A maritime productivity study 1859-1919

This is one of two papers designed to test the ability of a theoretical model of productivity measurement [1] with times series empirical data. The analysis was able to identify trends in productivity growth for sailing ships and stcamships. scparating long and short run components . One of the interesting features of the findings is that the long run growth rate is the same for both sailing and steamships. Although sail and steam appear to be two unique technologies, it is found that technologica progress is evolutionary not revolutionary.

The techique using covariance analysis proved useful for times series productivity measurement.     

Container shipping in 1990

By 1990 express shuttle container ships will dominate the USA/North European and USA/Pacific trades. The pattern is already apparent in the Pacific. These will touch only a few ports such as Halifax, New York and Virginia on the Atlantic and Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle/Tacoma in the West. Their low costs and good services will capture over 80% of available general cargo. Round the world systems will be left with lucrative fringe business in the Mediterranean, US Gulf/South Atlantic, Singapore, India and Arab countries.

Progress will be sensitive to twelve trends. Most important of these will be labour resistance and management concerns about rapid obsolescence of ships and terminals. Rail and ship costs have been rationalized and are not as flexible as terminal costs. The ultimate terminal will consume about one third of the time and money presently needed.

This paper is chiefly intended to suggest a forecasting methodology.     

Manpower and employment issues

Overmanning and restrictive labour practices are major causes of low productivity in Indian ports. Proposals are put forward for a programme of reforms to support investment in modern cargo handling systems.     

International Symposium on the Ice Carrying Trade at Sea

Overmanning and restrictive labour practices are major causes of low productivity in Indian ports. Proposals are put forward for a programme of reforms to support investment in modern cargo handling systems.     

The British port transport industry part 2. Employment, working practices and productivity

The abolition of the national Dock Labour Scheme presented with the oppurtunity radically to transform their cargo handling operations. Port employers have seized this oppurtunity and introduced radical changes to workforce compositions, their skills, work practices, and employee relations. The main factor behind these changes has been the desire of operation to minimize labour costs and maximize labour utilization in order to amintain traffic volume and competitive advantage. The short-term effect has been to improve productivity and profitablity(at least for the major port authorities), but it has also produced iinstablity in employee relations ans may in the long term prove counter productive>     

The comparison of general cargo ship economic performance by simulation

Cargo ship designs offered by shipbuilders differ in characteristics such as deadweight, speed, fuel consumption and cargo equipment. The best vessel for high freight markets and high fuel prices may not be the best for low freight markets and low fuel prices. A model has been developed to compare by simulation a number of multi-purpose general cargo vessels suitable for the trade of a Turkish shipowner. The model simulates the operation of each vessel under a variety of operating scenarios, e.g. fuel prices and freight profiles over the ships' lives, and estimates the distribution of resulting net present values. The techno-economic simulation model incorporates variables including ship size, speed, first cost, fuel consumption, load factor and port days.

Results are presented for six standard vessels of around 20 000 dwt operating over a long and a short route. Although the ranking of the six varies with assumptions, one design is shown to be superior under most operating conditions.     

Job satisfaction and personality of Merchant Navy officers

Until recently little research had been carried out into job satisfaction of seafarers. Wastage in the shipping industry is higher than most other industries and although some improvements have been made to working conditions and facilities the wastage is still very high.

During the last two decades shipping technology has changed drastically, necessitated by changing economic factors, resulting in the need for highly trained personnel. Training costs are high, particularly for officers, and could be reduced if efficient selection processes were employed.

The project is designed to study perceived and implied (calculated) job satisfaction of officers who have served in the Merchant Navy for five years or more. Gone are the days of high port-time/sea-time ratios due to increased port and labour costs. Consequently seafarers may be confined together for longer periods at sea such that a different type of personality may be required to survive the stresses and strains of such a way of life. The project also attempted to discover whether the personalitics of the seafaring officers differ from those of the shoreside population and whether personality is related to job satisfaction at sea.

