The impact of the Panama Canal expansion on Panama’s maritime cluster

The Panama Canal is currently in the process of a major expansion effort. After the new set of locks is opened in 2016, significantly larger ships can traverse the Canal. The current lock system has been in place for over 100 years, even though the size of ocean-going vessels has expanded considerably. One impact is on Panama’s maritime cluster. It is expected that the expansion will result in greater demand for many of the goods and services provided by the cluster. This article examines the economic impact of the Canal expansion on Panama’s maritime cluster. Clusters of economic activity can result in economies of agglomeration and supply chain network effects. Without these economies and network effects, clusters would not have a competitive advantage over businesses that are not in a cluster. It is expected that with a larger cluster, both agglomerative economies and network effects will increase. But, which cluster components will grow and which will not be affected to a great extent? To what extent will bottlenecks appear? These are some of the questions that this article addresses.     

Forecasting the Suez Canal traffic: a neural network analysis

Although the Suez Canal is the most important man-made waterway in the world, rivaled perhaps only by the Panama Canal, little research has been done into forecasting its traffic flows. This paper uses both univariate ARIMA (Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average) and Neural network models to forecast the maritime traffic flows in the Suez Canal which are expressed in tons. One of the important strengths of the ARIMA modelling approach is the ability to go beyond the basic univariate model by considering interventions, calendar variations, outliers, or other real aspects of typically observed time series. On the other hand, neural nets have received a great deal of attention over the past few years. They are being used in the areas of prediction and classification, areas where regression models and other related statistical techniques have traditionally been used. The models obtained in this paper provide useful insight into the behaviour of maritime traffic flows since the reopening of the Canal in 1975—following an 8-year closure during the Arab–Israeli wars (1967–1973)—till 1998. The paper also compares the performance of ARIMA models with that of neural networks on an example of a large monthly dataset.     

Forecasting the Suez Canal traffic: a neural network analysis

Although the Suez Canal is the most important man-made waterway in the world, rivaled perhaps only by the Panama Canal, little research has been done into forecasting its traffic flows. This paper uses both univariate ARIMA (Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average) and Neural network models to forecast the maritime traffic flows in the Suez Canal which are expressed in tons. One of the important strengths of the ARIMA modelling approach is the ability to go beyond the basic univariate model by considering interventions, calendar variations, outliers, or other real aspects of typically observed time series. On the other hand, neural nets have received a great deal of attention over the past few years. They are being used in the areas of prediction and classification, areas where regression models and other related statistical techniques have traditionally been used. The models obtained in this paper provide useful insight into the behaviour of maritime traffic flows since the reopening of the Canal in 1975—following an 8-year closure during the Arab-Israeli wars (1967-1973)—till 1998. The paper also compares the performance of ARIMA models with that of neural networks on an example of a large monthly dataset.     

US shipping policy under conditions of a new world economic and political environment

The maritime policy of the US has evolved over more than 100 years from the support of US shipping through mail and fleet auxiliary contracts before the turn of the century, to the present array of direct and indirect Government aids and regulations based on the assumption that a strong maritime industry composed of both US-flag shipping and US-shipbuilding capacity is essential for the economic well-being and defence of the country. Notwithstanding massive direct and indirect aid to the US merchant marine, amounting to well over a billion dollars a year in recent years, US shipping and shipbuilding has declined dramatically and now comprises less than 3% of world shipping. Only 2.8% of US foreign trade by volume and 6% by value is today carried in US flag ships. Government aids constitute well over 33% of total revenues of US-flag shipping.

The traditional argument for US Government support has been the need for cost parity to permit US-flag shipping to compete effectively in international trade against foreign shipping serving the same routes with presumably lower operating costs. This argument is difficult to sustain today, as vessel costs of many other industrialized nations are now about equal to those of US-flag ships.

In 1970 the US enacted a new, vastly more liberal, maritime act for the support of the US maritime industry. Notwithstanding its even more liberal terms and elimination of the strict cost-parity interpretation, the US maritime industry continues its decline. The recent bankruptcy of two old, established subsidized shipping companies has caused tremors in the industry, yet no new ideas, policies, or plans seem to be forthcoming. It is the objective of this paper to study the development and effects of various historic US Government policies relating to the support of the US maritime industry, and evaluate the positions taken by proponents or opponents of the maritime policy leading to the policy development.

