The PAWSA process is a structured approach for obtaining expert judgments on the level of risk in a port area. The process also addresses the relative merits of specific types of Vessel Traffic Management (VTM) improvements for reducing risk in the port. Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process, the port risk assessment process uses a select group of experts/stakeholders in each port to evaluate waterway risk factors and the effectiveness of various VTM improvements. The process requires the participation of local Coast Guard officials before and throughout the workshops. Thus the process is a joint effort involving waterway user experts, stakeholders, and the agencies/entities responsible for implementing selected risk mitigation measures. This methodology employs a generic model of port risk that was conceptually developed by a National Dialog Group on Port Risk and then translated into computer algorithms by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. In that model, risk is defined as the sum of the probability of a casualty and its consequences. Consequently, the model includes variables associated with both the causes and the effects of vessel casualties. Because the risk factors in the model do NOT contribute equally to overall port risk, the first session of each PAWSA workshop is devoted to obtaining expert opinion about how to weight the relative contribution of each variable to overall port risk. The workshop participants then are asked to establish scales to measure each variable. Once the parameters have been established for each risk-inducing factor, port-specific risk is estimated by putting into the computer model specific values for that port for each variable. The computer model allows comparison of relative risk and the potential efficacy of various VTM improvements between different ports.


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    Title :

    Port of Portland, Maine. PAWSA Workshop Report


    Publication date :

    2001


    Size :

    27 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




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