Transport decision-marks speak: the Seaport Development in the Europena communities Reasearch Project —Part I

This paper, in two parts, reports on the Seaport Development in the European Communities Research Project wherein forty interviews with decision-makers were help in European seaports, and another forty were held with shipowning organization. Respondents were also asked to fill in a questionnaire, and it is these questionnaire, and it is these questionnaire findings that are reported in this the first part of the paper. Expected contrasts between planning philosophies in Britain, Ireland, and Denmark on the one hand and the rest of the EEC on the other were confirmed, and regularity of cargo on offer appears generally belived as the most important factor in route planning of ships. Among other major conclusions (see table 5) are the view that ship congestion at ports is a more scute problem than the over-provision of berths and that short-term low operating costs are considered more important than the security offered by mediumterm plans.     

Optimal containership size

The cost per container movement incurred by a containership per voyage leg on a given route is minimized under various scenarios. The principal conclusions reached from a comparative analysis of the optimal containership sizes are: (1) for a route of a given distance and the same time in port per port call, optimal containership size declines as the number of port calls increase, (2) for a route of a given distance and the same number of port calls, optimal containership size declines as the time in port increases and (3) for the same number of port calls and the same time in port per port call, optimal containership size increases as the distance of the route increases. Rationale for these conclusions are presented.     

Freight forwarders speak: the preception of route comptetition via seaports in the European communities Research project —Part II

This paper, in two parts, reports on the perceptionof route competition via seaports in the European Communities Research Project wherein 72 interviews were held with freight forwarders throughout Europe (for the locations of the interviews see Part I, figure 1). This second part of the paper reports on the analysis of the openended tape-recorded responses of the interviewees to six separate sets of propositions they were shown; and there are extensive verbatim quotations. These quotations become longer as respondents warmed to the procedure. They tend to emphasize the increasing symbiosis of the land and sea operations within international transport. Among many vital topics of concern in a freight forwarder's life are costs and time. Not only does elapsed time equate with money expended, but also time limits equate with credit limits; any delay or unreliability results in sudden and enormous escalation of costs. Movement between countries in the mainland European Communities (EC) is more by truck than short-sea shipping. Customs are widely criticized as a cause of delays. The unfair (according to EC rules discrimination against UK forwarders by conferences tend to foster feeder services to mainland ports for British exports. But the opinion is that the power of conferences has declined markedly in recent years with the concomitant growth of independent lines. Freight forwarders may decline in numbers as their function changes. More capital is now required for computerizatio and credit bonds. There is a tendency to provide a more integrated service which would be symbolized by a growth of delivered price trading compared with free-on-board deliveries.     

互通式立交改扩建工程设计方案探讨

影响互通立交的改扩建方案的因素很多,文中以某互通改扩建工程为例,根据地形地貌、周边路网和预测交通量等因素,结合路线布设要求,对某互通改扩建工程的3个方案进行了分析比选,最终给出了理想的方案。     

Market structures in coastal shipping: what to expect in Canada following the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement with the European Union?

After several years of negotiation between Canada and the European Union, the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) was ratified in early 2017. The regime set out by the Canadian Coasting Trade Act that reserves shipments of cargo between Canadian ports to Canadian vessels remains mostly untouched under CETA. Minor, yet potentially significant, changes to the regime are introduced by the trade agreement. Provisions are made to liberalize the repositioning of empty containers within Canada. The liberalization of public markets now allows European firms to compete in the Canadian dredging market. Finally, EU vessels can undertake some transshipment activity in Canada but this is limited to international cargo on the specific Montreal-Halifax route. The paper attempts to highlight some possible CETA’s consequences for domestic Canadian shipping markets. It uses industrial economics analytical tools drawn from a Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) paradigm. From a literature review, it reconstructs different cases of deregulation that occurred internationally. The observed transformations are then characterized in terms of the SCP model. The paper identifies some common impacts which occurred in different transportation industries after a deregulation process. Using these findings, it concludes by discussing potential impacts for domestic shipping markets in Canada.     

