways and ports in favour of public-private partnerships, as a means of overcoming the problems, is considered in order to conclude whether a solution will be forthcoming in that manner. Special consideration is given to Transnet’s proposed spending of R40bn on infrastructure projects and attention is focused on the fact that this will not address all the problems. The marine links in South Africa’s maritime supply chains are currently provided by foreigners. Virtually all South Africa’s bulk exports are sold free-on-board, which concedes control over the shipping of the cargo to foreign importers. Reasons for such arrangements are complex and chartering by South African exporters in order to maintain control is often not feasible, although it is done in the fruit trade and by Australian exporters of iron ore competing with South African exporters. Ship owning by South Africans will facilitate new legislation to increase the market share of citizens in the country’s exports and imports, but price-wise market entry will be difficult and it is debatable whether exporters will make use of their services. In the liner trades, the trend is for shipping companies to integrate port and overland links into their services, and the efficiency of South Africa’s container supply chains will need to be raised in that manner. The criteria for determining maritime supply chain efficiency and the integration of the links of particular South African chains based on their cost structures, as well as the leadership needed to pursue such development, are motivated. Proposals are also made for the integration of the links of the iron ore and coal supply chains under the leadership of public-private partnerships, as well as for a container supply chain incorporating both a dedicated terminal in the Port of Ngqura and the railway between Coega and Gauteng, under the leadership of a liner shipping company or consortium of companies. The conclusion is reached that the present role of Transnet in accordance with the declared policy of the Government is not conducive to improving maritime supply chain efficiency through the structural integration of the links. It is also concluded that the efficiency of the chains could be raised through private leadership with public participation, subject to a change in the Government’s policy towards the role of Transnet in order to allow such leadership. / Prof. J. Walters Prof. G.C. Prinsloo

This paper investigates the Baltic Dry Index; an often misunderstood index, which tracks the cost of shipping dry bulk cargo globally. The research is based on the hypothesis that movements in the Baltic Dry Index price are driven largely by changes in the underlying demand for goods which are consumed globally. Accordingly, this paper aims to investigate whether changes in the Baltic Dry Index price may be used to predict future economic movements in a South African context. In this regard, the paper first conducts a thorough synthesis of the available literature, in order to formulate the conclusion that the Baltic Dry Index price is driven by a multitude of variables, including the global demand for goods, the global supply of ships, the laycan period, bunker prices, global piracy, global winter severity, as well as the inclusion of a cyclical component. The global demand for goods is concluded to be chief among these. Based on these findings, the paper then conducts empirical testing on the usefulness of the BDI in a South African context, and concludes that the Baltic Dry Index is useful when used as a leading economic indicator in South African, especially when used in order to predict long-term economic movements, across a period of 3 – 4.5 years. Finally, strong evidence is found to support the existence of a relationship between the BDI and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Mining Index, although further investigation is required in order to form a definitive conclusion in this regard.

Underwater noise pollution is a significant environmental issue that can have detrimental effects on marine ecosystems. One of the main sources of underwater noise pollution is ship traffic, which has been shown to negatively impact marine animals by masking communication signals, altering their behaviors, and even causing hearing loss. In the Red Sea, ships are the main contributor to underwater noise pollution, particularly in areas with high shipping traffic. This thesis aims to understand the spatial and temporal distribution of underwater ship noise in the Red Sea using an acoustic propagation model, namely the Range-dependent Acoustic Model (RAM). RAM takes into account anthropogenic and environmental inputs including water temperature, salinity, and bathymetry to predict sound propagation in the Red Sea. By running RAM with inputs of ship traffic data, maps of underwater ship noise in the Red Sea were generated. These maps are important tools for policymakers and marine resource managers to identify areas of high noise pollution, target mitigation efforts accordingly, and guide future research on the effects of underwater noise pollution on marine life in the Red Sea.

The thesis is an attempt to define and design a house by utilizing modernized construction technologies. From a single cell, a man grows up into a complex creature with an independent life. A livable space for a person starts from the mother's womb, then moves on to a crib, a full-size bed, a room, and finally a house. We can say, therefore, "a living room" originates from an independent life and is created for a person. Man cannot and does not live alone. Human interactions help develop the spatial relationship among rooms in a house, and among houses in a community. Social relations, such as those found among family, friends and neighbors, define the mental and physical dimensions as they are manifested in the demarcations of rooms, halls and houses. Sadly, modernization seems to have destroyed the human basis for spatial relations, as we no longer can find these attributes in contemporary designs where elevators and stairs have replaced alleys and backyards where neighborhood children once played and housewives enjoyed socializing. Industrialized processes have allowed us to build more space more quickly, but, unfortunately, these processes have also simultaneously equalized qualities in housing design today. Because of the potential complexity of these questions, I am compelled to focus on a room or a house as the scope of the study. The aim of the thesis is therefore the study of the development of a socially and technically responsive house in the face of growth and change in an industrialized world. In Part One, I shall start with an analysis of historical precedents and the development of a working concept for the design. Part Two ponders how to use minimum materials and sizes to create maximum spaces and capacity. The final section includes the demonstration of the design process involved in the creation of a future-oriented house. / Master of Architecture

by Cheung Po-wah. / Abstract also in Chinese / Bibliography: leaf 140 / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1982

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Cheryl Ward, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Anthropology. Title and description from dissertation home page (June 17, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

The world shipping freight market for the transportation of bulk cargo - liquid and dry - is characterised by the somewhat erratic and extreme fluctuations exhibited by many of the measures that can be used to describe the "state" of the market. Such 'measures' include the spot freight rates - the cost to the shipper of chartering a unit of shipping capacity 'on the spot' (that is, not reserving the vessel in advance), - the proportion of chartered tonnage at any time taken on a period (time) basis as opposed to a voyage (single) basis, and the rate at which orders for new vessels reach the shipyards. These factors are extremely variable, and have exhibited a similar form of behaviour for a large number of years. This present thesis describes an attempt to investigate the behaviour of the freight market (bulk cargo); the aim of the investigation being to identify the structure of the market system and to construct a System Dynamics model which describes the complex relationships in the market and which can be used to explore questions relating to present or future market behaviour. The construction of such a model is described, together with an exhaustive chapter on the analysis of the model, covering loop-analysis, the behaviour of the model under various test inputs, and the senstivity of the model to significant changes in parameter values. The final chapter considers the use of the model, and, in particular, describes its use in an investigation of the feasibility or desirability of introducing tonnagestabilization schemes into the market. Such schemes aim to prevent the freight rates from falling to unacceptably low values, by implementing a scheme whereby tonnage is withdrawn from operation and laid-up: the decrease in the supply of tonnage then has a positive influence on the freight rates. It is concluded that the problems involved in designing such schemes preclude the schemes from implementation. The appendices cover the various data used in the determination of market relationships, as well as the computer listing, in Fortran, of the market model. Also included in an appendix is a description of the application of System Dynamics to a hypothetical company. The tcompany model' allows for the examination of chartering policies and lay-up policies under a variety of conditions of market demand.

Thesis--Pittsburgh University. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: p. 425-433.