The impact of transitional changes on maritime transport in Central and Eastern Europe

At the end of the eighties, fundamental changes took place in Central and Eastern European shipping. Former socialist shipping corporations began offering services under market conditions and left behind the rigid leeway of central planning and regulation. Extensive adjustments in ownership and legislation have transpired, and services and markets, as well as the operations within, have changed significantly. The restructuring of maritime transport is being carried out within the framework of forms that derive from changes in the economic macrosystems as a whole. Careful analysis of the process of corporate transition identifies unique patterns of diminishing, permanent, and incipient components utilized during the reorientation of fleet strategy, market and service changes, and company restructuring. All transition arrangements have been greatly influenced by the integration of Central Eastern European countries with the European Union.     

Asian hub/feeder nets: the dynamics of restructuring

The emergence of hub/feeder networks in the Singapore-Japan corridor through the 1970s and 1980s reflected not only the rapid growth of containerized cargo in regional Southeast and East Asia but also the exceptional importance of Far East/transPacific and Far East/Europe mainline shipping services in structuring these networks. This paper argues that the mid-1990s is a defining moment in the restructuring of these networks; that the period represents, in fact, a convergence of a number of different though related trends impacting on the regional shipping market. More particularly, continuing high growth rates of containerized cargo have not only spawned new ports but have also increased the proportion of ports handling threshold volumes of containers for which mainline calls, rather than handling thfeeder operations, are justified. Further, the quite dramatic retionalization of already large container shipping lines into mergers and alliances bestows a new level of market power that is able to underwrite major changes in shipping schedules, port rotations and feeder linkages. This paper speculates that these developments are generating, and will continue to generate new, hierarchically organized port/shipping networks in which high order networks will include high efficiency/high cost operations; and lower order networks will include a mix of hub and direct-call ports that will focus on different market segments.     

The adaptation of the Polish shipping companies to market conditions

At the end of the eighties, fundamental changes took place in Polish shipping. Implementation of the market economy system was at first demonstrated in the introduction of the principles of self-dependence, self-government and self-financing of the shipping companies. Privatization performed a key role in the program of transformation of the centrally planned system into market oriented financially independent shipping organizations. The previous principle of the necessary participation of the home fleet in transporting domestic sea-borne trade has been mostly replaced by cross-trade. Many shipping services have left its basic ports in the country for a West European basis, securing alimentation of home and transit cargoes by feeder-service systems. Joint stock companies in shipping with substantial shares of foreign capital are welcomed, and the previously obligatory system of administrative methods of the state monopoly has been abolished. The principles of shipping policy represented in the past by Poland and also by UNCTAD in the 1960s have lost their impact and must be change and adapted to the new demands of the shipping markets.     

The adaptation of the Polish shipping companies to market conditions

At the end of the eighties, fundamental changes took place in Polish shipping. Implementation of the market economy system was at first demonstrated in the introduction of the principles of self-dependence, self-government and self-financing of the shipping companies. Privatization performed a key role in the program of transformation of the centrally planned system into market oriented financially independent shipping organizations. The previous principle of the necessary participation of the home fleet in transporting domestic sea-borne trade has been mostly replaced by cross-trade. Many shipping services have left its basic ports in the country for a West European basis, securing alimentation of home and transit cargoes by feeder–service systems. Joint stock companies in shipping with substantial shares of foreign capital are welcomed, and the previously obligatory system of administrative methods of the state monopoly has been abolished. The principles of shipping policy represented in the past by Poland and also by UNCTAD in the 1960s have lost their impact and must be change and adapted to the new demands of the shipping markets.     

