IAME 2001: Contemporary research in global shipping and logistics

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: Section 1 puts the research work into context; section 2 addresses the role of ports; section 3. presents a port TNA methodology; section 4. explains research methodology; section 5 addresses port training issues in the new European-member states; and section 6 presents conclusions and further comments.     

Consistency in the development of performance assessment methods in the maritime domain

The maritime industry is considered to be a backbone of the global economy. It is therefore imperative to ensure that maritime operations run safely and efficiently. Assessment of maritime performance is necessary for designers and engineers to be able to pinpoint the weakest links in the system and make impactful system improvements. The current article presents a systematic quantitative literature review of research on performance assessment in the maritime industry with the goal of establishing an understanding of accuracy and consistency in the development of methods used to assess performance. The review focuses on four major segments within the industry—port logistics, ship handling, safety and environmental research—and investigates their uses in developing accurate and consistent performance assessment methods. After the completion of an exclusion process, 62 articles published in a wide range of academic journals were used in the analysis. Two important conclusions were drawn from the analysis. First, performance assessment is generally consistent throughout the maritime industry; most papers used accurate and consistent approaches to develop the methods (n?=?43). A subsequent bivariate analysis revealed a call for increased attention to the development of assessment methods within the maritime segment of ship handling. The current study suggests and discusses certain directions with regard to assessment research in the maritime industry.     

第四代港口概念及特点*

在梳理和总结国内外关于第四代港口的理论和实践研究的基础上,以港口区位和港口功能规划为出发点,对第四代港口的概念和特点进行了界定。认为第四代港口在物理上打破了区位限制,是一个以港口、临港工业区和临港新城为载体的集港口、产业和城市功能为一体的网络港口群;在功能方面,第四代港口提供围绕资源和生产要素的一体化的生产、物流、信息、商贸、金融等服务。对第四代港口概念和特点的深入研究有助于全面认识和理解未来港口的发展方向,对我国港口建设具有重要的现实意义。     

浅谈我国绿色港口的发展现状及建议

作为高能耗、高污染的港口业,要实现其可持续发展就必须走绿色港口的发展道路。阐述了绿色港口的内涵、国内外研究现状。分析了我国绿色港口的发展过程中存在的问题,我国绿色港口的发展现状。最后,针对存在的问题提出一些推动我国绿色港口发展的建议。     

UNCTAD activities in the field of ports and their future

UNCTAD's work in the field of ports started, soon after its establishment in 1964, as a result of a 'Common measure of understanding on shipping questions'. It resulted in a three pronged effort in research, training and technical assistance, carried by the secretariat in close collaboration with the industry. Technical publications were published and are widely used by practitioners throughout the world. Port managers and government officials responsible for ports in developing countries were the beneficiaries of large-scale training programmes. Technical assistance to improve port services was conducted in several developing countries. During the 1990s, new mandates were agreed in the field of transport in which ports are not explicitly mentioned. This paper argues that the stakes in ports are so vital for trading countries, notably those seeking accelerated economic development, that a broad interpretation of the current mandate is needed.     

The impact of the new onboard technologies on maritime education and training schemes in Europe: some findings from the 'METHAR' project

The paper reports some analyses put forward in the context of the METHAR Project. The purpose is the evaluation of the impact of the new technologies used onboard ships on the Maritime Education and Training systems in Europe and the identification of the future training needs. This issue is tackled by developing an ad-hoc methodology based upon the analysis of the responses to questionnaires sent to a number of operators involved in the maritime sector all over Europe, specifically ship owners, marine equipment manufacturers, pilots and port managers. Results enable the identification of some types of impacts that are named ‘organizational’ and ‘operational’. Moreover, a general evaluation scheme was developed as a tool for highlighting the structure and the characteristics of the impacts considered.     

Port co-opetition in concept and practice

The port industry has undergone a rationalization process over the last decade. An increasing proportion of port management and operations is being taken over by global port operating groups. Many port operators who previously ran only their local business now extend their business scope to the regional or global scale; today's port operators can be regarded as multinational corporations. In the era of global economy, a port no longer enjoys a natural monopoly, as was the case in the past. To cope with this changing business environment, a certain form of competition and co-operation among ports is necessary so as to provide services that fit into shipping lines' strategies. It is suggested that ports have to concentrate on new ways for co-operation in an effort to establish a countervailing power. This paper proposes a new strategic option known as co-opetition, the combination of competition and co-operation, for the port industry, and explains a case of co-opetition between the container ports in Hong Kong and South China. The results of this research will provide a useful insight into the port industry, which is currently required to carry out its business in an ever-changing business environment.     

