This research examines the complex factors that influence the design of a new cruise liner terminal for Durban. Secondary and primary data collection methods will be used in the research. Secondary data collection forms the majority of the information gathered. This method will focus on precedent and case studies from which conclusions will be drawn and a design brief for the cruise terminal derived. Cruise liners typically spend periods of less than a week in port, during which time passengers will visit local tourist attractions. Durban's cruise season lasts from mid-November till mid-April. The local cruise industry has seen a steady increase in passenger numbers over the years. This has seen the MSC Melody cruise ship being procured to meet the demands of the industry. As a consequence of this increase the current cruise liner terminal, the N-Shed, has been placed under increasing pressure to provide a world class facility and service experience, expectations which it is ill equipped to deliver. Through this study key aspects, specific to the cruise liner terminal design, are investigated. These include passenger movement optimisation, response to local conditions, form development, waterfront regeneration and the concept of the terminal as a gateway to the city of Durban. In developing the architecture of the cruise terminal, the understanding of these factors is vital if the designer is to make a meaningful contribution to society though his building . With the cruise liner terminal being a unique building typology, in the context of Durban, an opportunity arises to reconnect the city with its harbour edge. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2008.

The port of Durban is currently suffering under severe capacity constraints. This has negatively affected efficiency resulting in queuing and berthing delays. If Durban wishes to remain the premier hub status port of the region and Southern hemisphere, then it needs to adequately address the current supply constraints. Shipping vessel operators and owners will not tolerate these inefficiencies indefinitely and if the port does not seek to address the situation, it runs the very real risk of losing patronage in the medium to long term. The obvious response to the supply side constraint is to increase container handling capacity. This dissertation will analyse the expansion options available to the port in this regard. Beside simply increasing capacity, the port needs to increase draught depth at the berths since container vessels are continually migrating to larger sizes to benefit from economies of scale. A key challenge is the fact that the port serves other purposes beyond that of being a gateway for traded goods such as ecological functions and subsistence fishing. This is compounded by the significant environment degradation which the bay has suffered over the last century or so. The port, however, generates significant economic benefits for the city in terms of economic linkages and employment, and for its wider national and regional hinterland, by holding down the generalised cost of the transport of goods. By not expanding capacity, there are significant opportunity costs for Durban and for the port’s wider hinterland. The best way of analysing the benefits and costs of the various options is to conduct a public CBA analysis which monetises and discounts streams of benefits and costs to arrive at a NPV. Several expansion options are examined and include Bayhead, the old DIA site and Richards Bay. An NPV was calculated for each option where environmental externalities were included. The CBA yielded three options with positive NPV’s out of the seven examined. The Southern Access routes, 3CA and 3DA, were both rejected since the effective removal of port sites used presently for the handling and storage of petrochemicals was considered infeasible. One of the Northern Access routes, 1AB, was also rejected since the option yielded a negative NPV. Even though DIA1 had a positive NPV; it was rejected based on mutual exclusivity with option DIA2. Richards Bay was rejected since it had a penalty cost of R89 billion over Durban, due primarily to higher logistical costs. On balance the Bayhead option 1AA and airport option DIA2 were chosen as the projects of choice primarily on the basis of the CBA results. Both these options yielded significantly positive NPV’s and the port should seriously look into their construction as they would provide several years of spare capacity as well as being able to accommodate Post Panamax vessels. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

What is the role of a port? It is a place that handles ships and cargo with operational efficiency. For this reason, ports must be seen as elements in value-driven chain systems or in value chain constellations. They deliver value to shippers and to third party service providers; customer segmentation and targeting is on the basis of a clearly specified value for itself and for the chain in which it is embedded. Ports no longer operate in an insulated environment. They face the same competitive forces that companies in other industries experience. There is rivalry among existing competitors, continuing threat of new entrants, potential for global substitutes, presence of powerful customers and powerful supplies. Since the early 1980s, moves to rapidly liberalise trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) have strongly influenced policy makers in many developing countries in their thinking about this challenge. Openness to international market forces and competition was expected to allow those countries to alter both the pace and the pattern of their participation in international trade, thereby overcoming balance-ofpayments problems and accelerating growth, to catch up with industrial countries. Today, the Port of Durban is the clear African leader in total container throughput. In the world port league for 2000 established by Containerisation International Yearbook 2001, Durban was in 44th position. The Port of Durban is an important gateway with regards to general cargo flows especially since the port's goal is to become a hub port in the Southern Africa. It has great economic value for the city and the country at large. It can be seen that the poor economic and operational efficiency of the port leads to poor overall economic growth for the nation. It is therefore desirable to ensure that the terminal is always operating at optimum operating efficiency with the required infrastructure and capacity in place. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