The decision processes are studied by evaluating literature on the evolution of Congressional, administration, industry, and labour interest and positions on the issue of Government aid to the maritime industry. The impact and effectiveness of various elements of past and present US maritime policy is evaluated in relation to the stated objectives. The alternatives to these policies are reviewed in the light of the changing US position in international trade, military strategy, and political objectives. In addition the effectiveness of the present and alternative policies is evaluated as it is and will be affected by changing technology in use, composition of ownership, and operations of US-flag shipping and shipbuilding.     

Widening the Panama Canal and U.S. ports: historical and economic impact analyses

ABSTRACT

The economic history of the U.S. illustrates how the role of many cities has been changed by being seaports or located on navigable rivers or lakes. Based on the widening of the Panama Canal in 2016, the West Coast ports that include the west coast seaports of California, Oregon, and Washington were expected to become less important, while the freight shares of the East Coast and Gulf ports would increase. By how much it has been not easy to measure or predict so far, but this study attempted to define some of the key parameters in the measurement. As well as several relevant background topics, both the demand- and supply-side versions of the National Interstate Economic Model, have been applied for the measurement of economic impacts. U.S. port authorities and policy makers at the local and national levels who respond and develop plans for coping with the new realities of the Panama Canal are able to understand the extent to which changes in shippers’ and land-mode transporters’ behaviors would undermine the logistics and the costs of their activities. Therefore, this study is important for a diverse spectrum of port development strategies in the U.S. to respond to the Canal expansion.     

Panama Canal expansion and its impact on East and Gulf coast ports of U.S.A.

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the Panama Canal expansion and its impact on American port infrastructure for the attention of academic researchers in maritime transportation and supply chain management (SCM). First, it provides a comprehensive background based on a review of pertinent practitioner as well as academic publications. This is followed by a summarization of the impact of this expansion on the infrastructure of the major East and Gulf Coast (EGC) ports, since these stand to be the most affected. Then it presents a categorization scheme for these EGC ports that capture their likelihood of attracting the expected increase in cargo traffic engendered by the expansion; this is preliminarily supported by the latest data on growth in container traffic. The policy implications of this categorization are then discussed and the paper ends by identifying key SCM research problems exposed by the above.     

巴拿马运河吃水、吃水差控制实用计算

鉴于当今巴拿马型散货船对吃水以及吃水差控制不当而造成超吃水,导致这种船穿越巴拿马运河的事故频繁发生。本文主要分析了上述事件常见的典型错误计算,并结合生产实践介绍了几种实用而简单的船舶穿越巴拿马运河控制吃水和吃水差的计算方法,以期给船舶驾驶人员以正确的计算指导。     

Knowledge management for maritime logistics value: discussing conceptual issues

This paper introduces the concept of maritime logistics value as one of the most significant strategic goals that maritime operators want to achieve. The value is reflected in operational efficiency (e.g. reducing lead time and business costs) and service effectiveness (e.g. flexibility, responsiveness and reliability in the service). Drawing from key theories and practices in strategic management such as knowledge-based perspective and social network embeddedness perspective, this paper adopts a knowledge management strategy as a way to create and sustain the maritime logistics value. A conceptual framework is established for the exploration of the way to acquire knowledge and the effectiveness of the acquired knowledge in maximising the maritime logistics value. Following the parameters of this framework, the positive relationship between social networks, knowledge acquisition and maritime logistics value is identified, and its relevant theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Panama Canal expansion: alleviating global climate change

This paper quantifies likely changes in greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to anthropogenic climate change, resulting from the expansion of the Panama Canal and the consequent increase in ship-borne commercial transportation from east Asia to the US east coast. Ocean transportation offers higher fuel economy and lower pollutant emissions compared with land transport. Additionally, truck and train transportation of cargo along the US land bridge threatens to overwhelm existing highway and rail systems and limit economic growth. The alternate transportation route for easterly transit of the Panama Canal will reduce overland traffic congestion and enhance economic development by maintaining freight flow efficiency.     

The relationship between maritime education and employer trust: the structural equation modelling (SEM) perspective

The research is aimed to identify factors in the maritime education and training (MET) system and its relationship on maritime labour employers’ (MLEs) trust based on current practice in Malaysia. A questionnaire survey was used, and the respondents were the participants of a related conference in Malaysia. The structural equation modelling technique was used to explain the relationships in the stipulated research model. The test of structural model confirms that the model is adequate in explaining the MLEs’ trust. The results reveal that the perceived MET institutions’ efficiency has significant direct effects on the MLEs’ trust and the perceived seafarers’ competency. In addition, the perceived implementation of International Convention was found to significantly affect the seafarers’ competency. However, the perceived seafarers’ competency was not found to directly affect the MLEs’ trust. This study suggests that the MLEs’ trust is an important indicator and feedback on it can be used to further enhance the current MET system and its policies. Thus, one of the strategies is to develop a policy in order to achieve an effective maritime education and training. This is to support the maritime communities in progressing towards a more sustainable development in the MET in the context of enhancing the maritime safety.     

