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 Turkmenistan and ensure that findings and recommendations are operationally and institutionally realistic.

Scope of work

- Map relevant Turkmen institutions, maritime and seaport authorities, shipping operators, railway and terminal entities, shipyards and logistics bodies, including the Turkmenistan Logistics Center (TULM) and private transport and logistics companies.
- 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 relevant authorities, Turkmenbashi International Seaport, maritime operators, Turkmenistan Railways and other stakeholders.
- Validate the Turkmenistan 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 of the study team to Turkmenistan where required, meeting agendas, interview notes, translation or interpretation coordination, 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 issues, including the IMO Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL Convention), 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:

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

- D1 Inception report: methodology, work plan, stakeholder map, data plan and templates, analytical framework, risks, quality and confidentiality arrangements.

Week 4

- D2 Maritime assets and operations baseline: verified vessel and asset inventory; condition, utilisation and performance assessment; route-safety and navigational-constraint assessment; port and rail-maritime interface diagnosis; data register.

Week 12

- D3 Cargo demand and capacity scenarios: current-flow baseline, demand forecasts, scenario assumptions, route and vessel-segment capacity analysis, editable model and user guide.

Week 18

- D4 Fleet optimisation and renewal framework: optimal fleet mix by scenario; deployment, renewal, retrofit and replacement priorities; port-side requirements; investment pipeline and sequencing.

Week 24

- D5 Digital operations diagnosis and recommendations: mapping of key operational and digital information flows directly relevant to vessel scheduling, booking, vessel reporting, cargo/wagon tracking and information exchange between key stakeholders; inventory and assessment of relevant surveillance, vessel-reporting and communication systems; AIS-based traffic-pattern analysis where data are available; coordination gaps, priority use cases, functional and data requirements, governance options and implementation steps.

Week 26





- D6 Green transition, industrial partnership, governance and regulatory note: decarbonisation and resilience pathways, green-corridor screening, industrial partnership options, policy and regulatory recommendations.

Week 28

- D7 Draft final report and roadmap: integrated framework, prioritised recommendations, action plan, monitoring indicators and presentation package.

Week 30

- D8 Validation workshop and final package: workshop delivery and record; revised final report, executive summary, roadmap, models, datasets, slide deck and response-to-comments matrix.

Week 34

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 Turkmenistan.

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 Turkmenistan. 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.

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📌 Turkmenistan Maritime Expert - TCTC project (H/F) (Asia)
🏢 Expertise France
📍 Asia