Effects of the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative on the wine import logistics of China

China’s Belt and Road (BR) initiative is expected to facilitate international trade between the countries involved. In this study, we review the special requirements of wine logistics and the market growth potential of wine consumption in China. A model minimizing generalized logistical costs is developed and applied to wine imports in China, so that the best candidate cities in which to locate transport gateways and distribution centers can be identified. Our analysis suggests that the most preferred gateways are Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong, which all have similar delivery costs. In comparison, Beijing and Chongqing have much higher delivery costs, mainly because they do not have good access to marine transport and/or efficient domestic distribution networks. For long-distance intercontinental transport of large volumes of wine, marine shipping remains the only viable delivery mode. However, wine distribution within China extensively uses air, road, and water transport. Therefore, cities with excellent multi-modal transport services are better positioned to become wine logistics gateways. Our study also highlights the importance of value-added services and good government support, which are important factors that influence distribution costs and quality.     

An Investigation into Some Effects of New Handling Technologies on the Structure of Marine Transport Systems ∗

By the mind-1960s there was a great deal of inefficiency in the Europe/Australia liner trade which reflected the ultra-conservative management of the British shipping lines under the benign protection of the conference system. Containerization per se was not necessary to realising a large gain in efficiency and therefore permitting a reduction in the level of freight rates. The introduction of containerization with cellular container ships and under the aegis of a strengthened conference monopoly has meant that shippers have been denied much of the potenital beneifit.     

Effects of excitation angle and coupled heave–surge–sway motion on fluid sloshing in a three-dimensional tank

Sloshing waves in moving tanks is an important engineering problem, and most studies of this phenomenon have focused on tanks that are excited by forcing motion in a limited number of directions and with fixed excitation frequencies throughout the forcing. In practice, the excitation comprises multiple degree of freedom motion that potentially couples surge, sway, heave, pitch, roll, and yaw motions. In the present study, a time-independent finite difference method is used to simulate fluid sloshing in three-dimensional tanks filled to an arbitrary depth for various excitation frequencies and multiple degree of freedom motion. The numerical scheme developed here was verified by rigorous benchmark tests. The coupled motions of surge and sway are simulated for various excitation angles, frequencies and water depths. Five kinds of sloshing waves found under coupled surge–sway motions: diagonal, single-directional, square-like, swirling, and irregular waves. The effect of excitation angle on the frequency responses of different sloshing waves is analyzed and discussed in the present study. Further, the components of horizontal force of various sloshing waves are also presented. The coupled effect of surge, sway and heave motions is also discussed, and the results show that unstable sloshing occurs when the excitation frequency of the heave motion is twice the fundamental natural frequency. Moreover, the effects of heave motion on the different types of sloshing waves are explored. It is found that heave motion causes all of the sloshing waves to change type.     

Examining the theoretical–empirical inconsistency on stationarity of shipping freight rate

As market price, shipping freight rates should in theory be stationary, but most empirical tests have found them to be non-stationary. To examine the causes of this theoretical–empirical inconsistency, we investigate the sensitivities of the stationarity of shipping freight rates from two perspectives: sample length and sample window. Longer samples are found not sufficient to make them stationary. Instead, sample windows separated by structural breaks are tested as stationary. Moreover, freight rates are found to have entered into a new phase since the 2008 financial crisis. This study contributes to the literature on the stationarity of shipping freight rates by providing an explanation for the theoretical–empirical inconsistency.     

An application of BBNs on the integrated energy efficiency of ship–port interface: a dry bulk shipping case

ABSTRACT

A considerable amount of energy is consumed with every completed ship voyage and each port operation performed. Recent regulative approaches by the IMO are to enforce the shipping industry to become more energy efficient and sustainable. There is a growing amount of literature on the energy efficiency management of ships and ports. However, there is still inadequate research effort on the ship–port interface in order to obtain an Integrated Energy Efficiency framework for marine transport operations. In this research, a theoretical concept is generated to measure holistic energy efficiency in shipping operations. The main purpose of this paper is to identify nodes of the integrated ship-port energy efficiency framework and develop a probabilistic approach, which can help to increase energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions for shipping companies. This research generates an application of BBNs on ship–port interface regarding the integrated operational energy efficiency interactions by aiming to optimise holistic operational energy efficiency and CO2 emissions. The outcomes suggest that it would be possible to increase the probability of a more energy efficient and sustainable marine transport operation by integrating the influences of port and ship operation performances and their elements on the related route planning and slow steaming decision-making.     

Intermodal land transportation systems and port choice,an analysis of stated choices among shippers in the Rhine–Scheldt delta

ABSTRACT

In this paper, the research concentrates on the intermodal land transportation systems which link Antwerp and Rotterdam with a shared hinterland in the long and medium distance range. It uses a choice-based experiment which has been calibrated on the basis of real case studies to understand shipper’s choices between end-to-end chains. The stated choices reveal shippers’ preferences when needing to choose between two logistic pathways, which employ a similar multimodal composition of transport modes to bring the container from door-to-door, but which route the container differently through alternative maritime gateways. The study therefore touches upon the topic of port competition applying a value-driven supply chain approach. Despite narrow differences on the main performance criteria of the door-to-door chains, the empirical analysis proves that shippers are not loyal to one of the ports, but give preference to the lowest cost solution. Enhancing the frequency levels of the inland transportation solution is only at the benefit of the more costly chain. The findings reiterate the importance of intermodal land transport systems in the competition between load centres.