Competition in ship handling: a study of market turbulence in North European harbour towage

This paper addresses the issues of an increasingly competitive towage industry in Northern European ports. Enhanced competitiveness reflects the trends in the global mobility of capital, labour, enterprise and management within the context of deregulated port markets. Up until the early 1990s, the long term trend in major North European ports had been towards market concentration. Many small towage firms have been taken-over, bought out or merged. Alternatively, a pattern of consortia has emerged with co-operation and market sharing seen as preferable to ruinous competition. A contrasting trend has occurred in the 1990s, with new entrants into hitherto stable markets. In a number of ports—Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Southampton, Thamesport, Bristol Channel—new fleets have brought competitive challenge to the incumbent towage fleets. The process of enhanced competitiveness raises questions of safety, reliability, investment and professionalism. The movement towards an openly competitive shipping industry has been in evidence from the 1960s onwards. The momentum of a dynamic shipping industry, with its competitiveness sharpened by the use of global supply factors, has intensified from that period. The movement in European tonnage towards flags of convenience and global labour supplies began in the tanker and bulk carrier markets; more recently this has spread to deep sea liner, short sea and even cabotage trade shipping. The towage industry is the last North European shipping sector to make this transition, following the trends towards port deregulation in the 1990s. From this perspective, this paper considers the impact on the towage market of global mobility and deregulation in North European towage markets—the impact of increased competition on the traditional operators and the likely effect on operational towage standards.     

Maritime transport in the Italian logistics market

In this paper, the role of Italian shipping firms in the logistic services market is defined in light of major changes under way. The first part analysed the structural characteristics of the supply and demand for logistic and transport services, in which a situation of substantial weakness emerged. This situation has favoured the large-scale entry of foreign operators on the Italian market which perceive Italy as a key node within the international scenario of transport and logistics. The second part of the paper focused on the analysis of individual areas in Italian shipping and their capacity to differentiate service by supplying value added logistic services beyond transport. The analysis showed a position of substantial marginality for Italian shipping, a position which gives rise to several doubts regarding its capacity to face the challenge of international competition successfully.     

Eastern/Western European shipping companies and multimodal transport operations

The purpose of this article is to discuss the current developments in multimodal cargo flows in North European freight transports from Eastern and Western European shipping companies' point of view. Four types of options were identified for shipping companies in multimodal transport operations, namely: (i) the full service operator option, (ii) the feeder operator option in container trades, (iii) the ro-ro operator option, and (iv) the ferry operator option. Option (i) requires a global transport network together with efficient information handling capabilities. This option can be reached by a limited number of mega-carriers. The scope of investment and know-how in this option is such that Eastern European operators are unlikely to achieve this level. In (ii), fleets from (or registered in) the former socialist countries have an advantage as low cost operators, provided that the quality of the operation conforms to principals' requirements. However, the supply side in the intra-European container feeder trades seems to be quite saturated, and new market shares will be very difficult to acquire in the 1990s. In ro-ro shortsea trades the major freight transport operators are well integrated into either freight forwarder driven arrangements (Sweden, Germany), or into major shippers (Finland). As providers of port-to-port transports for road-based cargoes, ferry operators continue to play an important part in international transports. However, the major incentive (and revenue) for passenger/car ferry operations is usually derived from consumers' vacational or travelling needs. Along with the ongoing transition process and a higher level of economic stability that is hopefully achieved in these countries, mergers and acquisitions by Western partners are likely to follow.     

Competition in ship handling: a study of market turbulence in North European harbour towage

This paper addresses the issues of an increasingly competitive towage industry in Northern European ports. Enhanced competitiveness reflects the trends in the global mobility of capital, labour, enterprise and management within the context of deregulated port markets. Up until the early 1990s, the long term trend in major North European ports had been towards market concentration. Many small towage firms have been taken-over, bought out or merged. Alternatively, a pattern of consortia has emerged with co-operation and market sharing seen as preferable to ruinous competition. A contrasting trend has occurred in the 1990s, with new entrants into hitherto stable markets. In a number of ports Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Southampton, Thamesport, Bristol Channel new fleets have brought competitive challenge to the incumbent towage fleets. The process of enhanced competitiveness raises questions of safety, reliability, investment and professionalism. The movement towards an openly competitive shipping industry has been in evidence from the 1960s onwards. The momentum of a dynamic shipping industry, with its competitiveness sharpened by the use of global supply factors, has intensified from that period. The movement in European tonnage towards flags of convenience and global labour supplies began in the tanker and bulk carrier markets; more recently this has spread to deep sea liner, short sea and even cabotage trade shipping. The towage industry is the last North European shipping sector to make this transition, following the trends towards port deregulation in the 1990s. From this perspective, this paper considers the impact on the towage market of global mobility and deregulation in North European towage markets the impact of increased competition on the traditional operators and the likely effect on operational towage standards.     