Insights into the port training of the new European Union member states 1

The establishment and implementation of a training programme requires a training needs assessment (TNA). Without this approach, more often than not, training programmes have failed to succeed and to make such an assessment the instructional designer, i.e. the person in charge for this work, needs to follow a methodology. Unlike the other industries, the port industry has neglected the use of these methodologies, which is shown by the lack of research work published in academic journals. With a view to fill the existing gap, the paper proposes a five-step TNA methodology to be used in the port industry and applies its first three steps to investigate the port training situation in the new European Union member states. To achieve this objective, the paper is structured in the following way: puts the research work into context; addresses the role of ports; presents a port TNA methodology; explains research methodology; addresses port training issues in the new European-member states; and presents conclusions and further comments.     

Understanding the ocean container market—a seven country study [1]

Carrier selection criteria have been an issue in carrier marketing since the 1970s. Investigator location and interest has usually limited customer surveys to one geographic market. Market characteristics—differing purchase and service characteristics—have led to model seperation in the studies undertaken and sample size has constrained most researchers to reporting results as though customers were homogeneous in their needs. This has resulted in price versus service debates with conflicting conclusions. This paper explores the differences in the importance of various ocean container carrier selection criteria on the North Atlantic route for discrete geographic and customer segments. The paper reviewss the carrier selection literature and notes that carrier selection research to date has generally suffered from one or more of three problems: (1) because the research has focused on criteria 'importance', it has not identified determinants of purchase behaviour, that is, the 'salience' of different criteria; (2) the research has had sample size problems leading to the need to assume that the market is homogeneous or, less acceptable, that importance ratings will identify usable segments via factor analysis; and (3) carrier perfomance evaluation in conjucation with determinant criteria has largely been ignored. The paper focused on the problems surrounding the second of these by evaluating the relative importance of various service attributes for different geographic and customer dimensions. The paper concludes that the market is definitely not homogeneous in its requirements of carriers and that different elements surface as important both in identifiable geographical markets and customer groups. It also draws a number of conclusions about carrier choice in future and the implications for academic research.     

Fleet deployment optimization for liner shipping: an integer programming model

Extending and improving an earlier work of the second author, an Integer Programming (IP) model is developed to minimize the operating and lay-up costs for a fleet of liner ships operating on various routes. The IP model determines the optimal deployment of an existing fleet, given route, service, charter, and compatibility constraints. Two examples are worked with extensive actual data provided by Flota Mercante Grancolombiana (FMG). The optimal deployment is solved for their existing ship and service requirements and results and conclusions are given.     

Large oil tankers and the Baltic marine environment: A statistical survey

The short Baltic export route for Russian oil is an attractive source of supply for the European energy market. The article examines the Russian oil export trade in the Baltic based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data from 2005 matched with supplementary data. The first part of the article gives a survey of activities and characteristics of 261 large crude oil tankers, their flag states and owner countries. The second part views the data in the context of accidental oil spill risk. Greek and Russian owners are leading carriers in this trade. Russia plays a double leading role as oil exporter and shipowning country, securing major cargo shares for nationally owned vessels, while also giving a preferential spot in the trade to Greek owners. Where environmental aspects are concerned, previous research has linked vessel characteristics with the risk of casualty. Knowledge of flag, age, ownership and activity levels adds useful information about environmental risk. The data show that flags associated with very high casualty or detention probabilities were represented by 18% of the activity in this trade. Older vessels have a similar share, and at this particular time probably represent the more serious threat of accidental oil spills.     

Transport decision-makers speak: the Seaport Development in the European Communities Research Project†—Part II

This paper, in two parts, reports on the Seaport Development in the European Communities Research Project wherein forty interviews with decision-makers were held in European seaports, and another forty were held with shipowning organizations. This part of the paper reports on analysis of the open-ended tape-recorded responses of the interviewees to six separate sets of propositions they were shown. The first major conclusion is that decision-makers in the ports and shipping industries have a great deal to offer in helping to shape future EC policies about seaports. The second is that these decision-makers on the whole agree with students of the subject, but outside the industries, that a step-by-step approach is possible towards a Common Seaports Policy. Indeed, without prompting, some respondents even confirmed a previously published suggestion for the first stage of this process—the necessity for an agreed standard basis for ports' accounts. It is believed that a small secretariat within the Brussels Commission could weld representatives of the industries into a working group which could make real progress by consulting their colleagues through interviews similar to those successfully conducted for this project.     