The project took the form of a survey by applying a questionnaire to Merchant Navy deck, engineer and radio officers at nautical educational establishments between September and October 1978.

The results showed that the majority of officers have a moderately high level of perceived job satisfaction whereas implied satisfaction was comparatively low. The personality of officers was found to be significantly different from that of the shoreside population in almost 50% of the 31 personality scales measured. There were also found to be differences between the personalities of deck and engineer officers.

A correlational study indicated that the personality of the Merchant Navy officer is related to overall job satisfaction.     

A model for forecasting future supply of shipping services at Australian ports

This paper aims to develop an integrated model for forecasting both the number of ship visits and their characteristics in the medium and long term. Knowledge of future shipping trends for any port is no doubt important, as the future number of ship visits and their characteristics may have implications for the physical facilities of a port. In addition, more reliance on tonnages as a revenue source has made this knowledge more valuable. The proposed model identifies such major economic determinants as the expected trade throughput, world shipping trends, standards of facilities and future plans of shipping companies/agents. The model examines three possible scenarios for the Port of Melbourne and produces a range of shipping forecasts based on certain assumptions. From the model the major findings were:

world trends in shipping did not have any immediate impact on the shipping trends at the Port of Melbourne;

Future shipping services at the Port of Melbourne in the next 11 years are most likely to be determined by trade demand rather than by technological developments overseas;

there has been no evidence to indicate that the Port of Melbourne has been excluded from the schedule of general cargo ships due to the Port's physical constraints.     

Currency adjustment factors

The manner in which CAFs have been applied to cargo carried by lines appears to be both arbitrary and secretive. This note intends to give some clarification as to how the CAF is calculated and the manner in which it is applied.

The operation of the two methods, i.e. the monthly review and the radical review, is merely a device which enables conferences to adjust effective charges so as to leave lines without a loss in real revenue, although minor losses and gains will be inevitable as the operation of the CAFs take time to be implemented.

Finally it is hoped to point out the volatilc nature of CAF changes impinges upon the uncertainty of lines' costs.     

Operating differential subsidies: problems and alternatives for the United States

In this paper a proposal for a Competitive Rate of Return (CRR) based operating-subsidy system is made as an alternative to the existing US foreign-cost parity ODS system. Such an alternative, if adopted, could be successful in meaningfully relating US government maritime subsidy programmes to the legitimate financial needs of the industry. From the operator's viewpoint, the risk of drastic revenue fluctuations is removed, yet adequate opportunities are provided for firms with above average performance to be rewarded for their efficiency in higher than average profits. similarly, poorly run firms have an opportunity to lose money, in spite of government subsidies.

From the government's viewpoint, the CRR programme guarantees the provision of essential shipping services at the lowest possible cost. Because of substantial incentives to the operator on both the revenue and cost side of his profit equation, it is more likely that long-run government operating subsidies can be reduced under CRR than under the present system.

Although the CRR system has been described for use in determining subsidies for both bulk and general cargo carriers, it has been recommended that this system be considered first for implementation in the case of bulk vessels, because of the newness of the bulk subsidy programme. In addition, the 1970 Act gives MarAd the flexibility to initiate such a programme for bulk vessels without the necessity of new legislation.     

The relationship between design and economic performance of ships

Success in the shipping industry depends to large extent on the quality of the main asset: the ship. The owner or operator will ask herself: do I have the right ship for a certain job, and what performance can I achieve with a given ship. The relationship between the specifications of the ship, which are fixed in the design stage, and the economic performance of the ship has received some attention, but most of the previous work lacks in the extent to which economic performance is measured or expressed.

This paper describes an attempt to operationalize the concept of design for service in the maritime industry. The paper presents a lengthy review of previous work, which shows that some attention was devoted in the past to the relationship between economic and technical aspects of shipping. However, the 'economics' usually turned out to be simple cost calculations, instead of clear insight in costs and benefits of certain design decisions. The main variable for the shipowner to buy a ship, or to operate a ship on a certain route is earnings potential. The relation between technical specifications and earnings potential is fairly direct: desired earnings potential influences the design specifications, and the specification of the finished ship determine the earnings potential. The analysis in this paper shows that shipowners also consider cargo carrying capacity, speed and versatility, but no other, more detailed, design factors.