The study investigates, with an intension to establish, the strategic significance of concessioning of the Durban Container Terminal in the Port of Durban. A strategic perspective firstly considers the concessioning in the successful terminal of the world from a developed to a developing perspective, the reasons for concessioning, the post-concessioned realization advantages and disadvantages, and the effects on the country concerned. The attempts to concession the Durban Container Terminal by the Minister of Public Enterprises has been withdrawn in 2004 for reason of lack of clarity on many issues and lobbying in this regard from the current terminal operator. There are many factors used to determine why and when and how to concession if such host government economic policy is strategic. Discussions include stakeholder risks and concerns of concessioning. Concessioning is managed by the concessioning agreement, which includes a understanding of performance and risks to the concessionaire and the host government, thereby providing opportunity for both parties to mitigate these risks. Some risks are generic to concessioning for example concessionaires performance, equipment performance etc., and some are country specific for example, host government policies, relationship between host government and multinationals trading bloc, labour unions and factors of productions, is reviewed and evaluated in accordance with a with respect to all stakeholders. In the case of developed countries, with large-scale enterprises looking to internationalise through for example concessioning in a developing country may result in a power struggle. From a host country perspective, when a first world multinational corporation purchases a national asset in a developing country, many conditions need be put in place so that the integrity through management of risk is maintained to protect the developing country from exploitation of resources. South Africa is a developing country and is a relatively small player in world trade, which suggests a weak position in world trade. South Africa from a trade volume perspective does not significant influence on current world trade rules as a single country. The World Trade Organization (WTO) provides international requirements on trading rules with the world's richest countries and trading blocs. The World Bank also supports these rules. The external environmental influences will include the WTO, World Bank and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Local country specific influences are promulgated through the constitution of South Africa and supported through guidelines in NEPAD (New Partnerships for Africa's Development), AU (African Union), National Government Economic Policy to balance industry protection perceived as a barrier to market entry by a foreign multinational corporation. The decision on whether to proceed with concessioning or not will be determined through interpretation of the strategic evaluation of concessioning. This will suggest whether concessioning (privatisation) of state assets or not and will affect the current operator Durban Container Terminal. Concessioning is a real threat to the current operator's survival and depending on the type of concessioning agreement signed may result in the operator ceasing to exist. In evaluating the balance of power of international trade and the country specific requirements respectively, a question arises. It is very complex and can be asked as follows: Do we as South Africans stand tall in developing and implementing our own economic policy or do we open up our markets which may put South African state assets in hands of the large multinationals who will have free reign to possibly monopolize and speculate within our "fragile" economy. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

The movement of passengers, goods, and information has always been fundamental components of human societies. It is all related to transport costs as well as to the attributes of what is being transported. However, regulations, laws, and tariffs can influence transportability. Countries around the world have been changing their international trade policies by reducing both tariff and non-tariff barriers. Informal barriers hinder trade and the benefits of export, such as economic growth, that come with the achievement of trade liberalisation. It was found that the impact of transport costs on trade patterns has become an important study. Theoretical and empirical work in international trade only recently began considering the geography of exports as a possible explanation for high transport costs. For instance, factors such as distance, market size, scale economies, and agglomeration affect transportation costs around the world. Transport costs in South Africa are a relevant issue due to its geographical position. South Africa is situated far from its major trading partners. In addition, the majority of South African exports originate in Gauteng, which is around 600km from the nearest seaport. For South African exports to remain competitive, domestic transport costs must be reduced. One method of cutting costs is by connecting a container dry port with an intermodal transport system to the major seaports (namely Durban, Port Elizabeth, and Cape Town). The empirical study was conducted in the form an interview-based questionnaire. A total of 18 questions were asked to individuals at a terminal in Gauteng. The purpose of the questionnaire was to gather information on the service delivery of South African inland terminals. This led to the conclusion that City Deep functions well in terms of service delivery and provides extra services to both exporters and importers. Potential problems regarding City Deep's infrastructure were identified. It was found that train and truck congestion within City Deep is an everyday phenomenon. The existing infrastructure cannot handle the train and truck traffic entering City Deep. It was found that clients prefer road transportation to rail transportation, therefore, the amount of trucks entering and leaving City Deep causes congestion. This not only affects the infrastructure at City Deep, but also that of South Africa. More trucks on the roads exacerbate air pollution and road accidents, and overloaded trucks damage South African roads. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The movement of passengers, goods, and information has always been fundamental components of human societies. It is all related to transport costs as well as to the attributes of what is being transported. However, regulations, laws, and tariffs can influence transportability. Countries around the world have been changing their international trade policies by reducing both tariff and non-tariff barriers. Informal barriers hinder trade and the benefits of export, such as economic growth, that come with the achievement of trade liberalisation. It was found that the impact of transport costs on trade patterns has become an important study. Theoretical and empirical work in international trade only recently began considering the geography of exports as a possible explanation for high transport costs. For instance, factors such as distance, market size, scale economies, and agglomeration affect transportation costs around the world. Transport costs in South Africa are a relevant issue due to its geographical position. South Africa is situated far from its major trading partners. In addition, the majority of South African exports originate in Gauteng, which is around 600km from the nearest seaport. For South African exports to remain competitive, domestic transport costs must be reduced. One method of cutting costs is by connecting a container dry port with an intermodal transport system to the major seaports (namely Durban, Port Elizabeth, and Cape Town). The empirical study was conducted in the form an interview-based questionnaire. A total of 18 questions were asked to individuals at a terminal in Gauteng. The purpose of the questionnaire was to gather information on the service delivery of South African inland terminals. This led to the conclusion that City Deep functions well in terms of service delivery and provides extra services to both exporters and importers. Potential problems regarding City Deep's infrastructure were identified. It was found that train and truck congestion within City Deep is an everyday phenomenon. The existing infrastructure cannot handle the train and truck traffic entering City Deep. It was found that clients prefer road transportation to rail transportation, therefore, the amount of trucks entering and leaving City Deep causes congestion. This not only affects the infrastructure at City Deep, but also that of South Africa. More trucks on the roads exacerbate air pollution and road accidents, and overloaded trucks damage South African roads. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Feb. 7, 2008). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Universität-Gesamthochschule-Siegen, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-129).

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2004. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph.D.). / Written for the Dept. of Geography. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/07/24). Includes bibliographical references.