The impact of the new onboard technologies on maritime education and training schemes in Europe: some findings from the 'METHAR' project

The paper reports some analyses put forward in the context of the METHAR Project. The purpose is the evaluation of the impact of the new technologies used onboard ships on the Maritime Education and Training systems in Europe and the identification of the future training needs. This issue is tackled by developing an ad-hoc methodology based upon the analysis of the responses to questionnaires sent to a number of operators involved in the maritime sector all over Europe, specifically ship owners, marine equipment manufacturers, pilots and port managers. Results enable the identification of some types of impacts that are named 'organizational' and 'operational'. Moreover, a general evaluation scheme was developed as a tool for highlighting the structure and the characteristics of the impacts considered.     

Crew resource management training in the maritime industry: a literature review

The study is based on a literature review of recent empirical research on crew resource management (CRM) training in the maritime industry, organised around what non-technical skills to learn and how. The review indicates that existing work is dominated by individualistic theories of learning with less focus on learning as a social process. Five main categories of skills that need to be trained are identified: assertiveness, decision-making, communication, situation awareness and team coordination. We argue that it is necessary to operationalise these broad concepts further, emphasising the work context and crew-specific needs. The review also shows that a combination of classroom lectures and simulator-based exercises is commonly used in maritime education and training in these skills. The learning effect seems to be suffering from training programmes that are exported ‘as is’ from aviation and not adjusted to the maritime domain or to operation-specific needs. This paper examines maritime crew resource management training from a social learning perspective, involving the view that learning is a context bound, social process that might take place in communities of practice (CoP). A CoP is a group (e.g. a crew) wherein members share an activity and learn from each other. It is argued that CRM training programmes will benefit from including a social learning perspective. Factors that enable the assessment of teams are discussed, and it is argued that the training should be tailored to existing crews, emphasising a learning environment as close to reality as possible.     

Port managment development—a strategy for the provision of a training capability in developing countries

The absence of formal career-development programmes and the apparent low priority given to the development of human resources in the ports of developing countries has led to a severe shortage of suitably qualified and experienced managers. At the centre of this problem lies the formidable barriers to the establishment of a local training capability to meet the diverse and often specialized needs of this industry. This paper examines the nature and scale of the management-training requirements of the ports of developing countries. Further, it briefly describes the background to UNCTAD's role in the field of management training and outlines the objectives of its training strategy for the 1980s. An important component of this strategy is the 'Improving port performance project which is designed to prepare structured learning materials using audio-visual techniques and is proposed as one solution to establishing a local training capability in developing countries.     

Port co-opetition in concept and practice

The port industry has undergone a rationalization process over the last decade. An increasing proportion of port management and operations is being taken over by global port operating groups. Many port operators who previously ran only their local business now extend their business scope to the regional or global scale; today's port operators can be regarded as multinational corporations. In the era of global economy, a port no longer enjoys a natural monopoly, as was the case in the past. To cope with this changing business environment, a certain form of competition and co-operation among ports is necessary so as to provide services that fit into shipping lines' strategies. It is suggested that ports have to concentrate on new ways for co-operation in an effort to establish a countervailing power. This paper proposes a new strategic option known as co-opetition , the combination of competition and co-operation, for the port industry, and explains a case of co-opetition between the container ports in Hong Kong and South China. The results of this research will provide a useful insight into the port industry, which is currently required to carry out its business in an ever-changing business environment.     

谈长江上游物流业务信息公共服务平台的建设

长江上游物流业务信息公共服务平台是一个全新的物流信息模式。其核心因素就是物流信息的共享与畅通。介绍了其平台的基本架构与平台的功能。详细阐述了平台建设的基本做法,以及对港信息化建设的体会与思考。长江上游物流业务信息公共服务平台的建设将对港口物流产业的发展产生深远影响。     

Types of cluster adaptation to climate change. Lessons from the port and logistics sector of Northwest Germany

In this article, we argue that sectoral adaptation efforts to climate change, e.g. of the ports sector, are also struggles to reshape economic space according to sectoral needs. Addressing globalisation, the effects on economic spatial hierarchies among regions and the active promotion of regionalisation are seen as important. Applied to the port industry, this allows approaching the fierce competition among European north range ports from an action- and power-oriented perspective. Climate adaptation of ports is predominantly referred to as technical responses to extreme events (e.g. coastal protection). A differentiated conceptualisation (based on still ongoing research), however, also addresses impacts on specific elements of the transport chain, and effects on the spatial function of a port (e.g. the changing competitiveness within the European port system). Hence, the ability of a specific port to adapt will also encompass the management of regional target conflicts, and of multi-level relations. Thus, climate adaptation becomes part of positional struggles in spatial hierarchies among regions and of conflicts about political priorities within them. At the same time, the limits of exclusively regional approaches in addressing sustainability issues without higher level support become evident. The article gives an overview of the literature on climate adaptation and its application to ports and provides a preliminary typology of forms of sectoral adaptation to climate change.     

谈长江上游物流业务信息公共服务平台的建设(续)

长江上游物流业务信息公共服务平台是一个全新的物流信息模式。其核心因素就是物流信息的共享与畅通。介绍了其平台的基本架构与平台的功能。详细阐述了平台建设的基本做法,以及对港信息化建设的体会与思考。长江上游物流业务信息公共服务平台的建设将对港口物流产业的发展产生深远影响。     

The new governance structure of French seaports: an initial post-evaluation

France undertook a large port reform in 2008, which came into force in 2010–2011. It mostly applies a landlord port model to major French seaports, with the prediction that doing so will restore competiveness. This article presents the 2008 port reform, discusses why it was needed, notably with regard to the underperformance of container traffic, and details how new governing bodies are sharing their responsibilities amongst themselves. To this end, a textual analysis of the agenda items for the governing bodies created since 2011 of the largest French seaport, Port of Marseille, provides a means to compare the items discussed by the former management bodies. This analysis identifies a trend, in which the supervisory board focuses on global issues, the advisory board addresses local issues, and the board of directors considers internal issues. Even if ongoing, this transition creates favorable conditions to work more efficiently and may represent a step toward the better performance of French seaports.     

Activities,resources and inter-organizational relationships: key factors in port competitiveness

In the last decade, the port economics literature has given great emphasis to the Supply Chain Management approach as the new paradigm for the definition of port competitiveness. SCM supports the development of partnerships between the actors of the supply chain and considers the integration of activities and resources along business processes as source of competitive advantage. Nevertheless, the application of SCM approach to the port is particularly compiex given the traditional hostile relationships between port actors. In the effort to overcome such complexity, some authors have considered ports as Logistics Service Providers and interpreted their role within supply chains through the integrative practices undertaken by Global Players–mainly Shipping Companies and Terminal Operators–in the supply of integrated logistics services. Even tough these actors are crucial for the port competitiveness, they determine a passive role of port in the new competitive scenario. The definition of a potential and pro-active role of port in the supply chains is the objective of this paper that presents, through a literature review on SCM and port competitiveness, a new framework for port competitiveness. According to this framework, that is based on the value constellation concept value is generated by joint effort of port actors in the satisfaction of clients' needs, through the exploitation of different I mterdependencies (serial, pooled and reciprocal) between supply chains. In this context, Port Authority has a I fundamental role in identifying those resources–the so called critical assets–that encourage the development of inter-organisational relationships between port actors in the value generation process.     

The new economic order and African shipping policies

This paper approaches the problem of port labour training in Africa. It examines various aspects of immediate training, apprenticeship training and career training with the implementation of a pedagogic method of training, fully adapted to the specific needs of a port.     

Port training in Africa

This paper approaches the problem of port labour training in Africa. It examines various aspects of immediate training, apprenticeship training and career training with the implementation of a pedagogic method of training, fully adapted to the specific needs of a port.     

港口设备的防腐新技术

港口机械设备的防腐对延长设备使用寿命有着重要意义.陈述了传统的设备防腐涂装的缺陷.介绍了几种防腐涂料的研究和一种新一代省工型改性环氧重防腐涂装方案.经过实际应用,效果很好,可作推广.     

港口产业集群与区域经济关系分析

介绍了港口产业集群的定义和内涵,通过分析港口产业集群对区域竞争力、区域品牌、资源以及经济增长等的影响,说明它对区域经济具有促进作用。同时也指出区域经济对港口产业集群的形成和发展中起了重要作用。