Transport decision-makers speak: the Seaport Development in the European Communities Research Project —Part II

This paper, in two parts, reports on the Seaport Development in the European Communities Research Project wherein forty interviews with decision-makers were held in European seaports, and another forty were held with shipowning organizations. This part of the paper reports on analysis of the open-ended tape-recorded responses of the interviewees to six separate sets of propositions they were shown. The first major conclusion is that decision-makers in the ports and shipping industries have a great deal to offer in helping to shape future EC policies about seaports. The second is that these decision-makers on the whole agree with students of the subject, but outside the industries, that a step-by-step approach is possible towards a Common Seaports Policy. Indeed, without prompting, some respondents even confirmed a previously published suggestion for the first stage of this process—the necessity for an agreed standard basis for ports' accounts. It is believed that a small secretariat within the Brussels Commission could weld representatives of the industries into a working group which could make real progress by consulting their colleagues through interviews similar to those successfully conducted for this project.     

An analysis of the pricing system in the Greek–Italian coastal routes

Price discrimination is practiced by oligopolistic coastal shipping companies in the ‘unregulated’ Greece–Italy routes in the year 2002. Investigation has been carried out ‘per route’—in a doctoral thesis—instead of ‘per market’ which was the so-far erroneous approach of shipping economists. This is so for a host of differentiating factors play a considerable and non-negligible role (like geography, distance, demand, seasonality and others). Service—and price-discrimination—in coastal shipping is affected also by the predetermined ship design which thus is a special feature—but not exclusively—in coastal shipping. Companies in the Adriatic Sea try to extract the greater possible value of the user's willingness to pay, peak and off-peak, group and ungrouped, for social groups (clubs, families and students). Marketing and economics interfere in a complicated—far from the nice world of theory—situation, where maximization of revenue and profit, capacity utilization, intense seasonality and high fixed cost (common and joint costs as well) are a few of the factors that interplay. This paper can be considered as a case study for applied pricing. Excess capacity is also a strategic factor affecting pricing. It is our opinion that the analysis here gives for the first time a complete theoretical and practical account—based on the price lists of the companies—of the pricing policy of the ferry boats running in the Adriatic Sea belonging to coastal shipping companies connecting Italy with Greece and Greece with the European Union (EU). We believe this work to be useful for maritime Europe.     

Shipbuilding disputes: the WTO panel rulings and the elimination of operating subsidy from shipbuilding

This paper sets out the developments in world shipbuilding policy that have occurred in the past decade. It reviews and outlines the situation that existed in the late 1990s, when an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) agreement on the elimination of shipyard operating subsidies was tantalisingly close. After the Introduction, the second section provides a brief review of the development of the industry over the past three decades, setting the context for developments since 1997. The third section discusses the complaint of the European Union (EU) to the World Trade Organization (WTO) concerning the Republic of Korea's support for its shipbuilding sector, and its counterclaim over the EU's temporary defence mechanism (TDM). It is argued that the core of the EU's case at the WTO was flawed, and that the reintroduction of an operating subsidy via the TDM was a mistake. The only prospect for regularizing competition in this area lies in the negotiation of the OECD agreement that was completed, but not ratified, in 1994. Given the souring of relations between two of the main players in this area, the prospects for such a settlement seem remote. The fourth section uses Olson's theory of groups to argue that the European Commission's actions were driven primarily by industry pressure groups, and failed to consider the potential views of other European stakeholders, in particular the taxpayers. Given the failure of the EU's action at the WTO, the future direction of European shipbuilding policy will have to focus on strategies for internal development and improved industrial competitiveness.     