Maritime transport in the Italian logistics market

In this paper, the role of Italian shipping firms in the logistic services market is defined in light of major changes under way. The first part analysed the structural characteristics of the supply and demand for logistic and transport services, in which a situation of substantial weakness emerged. This situation has favoured the large-scale entry of foreign operators on the Italian market which perceive Italy as a key node within the international scenario of transport and logistics. The second part of the paper focused on the analysis of individual areas in Italian shipping and their capacity to differentiate service by supplying value added logistic services beyond transport. The analysis showed a position of substantial marginality for Italian shipping, a position which gives rise to several doubts regarding its capacity to face the challenge of international competition successfully.     

Shipping economics: where we are and looking ahead from an institutional economics perspective [1]

There have been significant changes in the nature of shipping services in recent years. These have been most notably in the liner segment, but other parts of the market have not remained static. Technology shifts have been responsible for some of the change, but there have also been developments in institutional structures and managerial approaches. The economic drivers behind the sector, however, remain relatively poorly understood, despite a copious literature on shipping. Managerial economics has tended to put emphasis on the emergence of more sophisticated logistics structures and the role of information to tighten the overall supply chain. Industrial economists have been concerned with technical change and in particular with its interaction with more liberal markets structures. Often tied with this has been interest in the underlying nature of shipping markets (e.g. competitive, monopolistic or contestable) and, depending on the outcome, whether there is price leadership, collusion, predatory behaviour or whatever. Much of this work has been aspatial, treating shipping as any other industry with distance between demand and supply ignored or incorporated in a very simplistic manner. Environmental economists have focused on matters of fuel efficiency and pollution. This paper takes a broad overview of shipping economics in the context of the larger institutional framework within which it operates. It seeks broader analysis within an institutional economics framework, but also highlights some of the problems of achieving this.     

Shipping economics: where we are and looking ahead from an institutional economics perspective [1]

There have been significant changes in the nature of shipping services in recent years. These have been most notably in the liner segment, but other parts of the market have not remained static. Technology shifts have been responsible for some of the change, but there have also been developments in institutional structures and managerial approaches. The economic drivers behind the sector, however, remain relatively poorly understood, despite a copious literature on shipping. Managerial economics has tended to put emphasis on the emergence of more sophisticated logistics structures and the role of information to tighten the overall supply chain. Industrial economists have been concerned with technical change and in particular with its interaction with more liberal markets structures. Often tied with this has been interest in the underlying nature of shipping markets (e.g. competitive, monopolistic or contestable) and, depending on the outcome, whether there is price leadership, collusion, predatory behaviour or whatever. Much of this work has been aspatial, treating shipping as any other industry with distance between demand and supply ignored or incorporated in a very simplistic manner. Environmental economists have focused on matters of fuel efficiency and pollution. This paper takes a broad overview of shipping economics in the context of the larger institutional framework within which it operates. It seeks broader analysis within an institutional economics framework, but also highlights some of the problems of achieving this.     