Subsequently, we present the design for service framework for the shipping industry. This framework points the attention to a thorough service requirements analysis that drives the design stage. Finally, some preliminary work is presented on empirical studies that are currently developed in the Netherlands.     

Work simplificafion through the tansformation of work on board

Through a series of research on 10 Japanese ships since 1961, it was found that the relationship between number of crew and the resulting structural change of work on board ship can be formulated by a linear regression. Some of the major findings that are obtained from this new method are summarized as follows. As the number of crew decreases, the proportion of work for operating the ship (manoeuving and controlling work) increases, while the proportion of work which is not directly related to the operation decreases. This structural change can be attributed to work simplification resulting from four types of the transformation of work:

(a) The replacement of man'al work by putting machines on board.

(b) The transformation of work on board into work done by machines on shore.

(c) The transfer of work previously done on board to the shore.

(d) The transformation of work within a ship.     

Contributions to maritime economics—Zenon S. Zannetos, the theory of oil tankship rates

This paper discusses the importance of Zannetos' 1966 book for the development of maritime economic thought. The main contributions of the book are recounted, and the empirical work in the book is reviewed.

The analysis of the present paper is a citation research on the maritime economics literature that refers to the book. Of the 42 papers in the set, about one-third refers to the book in general. A total of 35 papers refer to one or more elements of the book, with an equal number of references to: (1) the term structure of freight rates; (2) the empirical findings on the form of the supply curve; and (3) on the verification of his results.

The general conclusion of the citation analysis is that, apparently, a number of elements of his work are still very valid for current maritime economics thinking, while maritime economists have disregarded several other elements. The latter seems unjustified for some of the business structure observations that are made in the book, such as the notion that the ship is the firm, and the elasticity of expectations. The former observation is the basis for virtually all empirical work in maritime economics that is based on individual contract data (all freight rate analysis is of this nature), and the second is the basis for the analysis of investment behaviour in shipping, investigations of cyclicality and so on.

Zannetos can definitely be seen as the initiator of the important field of term structure analysis in maritime economics. In addition to this, there are several topics in the 1966 book that are as yet unexplored, and deserve empirical scrutiny.     

Containerization in Nigeria: trends and patterns

Containerization was introduced into Nigeria in the late 1960s, not through a delibrate policy but through the unilateral action of shipping companies.In spite of this,the percentage of the country's external trade cargo that is containerized grew from only about 0.03 in 1968-69 to about 8.6 in 1981.

Containerization of cargo is more significant in the import than in the export trade. Perhaps because of the capital-intensive nature of this technology, there is a concentration of containerization facilities in the ports of Lagos and Port Harcourt. Whereas this is a cost-efficient development, there are various inefficient aspects in the inland distribution of containers.     

The bulk shipping business: market cycles and shipowners' biases

Despite a strong linkage with the macro-economic course, the bulk shipping market, in the short period, follows a typical cyclic pattern, where continuous freight adjustments balance demand and supply movements.

In this context—widely unstable but quite regular in its general scheme—the shipowners may have enough competencies and information to take logical and consistent decisions about ship purchasing and chartering.

Yet, why do they periodically make mistakes?

The analysis of shipowners' behaviour provides a reasonable answer: mistakes incur when they ignore or undervalue the market trends, following their personal intuition or even unwisely imitating their competitors.

The analysis of the Handysize segment among the bulk shipping business offers a significant example of the lack of timeliness in shipowners' behaviour: after a long period of disregard, operators began to notice the opportunities of this market niche and they are now heavily investing in minor units. Maybe it's not too late, but the market has already changed and only a few brave—or lucky—shipowners took advantage of the magic moment.     