A multi-criteria decision method for the analysis of the Motorways of the Sea: the application to the case of France and Spain on the Atlantic Coast

Despite European Union (EU) political support to identify the most feasible Motorways of the Sea, the final decision can only be made by Private Shipping Companies, which are operators of a unique stretch of the intermodal chain. This paper provides a multi-criteria decision method to identify the most suitable Motorways of the Sea taking into account the competitiveness of whole intermodal routes versus the alternative of road transport from the loader’s perspective. The analysis is carried out assuming a ‘many-to-many’ transport model. Firstly indexes of time and cost were defined and evaluated for every available route in the model in accordance with a multi-criteria decision matrix. Secondly, through a Monte Carlo simulation a sensitivity analysis was carried out in order to evaluate the influence on the results of the forecast assumed to construct the matrix. The results obtained are not only quantitative, but also qualitative. The development of intermodal routes via Motorways of the Sea is especially relevant for the peripheral EU countries. Due to the relevance of the freight flow between France and Spain and the congestion of their connections through the Pyrenees, the method proposed was applied to the analysis of this particular case     

A generalized model of pelagic biogeochemistry for the global ocean ecosystem. Part I: Theory

The set of equations for global ocean biogeochemistry deterministic models have been formulated in a comprehensive and unified form in order to use them in numerical simulations of the marine ecosystem for climate change studies (PELAGOS, PELAgic biogeochemistry for Global Ocean Simulations). The fundamental approach stems from the representation of marine trophic interactions and major biogeochemical cycles introduced in the European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM). Our theoretical formulation revisits and generalizes the stoichiometric approach of ERSEM by defining the state variables as Chemical Functional Families (CFF). CFFs are further subdivided into living, non-living and inorganic components. Living CFFs are the basis for the definition of Living Functional Groups, the biomass-based functional prototype of the real organisms. Both CFFs and LFGs are theoretical constructs which allow us to relate measurable properties of marine biogeochemistry to the state variables used in deterministic models. This approach is sufficiently generic that may be used to describe other existing biomass-based ecosystem model.     

Eastern/Western European shipping companies and multimodal transport operations

The purpose of this article is to discuss the current developments in multimodal cargo flows in North European freight transports from Eastern and Western European shipping companies' point of view. Four types of options were identified for shipping companies in multimodal transport operations, namely: (i) the full service operator option, (ii) the feeder operator option in container trades, (iii) the ro-ro operator option, and (iv) the ferry operator option. Option (i) requires a global transport network together with efficient information handling capabilities. This option can be reached by a limited number of mega-carriers. The scope of investment and know-how in this option is such that Eastern European operators are unlikely to achieve this level. In (ii), fleets from (or registered in) the former socialist countries have an advantage as low cost operators, provided that the quality of the operation conforms to principals' requirements. However, the supply side in the intra-European container feeder trades seems to be quite saturated, and new market shares will be very difficult to acquire in the 1990s. In ro-ro shortsea trades the major freight transport operators are well integrated into either freight forwarder driven arrangements (Sweden, Germany), or into major shippers (Finland). As providers of port-to-port transports for road-based cargoes, ferry operators continue to play an important part in international transports. However, the major incentive (and revenue) for passenger/car ferry operations is usually derived from consumers' vacational or travelling needs. Along with the ongoing transition process and a higher level of economic stability that is hopefully achieved in these countries, mergers and acquisitions by Western partners are likely to follow.     

Maritime interests in the EU policy-making: Structures,practices, and governability of collective action

Throughout Europe, a number of maritime interests have re-targeted their lobbying structures and strategies aiming to influence the development of the maritime related European Union (EU) policies. The paper examines these maritime interests’ mobilisation in the making of the Common EU Maritime Transport Policy (CMTP). First, it provides a review of the role of these interest groups and the implications of the observed collective interests’ representation. Then, with the contribution a data-set of replies to a questionnaire distributed to all the interest groups that are involved in EU maritime affairs, the paper analyses the variety of interest groups representing the maritime sector in EU affairs. The focus is on the structures (i.e. membership numbers and types, location, internal structures, budget) and the lobbying practices of the 37 identified EU level maritime related organisations. The paper also presents an evaluation of the most positive and most negative parameters of the ‘EU environment’ and the ‘economic environment’ that assist, or undermine, the governability cohesiveness of this collective action. This study provides information on whether and under what conditions maritime interests are able to form comprehensive EU-level organisations capable of representing their members and their interests in the EU policy making process