Shipping line networks and the integration of South America trades

One recent transformation of liner shipping is the entry of leading carriers into north-south markets. This paper aims to test the commonly held proposition that global shipping lines entered north-south markets to feed more cargo on their established east-west services. This proposition arises out of: (1) predominant models of transport networks evolution which emphasize the influence of hubs, and (2) lines' strategy of commissioning larger vessels for east-west routes. In this perspective, the expansion of networks to southern economies serves specifically to bring more cargo on main routes to ensure volumes are sufficient to generate the desired economies of scale. This paper analyses the changing configurations of South American services. Results show that by 1999 leading shipping lines were offering direct services to all major trade ranges from the region, and numerous US loops were added to the already established European and Asian services. These new services involved multiple ports in the US; running in parallel with east-west services over a large part of the American coasts. The paper concludes that global shipping lines entered the South American market by setting up services typically configured to serve trades between North and South America; not to feed established main routes.     

Strategic alliances in container liner shipping

The economic crisis in the years between 2008 and 2010 has demonstrated the necessity for substantial adjustments on behalf of container lines. Capacities were shifted quickly to emerging and less affected markets allowing a faster recovery of globally organized companies. This paper illustrates the dynamics in the container shipping market. Alongside the main characteristics of the Top 20 ocean shipping companies, liner services are described. These services are classified by geographic coverage and vessel deployment. In addition, this paper provides a better understanding of the collaboration among service providers. Starting from a general framework of co-operative liner services, in-depth analyses of the global alliances in liner shipping are obtained. These formations - Grand Alliance, New World Alliance and CKYH Alliance - are compared with alternative forms of collaboration in the liner shipping industry. The analysis of alliance announcements which are related to operational and strategic changes indicates that the “global alliances” cannot be regarded as closed corporate-like entities. In effect, service agreements are not only negotiated with the focal members of the specific alliance. Instead, every service is arranged individually and under specific conditions. By understanding the dynamics within alliances, we are able to develop an assessment relating to the stability of collaborations. Ultimately, these insights direct us to several paths for future research.     

上海国际航运中心应发力“软件”集群

综观国际经验,现代航运服务业的发展不是仅靠投资拉动的,而主要是靠产业集群效应所推动,航运服务技术、产品、市场通过产业集群的方式产生聚集效应。世界著名的国际航运中心也都是著名的国际航运服务中心,它们不仅具有完善的航运服务体系和健全的航运市场,而且有服务于航运业的信息系统,对航运业的发展起到了促进作用。     

Changing policies in Eastern Europe and their impact on the maritime field: experiences from Eastern Germany

The political changes that occured in Eastern Europe from the late 1980s coincided in the fromer German Democratic Republic (GDR) with the reunification of Germany. The economic result was the existence of a split economy in Germany. Within the maritime field the problem had to be solved by a change over of the former GDR's maritime industry from the centrally-planned command type economy as its failure was evident. Three economic factors were identified as the main causes for the failure which made, together with some other negatives, the collapse inevitable. The transition of the East German maritime industry started immediately after reunification. In the maritime field, two different forms of economic transition have been applied. Using the examples of the main shipping company and the seaports the economic transition process has been analyzed and some basic conclusions regarding the substance and methods of economic transition have been drawn.     

An analysis and comparison of multinational officers of the watch in the global maritime labor market

ABSTRACT

Officer of the watch (OOW) is an important part of the maritime labor market. For many years, countries have been improving their development of OOWs for the maritime market, in terms of both quantity and quality. As the supply of qualified OOWs for maritime transportation is such an important issue, shipping companies recruit multinational OOWs for both economic and socio-cultural reasons. This study aims to identify the qualifications of an ideal officer that holds office on commercial ships, and to make a comparison among Filipino, Chinese, Indian, Eastern European and Turkish OOWs. The research takes into account expert opinions of a number of shipping companies that employ multinational seafarers. A Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) technique is applied in this study to assist in the comparison of officers. A number of main and sub-criteria are outlined to determine both positive and negative aspects of OOWs from the selected countries for decision making purposes. This study allows maritime countries to evaluate their maritime education and training policies for selection and assessment of OOWs.     