An analysis of decision-making processes in multicultural maritime scenarios

With three research studies recently carried out the pros and cons of multicultural, multilingual crews have given a 'second' food for thought:

• The Seafarers' International Research Centre (SIRC): 'Transnational Seafarer Communities' and the research, 'Finding a balance: companies, seafarers and family life', linked to this [1]. The latter presented in Maritime Policy & Management, no. 1, January-March 2003.
• The Swedish National Maritime Museum (SNMM): Isolde av Singapore [2]. This research and sociological documentation will be reviewed in a later issue of Maritime Policy & Management.
• Horck, J., 'A culturally mixed student body; the WMU experience in fostering future decision makers' [3].

There is a growing conviction among seafarers and persons working in the land-based sector of the maritime industry (including ex-seafarers) that staff onboard and on shore should be prepared to work with crews and groups whose members come from different countries and cultures and speak different languages. The problem, though, is which culture will have to surrender and which will dominate? Will a third culture become the norm for common survival? Perhaps to understand oneself and be knowledgeable about others is a better way to avoid eventual conflicts.

There are nearly no research findings on how a programme should comprise the aims of facilitating comprehension and appreciation of influences, from differences in cultural backgrounds, on group performance and decisions.

This paper reports on the research carried out on students in the Shipping Management and the Maritime Education and Training courses at World Maritime University (WMU). How do post-graduate students holding unlimited certificates of competency, as well as holders of university degrees with experience in the maritime industry and maritime administration, come to a consensus decision?

The findings in this research are discussed in balance with the results from both the SIRC and the SNMM research which is interesting because the results, in some significant issues, are not the same.

A phenomenographic approach has been used to find out that a multicultural group is not free from working problems. Can cultural differences, perhaps, be developed from an assumed hindrance into a catalyst for stimulating national appreciation and cooperation? Perhaps the opposite is true; it might be a bottleneck for improvements in safety as formulated in the STCW95 and the ISM Code.     

De-isolation in the backwater

Fishneck, a small and isolated fishing community in the Chesapeake Bay area, has been characterized by low education levels, few suprafamilial organizations, and little participation in institutions outside the community. Community members have resisted proletarianization through barter, exchange, supplemental wage labour, fill-in work, and family mutual aid.

These patterns are changing as contact increases with the wider society. Leisure is identified as the strongest pull toward participation. Results of greater contact include a more positive image to outsiders, a sharpened sense of community and community boundaries, and greater participation in the educational, economic, and political arenas. Whether this community changes toward a small-town fishing hamlet depends first on moving from clan-based to community-based internal organization.     

门座起重机计量系统技术及其应用

为解决港口装卸作业中对散货的计量,开发了该门座起重机计量系统。介绍港口门座起重机新计量系统的技术方案和配置,电气测量工作原理、技术指标和功能.该系统有2个创新点。应用效果良好。     

Who pays the ferryman? An analysis of the ferry passenger's selection dilemma

Purpose: based on the known in the literature difference between expected and perceived quality, this study examines the factors and the ways that influence the passenger to select a ferry operator.

Methodology/approach: the research attempts to shed some light on the importance of every selection determinant by employing multinomial logistics analysis which identify that the convenience determinant is pivotal when selecting a service.

Findings: the main findings of the study indicate that among six different combinations of factors—models—perceived service quality together with price and convenience (satisfaction determinants) best describe the choice procedure followed by the passenger. The evidence is drawn from a survey performed in the Greek coastal shipping sector.

Originality/value of the paper: to survive in a competitive market, organizations must continuously strive to understand their customers' wants and needs. Although this is a highly recognized issue in the marketing agenda little or no research has been done on passenger satisfaction and the subsequent selection of a ferry operator.

Practical implications: by using the findings of this work, ferry operators may deeply and timely understand their customers' purchasing behaviour and adapt their marketing policies especially in a competitive and fast-changing environment.