The economics of conventional liner break-bulk cargo-handling efficiency

In this paper the authors, after examining the relationships between cargo handling performance of break-bulk cargo and ship and cargo related variables, demonstrate that systematic relationships exist in general cargo systems despite the many variables that affect handling operations.     

散件货船面临革新和淘汰的选择

在集装箱化运输浪潮的强力冲击下,多用途散件货船队开始迅速萎缩,其在国际航运市场的份额不断减少,散件货船面临革新和淘汰的选择。但是,多用途散件货船正在进入新的发展时期,当前全球造船业需扩大投资,开发现代化和电子信息化的多用途散件货船。     

Provision of optimal cargo-handling facilities at a berth

This paper extends the existing literature on optimal cargo-handling rates by considering: (i) under what circumstances the optimal rate will actually be provided, and (ii) how the optimal rate is affected if there are pre-booked time slots at the berth, containerized cargoes, or deterrent effects of long queues.     

The competitive environment of liner conferences

Although liner conferences are traditionally assumed to possess effective monopoly power, such a view ignores many important aspects of their competitive environment. This article examines some of these neglected competitive features and shows how they may decisively influence conference pricing strategies.

In the analysis of linear shipping, the notion that conferences are effective monopolists lies at the root of many of the grievances of the conference system. It has also become an integral part of the conventional wisdom of shipping economies, to such an extent that the monopoly power of conferences is virtually regarded as a matter of established fact rather than what it really is-namely a postulated assumption open to testing and refutation.

It is the purpose of this paper to explore the competitive conditions of the industry in which liner conferences operate and to try and establish the extent and limitations of their market power. This will involve an analysis of hte bariers to entry which conferences may be protected by, the manner in which the relevant industry should be defined, the possibility and consequences of new entry, and the response of conferences to their competitive environment.     

班轮运输业前景莫测

当目前的金融风暴缓和下来的时候，建造当前集装箱船队需求的贸易模式返回原状了吗？或者说，消费者的口味和地域竞争力成本的变化，会改变全球性的生产状况并沿着过去派遣无敌舰队的航线派谴船队吗？2008年12月份交付的13，800标准箱的船舶会成为明天的济贫场所还是会成为博物馆的早期展品呢？     

The evolution of Canadian liner shipping policy

This paper traces the evolution of Canadian liner shipping policy from its beginnings, at the time of the initial formation of shipping conferences, in the late nineteenth century, to its current form, as provided by the 1987 Shipping Conference Exemption Act. It is shown that evolution has been associated with a shift in policy orientation from an initial British-based position to a contemporary form that is distincly American in nature. The reasons for this shift are analysed and the similarities and differences between curent Canadian and U.S.A. legislation are identified. The paper shows that the adoption by Canada of an American-style policy became inevitable once the container revolution had physically integrated the transport systems of both nations.     

The economics of port pricing

This short paper is concerned with the problem of improving the methods currently used to price port facilities. It presents a simple economic model of how an optimal pricing policy may be arrived at, employing an adaptation of an interactive supply-demand framework initially developed in the context of allocating car-parking places in urban areas. The model demonstrates the basic economic tenet that charges should be set equal to the full marginal social opportunity cost (M.S.O.C.) of facilities used, with premiums added where capacity restrictions would otherwise lead to excessive queueing. The use of a probability demand curve shows that one of the main fears of the anti-pricing school, namely excessive resource misallocation due to miscalcuations of the marginal cost, tends to be exaggerated. Further, it is argued that many of the other arguments set out against marginal cost pricing of ports are either ill-founded or unlikely to be of practical importance—ports are little different to other goods and services consumed in the economy and standard economic policies apply to them.     

The economics of double-hulled tankers

A cost-benefit analysis is conducted on the double-hull requirements for oil tankers in United States' waters contained in the U.S. Oil Pollution Act of 1990. The benefits of reduced spillage are compared with the increased construction and operations costs of double-hulled vessels. In the most probable scanario, the expected benefits are only 20% of the expected costs. Double-hulls do not even show a positive net present value with the most favorable assumptions. Even if double-hulls prevent all of the spillage that occurs due to collisions and groundings, and that the damage per gallon spilled is as extensive as in the ‘Exxon Valdez’ incident, the benefits are under half of the costs.     

The economics of railway safety

This paper reviews the statistics and economics of railway safety in Great Britain, the European Union and the United States, together with some results for Finland and Japan. In these countries railway safety has improved over recent decades. That finding applies both to train accidents and to personal accidents such as persons struck by trains. Fatal train collisions and derailments command most attention even though they are infrequent and account for only a small minority of railway fatalities. Great Britain, the EU and the USA formally espouse conventional cost benefit analysis for the appraisal of railway safety measures, using the same valuations for the prevention of casualties as are used in road safety appraisal. However there are often strong institutional, legal and political pressures towards adopting railway safety measures with safety benefit: cost ratios well below 1. The best-documented examples of this are automatic train protection systems, which are discussed in the paper. Apart from trespassers, the largest group of railway fatalities occur at level crossings, which the paper also discusses. Level crossing safety measures would seem to be an appropriate subject for cost benefit analysis, but there are few case-studies in the literature. Over the last few decades, the railways in many countries have been privatised or deregulated with the aim of improving their economic performance. Such changes have the potential to affect safety. The paper reviews evidence of the effects on safety of railway restructuring in Great Britain, Japan and the United State, and finds no evidence that safety deteriorated.     

The economics of port pricing

This short paper is concerned with the problem of improving the methods currently used to price port facilities. It presents a simple economic model of how an optimal pricing policy may be arrived at, employing an adaptation of an interactive supply-demand framework initially developed in the context of allocating car-parking places in urban areas. The model demonstrates the basic economic tenet that charges should be set equal to the full marginal social opportunity cost (M.S.O.C.) of facilities used, with premiums added where capacity restrictions would otherwise lead to excessive queueing. The use of a probability demand curve shows that one of the main fears of the anti-pricing school, namely excessive resource misallocation due to miscalcuations of the marginal cost, tends to be exaggerated. Further, it is argued that many of the other arguments set out against marginal cost pricing of ports are either ill-founded or unlikely to be of practical importance—ports are little different to other goods and services consumed in the economy and standard economic policies apply to them.     

船舶柴油机缸套的穴蚀分析

缸套穴蚀是船舶柴油机汽缸套常见的一种损伤形式，这对船舶柴油机工作的可靠性和使用寿命有很大影响。缸套穴蚀主要形式是局部的蜂窝状的孔穴和麻点，而缸套穴蚀的成因机制主要有电化学腐蚀、空泡腐蚀等。随着柴油机转速、有效压力、比功率的提高，相应的比重量逐渐降低，其结构日益紧凑和零部件壁厚减薄，船舶柴油机缸套穴蚀破坏日益引起人们的关注。文章论述了柴油机主要部件、冷却水系统、柴油机工况等因素对穴蚀的影响，最后指出预防穴蚀的基本措施和检修方法。     

The coopetition game in international liner shipping

In maritime freight transportation, carriers build collaborative relationships with other carriers while competing with each other to optimize their own profits. In such a scenario, a game of coopetition is formed. We formulate a nonlinear mixed-integer problem to determine the optimal levels of coopetition for a single company and embed the resulting problem into a general game theoretic framework. A diagonalization algorithm that incorporates an ascent direction search technique is developed to effectively evaluate the game. The numerical results show that carriers choose similar coopetition levels to maximize their profits, and the coopetition game can reach equilibrium under general conditions.