Maritime policy in Scotland

This paper begins by defining the meaning of the term 'maritime policy'. Since devolution in the UK, the opening of the new Scottish parliament in 1998 and the creation of the Scottish Executive, little effort has been made to establish a distinct maritime policy for Scotland. As was evident prior to devolution, the primary emphasis from any maritime policy perspective has continued to be a focus on lifeline island ferry services. This ignores significant developments in several other key maritime transport sectors, and this paper provides examples of areas that require some form of policy response, including intra-European short sea shipping, UK coastal shipping, urban/river transport and global container shipping. Long-standing institutional bias against maritime transport coupled with subsidy devoted almost entirely to land transport systems has resulted in a quite distorted marketplace. This suggests that a maritime policy is now imperative if maritime transport is to play a more significant role in the overall transport system. Further discussion centres on the need to consider, from a Scottish policy perspective, the role of various state-sponsored maritime service providers and how these bodies might fit better within evolving policy. The conclusion is that formulation of a maritime policy by the Scottish Executive is overdue and that a degree of restructuring of transport responsibilities within the Executive, combined with adequate resource allocation towards the maritime industry, will be necessary in order that market distortions can be overcome, so enabling Scotland to fully exploit the competitive and environmental advantages that maritime transport can provide.     

The Caribbean basin: adjusting to global trends in containerization

Positioned strategically between major east–west and north–south trading routes, the Caribbean basin has become a locus of new service configurations in container shipping. Over the last decade global shipping lines have been restructuring their service networks in the region in order to integrate local services with the newly rationalized intercontinental connections. By comparing service network structures in 1994 and 2002 at three levels of organization—local, regional and global—we are able to show that although Caribbean ports are well connected to the global system, and while the total number of services has declined between the two years, those mounted by members of global alliances have increased. Moreover, services of the global carriers at the local and regional levels are on the increase. As much as the alliances are reshaping Caribbean networks, the smaller carriers are still playing a role, but at a reduced spatial scale. Parallel with the modifications to network configurations are the changes in the port system. Essentially, traffic of the most important ports in the north and western part of the basin has grown at slower rates than the ports in the south and east. These traffic changes are only partly related to network changes. It is the growth of transshipments that is driving the most important developments in port traffic and bringing to the forefront the development of hub ports. The most important are: Colon, Panama (southwest), Freeport, Bahamas (north), Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (southeast), Kingston, Jamaica and Rio Haina, Dominican Republic (middle), and Cartagena, Colombia and Puerto Cabello, Venezuela (south).     

我国航运企业发展现代物流的战略思考

世界经济一体化进程不断加快,一些国际航运公司实施全球承运人战略,纷纷抢占包括我国在内的世界物流服务市场。我国航运企业面临着如何对日益激烈的市场竞争局面。现就我国航运企业发展物流服务的必要性。开展物流服务的机遇与挑战以及对策等三个方面作系统的研讨。     

The Caribbean basin: adjusting to global trends in containerization

Positioned strategically between major east-west and north-south trading routes, the Caribbean basin has become a locus of new service configurations in container shipping. Over the last decade global shipping lines have been restructuring their service networks in the region in order to integrate local services with the newly rationalized intercontinental connections. By comparing service network structures in 1994 and 2002 at three levels of organization—local, regional and global—we are able to show that although Caribbean ports are well connected to the global system, and while the total number of services has declined between the two years, those mounted by members of global alliances have increased. Moreover, services of the global carriers at the local and regional levels are on the increase. As much as the alliances are reshaping Caribbean networks, the smaller carriers are still playing a role, but at a reduced spatial scale. Parallel with the modifications to network configurations are the changes in the port system. Essentially, traffic of the most important ports in the north and western part of the basin has grown at slower rates than the ports in the south and east. These traffic changes are only partly related to network changes. It is the growth of transshipments that is driving the most important developments in port traffic and bringing to the forefront the development of hub ports. The most important are: Colon, Panama (southwest), Freeport, Bahamas (north), Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (southeast), Kingston, Jamaica and Rio Haina, Dominican Republic (middle), and Cartagena, Colombia and Puerto Cabello, Venezuela (south).