Asaf Ashar , PhD - Research Professor (emeritus) and Independent Consultant, Ports, Shipping and Intermodal Transportation

Dr. Ashar is Research Professor(emeritus) with the National Ports & Waterways Initiative (NPWI), USA, and independent consultant. NPWI is a maritime research program of The University of New Orleans / Transportation Institute, with offices in New Orleans, LA and Washington D.C. Dr. Ashar has been with NPWI since 1985. Before that he was Senior Port Planner and Transportation Analyst with the Port of Seattle,WA, USA (1981 – 1985), and Senior Advisor for Operations with the Port and Rail Authority of Israel, Ports of Haifa & Ashdod (1972 – 1980). His academic background includes degrees in Industrial Engineering & Management (Technion, Israel, 1967), Marine System Management (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA,1982), and Maritime Studies and International Transport (University of Wales, United Kingdom,1993).

Dr. Ashar has participated in numerous conferences and was quoted in many publications, among them: USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Financial Times Germany, Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Miami Herald, The Sun Herald, The Journal of Commerce, American Shippers, Loyd's List, Dredging Today, Port Technology, World Cargo News, Containerization International, Container Management, Port Strategy, and Cargo Systems; and was interviewed on two National Public Radio stations. He also has developed and taught seminars and graduate courses on Ports & Shipping.

Dr. Ashar served as Expert Witness in several recent cases involving US port channels, US port investments in new handling equipment, costs and rates for water and land transportation, litigation of foreign government regarding port concessions, rental fees for marine terminals and inter-port competition.

Dr. Ashar has over 50 academic and professional publications, among them the highly publicized series on The Fourth Revolution: Long-Terms Prospects of Liner Shipping (Containerization International, Dec 1999 & Jan 2000), Reversal of Fortune, Long-Term Forecast for US Ports, (Containerization International, Jan 2004, and World Cargo News, March 2004) and Revolution #4 (Containerization International, Dec 2006),the impact of Panama Canal Expansion on US Ports (Containerization International, July 2010), the Deepening US Port Channels (Journal of Commerce, Jan 2011) and, most recently, the Revised Fourth Revolution (Port Technology, Sep 2012, Journal of Commerce, Nov 2012, and WorldCargo, March 2013).

Dr. Ashar’s areas of expertise include, in ports:

• National and regional port master plans
• Due dilligence studies for port investments
• Port marketing and strategic analyzes
• State intermodal plans (coastal, inland waterways, rail, road)
• On/off-dock intermodal railyards
• Port privatization and concession programs
• Port legislation and regulatory reforms
• Port cost and pricing strategies
• Port operations and productivity analysis
• Port facility planning for container, genera and bulkl cargo terminals

In shipping:

• Fleet forecast
• Ship characterization and shipping costs
• Deployment strategies of shipping lines
• Future shipping and transshipping service patterns
• Inland waterways containerships and Container on Barge (COB)
• Coastal, Inter-Island, River/ Sea and Short-Sea Shipping
• Fast ferries and Ro/Pax shipping

Dr. Ashar has more than 30 years of extensive experience with ports, shipping, and multi-modal transportation projects in the US and more than 30 countries in Asia, South & Central America, Caribbean, East & West Africa, East & West Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. His recent projects of special interest include:

• The impact of Panama Canal expansion on US East & Gulf Coast ports, especially with regards to channel deepening;
• Strategic development plans for The Yangshan port complex in Shanghai, China; Inchon, South Korea; St. Antonio, Chile; Embraport, Santos, Brazil; Callao, Peru; Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia
• Feasibility assessments of Panama Canal and "dry" canals through Mexico and Costa Rica
• Short-sea and Inland Waterways shipping for both domestic and international containers in the US, Mexico, Bangladesh and the Phillipines
• Due dilligence assessments for investors in port concessions in Brazil, Colombia,, Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Haiti, Panama, South Korea, Germany, Turkey and Namibia

Dr. Ashar originated and prepared the conceptual design of Embraport, a 2-million TEU, $1 billion-investment container terminal in Santos, Brazil. He also originated the San Antonio Outer Harbor Plan, Chile, a newr deep-water habor with full-build capacity of 6 million TEU, now under development by the Chilean government.