Overall objective of the study

To support a coordinated, efficient, resilient and future-oriented maritime transport ecosystem along the TCTC through evidence-based fleet planning, operational coordination, digital transparency, rail-maritime interoperability, investment prioritisation and green-transition pathways.

Specific objectives of the study

1. Establish a verified inventory and performance baseline for vessels and relevant maritime assets serving the principal East-West Caspian routes.
2. Model current and future cargo demand and translate demand scenarios into vessel-capacity and multimodal-interface requirements.
3. Determine an optimal vessel mix and identify renewal, retrofit, replacement and deployment priorities under alternative demand and water-level scenarios.
4. Assess train-ferry, rail-wagon and port-rail interfaces and identify measures to reduce bottlenecks, turnaround time and service variability.
5. Design practical operational-coordination and digital-transparency measures for ports, shipping operators, railways and corridor institutions.
6. Identify and prioritise investment needs for vessels, port-side assets, equipment, sustainable fuels and bunkering, including potential industrial partnerships and financing pathways.
7. Assess feasible decarbonisation and climate-resilience measures, including the potential for a Caspian green-shipping-corridor pilot.
8. Review relevant governance and regulatory issues, including maritime facilitation and emissions standards, and prepare an actionable implementation roadmap.

Objective of the position

Provide national data, institutional access and contextual analysis for Kazakhstan and ensure that findings and recommendations are operationally and institutionally realistic.

Scope of work

• Map relevant Kazakh institutions, ports, shipping operators, railway and terminal entities, shipyards, logistics associations, regulators and investment stakeholders.
• Coordinate national data requests and collect available vessel, port, cargo, wagon, operational, investment, regulatory and strategy information, including available information on Vessel Traffic Services (VTS), Vessel Traffic Management and Information Systems (VTMIS), the Automatic Identification System (AIS), Maritime Single Window (MSW), aids to navigation, vessel reporting and relevant maritime communication systems.
• Support consultations with the Ministry of Transport, maritime administration, ports of Aktau and Kuryk, shipping operators, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and other relevant stakeholders.
• Validate the Kazakhstan components of the vessel and maritime-asset inventory, including route deployment, utilisation, maintenance, port interfaces and planned investments.
• Document national operational bottlenecks, route-safety and navigational constraints, rail-maritime coordination practices, maritime-surveillance and vessel-reporting system constraints, data gaps, regulatory issues and institutional responsibilities.
• Support field visits, meeting agendas, interview notes, translation or interpretation coordination where required, and systematic stakeholder follow-up.
• Review demand, fleet, digitalisation, decarbonisation, climate-resilience and investment findings for national accuracy and feasibility.
• Assess the relevance of maritime facilitation and environmental alignment issues, including the FAL Convention and MARPOL Annex VI, in coordination with the team leader.
• Support national validation and the regional workshop and maintain a consultation and data-source log.

Deliverables

Contribution of the position to the study deliverables:

• Kazakhstan stakeholder map, consultation plan and data-request package for D1.
• Validated Kazakhstan data and analytical inputs for D2 and D3.
• National-context and feasibility inputs for D4, D5 and D6.
• Kazakhstan comments, action owners and implementation inputs for D7 and D8.

Duration and schedule
Eight months from the start date, up to 25 expert-days. Delivery weeks are counted from the assignment start date. The detailed schedule and allocation of inputs will be confirmed in the inception report.

The assignment will combine desk review, structured data collection, stakeholder interviews, operator consultations, technical port visits where authorised, scenario analysis, international benchmarking and validation. Travel and meetings will be undertaken only under the agreed work plan and with prior approval of the TCTC Capacity Development Programme Team Leader.

Reporting and coordination
Reporting line: Maritime Transport and Fleet Optimisation Team Leader, in coordination with the TCTC National Coordinator in Kazakhstan.

The expert will work as part of one integrated team comprising the Maritime Transport and Fleet Optimisation Team Leader, Transport Demand Modeller, Naval Architect and Vessel Technology Expert, Maritime Digitalisation Expert, Kazakhstan Maritime Expert and Turkmenistan Maritime Expert. The expert will coordinate closely with the TCTC National Coordinator in Kazakhstan. All experts must use common definitions, scenarios, datasets and reporting formats and must share working materials in sufficient time for integration and peer review.

The expert will provide editable source material, data tables, calculations and presentation inputs and will revise contributions in response to consolidated comments.

The expert is required to:

• Deliver assigned inputs on time and to a standard suitable for direct integration into formal programme deliverables.
• Ensure that quantitative claims and recommendations are traceable to documented sources, calculations and assumptions.
• Coordinate proactively with other experts and resolve inconsistencies across technical workstreams.
• Provide practical and proportionate recommendations that identify responsible actors, prerequisites, sequencing and risks.
• Participate in coordination calls, technical reviews, stakeholder consultations and validation activities as requested.
• Maintain professional independence, confidentiality and respectful engagement with public and private stakeholders.