We are excited to share the news that Dr. Abisai Konstantinus is a recipient of the prestigious Dr. Lee Schipper Memorial Scholarship for Sustainable Transport and Energy Efficiency which awards exceptional candidates a scholarship to advance transformative research in efficient and sustainable transport. Since this year, one scholarship is dedicated to support a young researcher from the African continent. Dr Konstantinus is the first recipient of this award.
Dr. Konstantinus will investigate the perceptions and experience of shipowners and operators. The study first employs data obtained from a SADC region wide survey conducted in 2018 with 30 maritime carriers, who own, manage or operate ships to determine the factors that drive unreliability and high costs in regional maritime transport. Subsequently, an in-depth case study approach will be employed to investigate the operation of a three major coastal shipping lines in SADC. The study will be conducted through Ndatara.
The development of regional maritime transport in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region has been identified as a way of bolstering the region’s freight transport network. Notwithstanding this, maritime transport in SADC is currently perceived as unreliable and expensive and thus unattractive as a mode of transport.
The study aims to understand the real-life phenomenon of successfully operating a coastal shipping service under the current conditions. Results will contribute to the identification of strategies to overcome barriers in the SADC regional maritime transport to make it a viable alternative to road transport. Importantly, the study will also reveal gaps that must be addressed to develop maritime transport in the SADC region by presenting the predicted appropriateness and credibility of different policies, and elements more likely to generate positive behavioural change in shipowners and operators.
Checkout the official announcement on the Volvo Research and Educational Foundation here: VREF announcement . Also catch the full interview with Dr. Konstantinus here: