The role of Mediterranean short sea shipping in the EU transport chain: The case of Greece

The European Community has provided valuable support to short sea shipping through various programs and legislation. This paper analyses the situation while focusing on the Mediterranean Sea and suggests solutions for addressing the short sea shipping problems in this special region. The biggest challenge for all sides in the comingyears will be the replacement of the existing fleet. The study presented herein gives an insightful and collective picture of the situation, while focusing on the Greek owned short sea vessels.     

The role of professional associations in shipping

This article is in three parts. The first covers the historical development of qualifying associations. The second covers the particular role of maritime institutions that include The Royal Institution of Naval Architects, The Institute of Marine Engineering Science and Technology and The Nautical Institute. The third and final section considers the future for maritime professional associations in the context of international shipping.     

Network economies in liner shipping: the role of home markets

This paper deals with the measurement of the network complexity of some selected shipping groups, also identifying the contribution of co-operative agreements among carriers. The empirical investigation is focused on: (i) the analysis of the distribution of the carrying capacity per range; and (ii) the comparison of that capacity with the throughput handled in the port facilities of the group. These variables are interpreted in the light of the impact that alliances have on the geographical wideness of the services supplied by each partner. This factor also allows to depict how the cultural and political origin of shipping lines affects the decision of joining an alliance and the outcomes deriving from such co-operation.     

A cross-section analysis of stock returns: The case of shipping firms

This paper undertakes an analysis of the determinants of the cross-section of expected stock returns of 19 shipping companies listed in the US, Norway, Stockholm and London. Various factors, including company stock market beta, divided yield, and financial leverage have been identified in the finance literature as determinants of share price performance. We capitalize on these findings and add one more industry specific factor, the average age of the company's fleet, to quantitatively analyse the determinants of the performance of shipping shock returns. We use the Fama-MacBeth methodology to empirically test whether the five factors above have a significant effect on shipping stocks' performance. Our results indicate that the industry specific factor (the average age of the fleet) plus financial leverage, are significant in explaining shipping stocks' returns, wheras the stock market beta and the dividend yield are far less significant.     

Safety in Greek coastal shipping: The role and risk of human factor revisited

The comprehensive analysis presented in this paper investigates the links and comparative assets between human factor and other factors that are important determinants of maritime transport risk. In this outline, the identification of factors, such as age and ship size, that can be statistically linked (i.e. statistical significance) to whether an accident in a passenger vessel can be attributed to human factor or other causes is addressed accordingly. This way, the role of human factor in relation to safety of Greek coastal shipping is revealed and the spotlight is able to focus on the various aspects and points that manifest the importance of human element in the maritime industry. The risk assessment of the transportation with Greek passenger ships is being used in order for the safety level of Greek coastal shipping to be adequately estimated. Moreover, the comparison between the values of risk for accidents caused by human factor and those attributed to other causes is an established way to bring to the fore the unbroken relationship between the human factor and marine accidents’ consequences. The paper is concluded with interesting insights and comments drafted through the aforementioned tasks.     

Management and labour in shipping: A role for co-operatives

The employment and management policies of the shipping industry are in legal and administrative confusion. The shipping industry is struggling with an unworkable global governance based on flag state sovereignty and a sanctionless international regulatory regime. Seafarers suffer most from this state of affairs, but so do the shipping industry’s public image. Few co-operatives of maritime workers exist in national or international shipping. A new employment theory is long overdue. Human centred management policies can only attain their full potential through co-operative or mutual associations. This paper describes the application of enlightened and socially conscious management principles to the shipping industry. Seafarers’ co-operatives are the future organisational building blocks of the shipping industry. Co-operatives can rescue maritime workers from developing countries from exploitation and the debilitating effects of casual labour by providing “all in one” seagoing and shore based professional careers. Seafarers’ co-operatives can solve the shipping industry’s maritime training and education problems. The seven universal principles of co-operative management will guide shipping management in setting human centred objectives that command respect of those who come in contact with the shipping industry.     

我国沿海小型LNG船运输业务发展策略

为推动我国沿海运输业发展,针对我国进口液化天然气（LNG）规模不断增长,沿海LNG运输需求随之出现的现状,分析我国进口LNG产业布局、LNG船运输市场现状及发展前景,提出发展沿海小型LNG船运输业务的策略建议：深入开展调研工作;以适当方式配置LNG运输船舶;积极培育运营管理专业人才队伍。     

本案海运费应由谁承担

【案情】原告中海集装箱运输股份有限公司。被告广西东方发祥进出口有限公司。第三人防城港鸿宇工艺品有限公司。第三人赖某。第三人陈某。2003年7月3日、2004年1月8日,被告分别与长兴厂、鸿宇公司签订合作出口协议,长兴厂、鸿宇公司将其出口到欧洲的货物委托被告代理出口;被告收取L/C结汇金额或出口合同金额1.5%的费用。     

Determinants of the probability of default: the case of the internationally listed shipping corporations

In this study, we use a sample of 192 listed shipping companies and employ a logit model in order to investigate the determinants of the probability of default. We enhance our analysis by isolating not only the cases of company liquidations but also those cases where companies had to change their legal status due to warning liquidity signals. Our key findings are in line with prior research and moreover we depict a changing trend in the marginal effects of relevant variables, on the probability of default. We further show, through an empirical application, how the obtained results can be used in a managerial decision-making process and in a bank credit underwriting process in order to assess the creditworthiness of a shipping company.     

中日航线近期运价飙升为那般?

进入8、9月以来,中日航线市场出现了货量节节上升、班轮舱位饱满的旺盛景象.在货量快速增长的强劲推力下,航线运价从8月22日起,由300-350USD/TEU起步,路攀升至600USD//TEU;之后又从9月6日开始,在600USD/TEU的"平台"上,纵身一跃,飙升到了翻了一番的价位.紧接着,由八家船公司协商达成共识,从9月23日开始执行1000USD/TEU的运价.历经此三波,中日航线运价很快创下了历史最高点,拉出了一条急剧上扬的阳线.     

原油运输:运价低于上月

2010年12月布伦特原油现货价格振荡上行,国际原油运输市场因节假日成交量减少,总体运价低于上月。24日波罗的海原油综合运价指数报1043点,较月初上涨16.41%。     

Third party ship management: the case of separation of ownership and management in the shipping context

The last four decades have seen the rise of third party ship management and its evolution into an industry in its own right. This signified a new reality in ship management practice, whereby the traditional custom of doing business with the ship owner being also the ship manager was abandoned and a revolutionary model that assigned the role of the owner and the role of the manager to two different entities was proposed. In essence, then, third party ship management comes very close, in principle and in practice, to the separation of ownership and management as experienced in many industrial fields, after the emergence, in the last half of the 19th century, of the salaried manager. The purpose of this paper is to examine the forces at work in the process of such separation with a view to provide an insight into the relevant, contemporary parameters that can be considered instrumental in the strategic decision to employ third party ship management     

Emerging organizational values in shipping: Part 1. Crew stability

In this paper, Smith and Roggema examine the solutions emerging in answer to the growing concern in North European shipping companies to adapt to increasing competition and technological diversity and also to attract and retain suitably qualified seafarers. Part 1 describes a move from a situation of lack of stability of crew towards greater crew stability, whilst Part 2 discusses the redistribution of responsibility on board ship, encompassing a change from the caste-like division between officers and ratings and a more flexible division of functions and authority.     

Risk management methods for the liner shipping industry: the case of the Bunker Adjustment Factor

Through the implementation of the Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF), a shipowner is able to transfer the risk of fuel price fluctuation to the shipper. This and other surcharges are generally undesired by shippers who must pay this fee. The research presented provides an alternative method of risk management that is more effective than the current method, while responding to customer service demands for simplified tariffs. By strategic use of commodity futures, the shipowner is able to better reduce his/her risk exposure, transferring it to willing parties at the futures exchanges, thereby eliminating the need for the bunker surcharge.