关于船员劳务合同中优先权问题的探讨

针对船员劳务合同中优先权问题进行了探讨,指出在船员与船舶所有人没有劳动合同的情况下,船员仍对劳动报酬享有船舶优先权;船员劳动服务机构就船员工资及船员人身伤亡不享有船舶优先权。     

12500t化学品/成品油船锚泊、系泊设计

介绍了 1 2 50 0t化学品 /成品油船在锚泊、系泊设计中须满足的规范、规则要求 ,包括船级社规范、巴拿马运河规则、苏伊士运河航运规则、圣·劳伦斯航道共同规则、最小安全标准、国际石油公司海事论坛、德国海上同业会、国际海上人命安全公约等 ,并介绍了锚泊系泊的常规设计     

Market analysis and pricing policies for sea canals: the case of the Greek Corinth Canal

This paper develops a pricing policy for sea canals gained from the experience of a research programme on the Corinth Canal in Greece. The methodology followed is based on the dual role of the canal, as a private management company, operating in a competitive maritime market and as an instrument for the development and application of transport policy by the national authorities. The elaborated pricing strategy uses as inputs the canal's users profile as well as its competitors characteristics, that were determined through a survey conducted in the Corinth Canal market. The paper concludes with a policy that satisfies the goal of profit maximization and promotion of sustainable mobility at a national and international level.     

Clustering and performance: the case of maritime clustering in The Netherlands

Over the last years, the concept of clustering has become a central concept for analysing the competitiveness of nations, industries and firms. The cluster concept can be usefully applied to study clustering of maritime activities. Maritime activities, such as shipping, shipbuilding and port and maritime services, are clearly geographically concentrated in a number of maritime clusters. Due to ongoing internationalization in these industries, the concentration of maritime activities in clusters is likely to increase. This observation leads to two important research questions: what are the advantages for firms to locate in clusters and what factors influence the development of maritime clusters? This study identifies four agglomeration economies that attract firms to cluster: a joint labour pool, a broad supplier and customer base, knowledge spillovers, and low transaction costs. Furthermore, it discusses the effects of aspects of the cluster structure, being the presence of internal competition, the heterogeneity of the cluster population, the entry and exit barriers, and the presence of (above mentioned) agglomeration effects. It also briefly discusses the important issue of cluster governance. This overview allows one to develop a theoretical framework to analyse clusters. In the empirical part, this framework is applied to the maritime cluster in The Netherlands. Based on empirical data, from surveys amongst firms in the maritime cluster, studies commissioned by the Dutch maritime Network and regional statistics, the presence of agglomeration economies in the cluster is shown. Secondly, it is shown that the cluster structure is beneficial for the performance. This paper finishes with conclusions and suggestions for further research.     

执行海上劳动关系三方协调机制的思考

文中分析了我国海上劳动关系三方协调机制在实际工作中存在的实际问题,提出了实事求是地分析问题、解决问题,推动海上劳动关系三方协调机制工作顺利开展的具体措施。     

The expansion of the Panama Canal and its impact on global CO2 emissions from ships

As part of the discussions of the environmental effects of the expansion of the Canal through the construction of a third set of locks, the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) began to consider measuring the impact of the project on global CO₂ emissions in 2006. The hypothesis PCA intends to investigate whether the third set of locks will prompt reductions in total world CO₂ emissions or not. The Canal's third set of locks will prevent reaching the saturation point, and will avoid diversion of traffic to potentially longer alternative routes, such as the Suez Canal and Cape Horn, thereby reducing distances and fuel consumption. In addition, the widening of the Canal may promote the construction of modern-type post-Panamax vessels, making transportation of freight more efficient through economies of scale. This white paper will initiate an exploratory research on the subject based on two possible scenarios: an existing Canal and an expanded Canal. Both scenarios will take physical distances, closest alternative routes, as well as fuel consumption of vessels and other relevant modes of transportation into consideration.     

The anachronism in maritime law that is general average

The concept of general average is of great antiquity. It has fruitfully served the maritime community of the last two millennia, but the justification for its continued existence in the 21^st century is questionable. This article examines the proposition that general average is an anachronism and should be abolished — a cry that has been heard for well over a hundred years but has failed to materialise. In the article, the arguments for retaining general average are marshalled alongside the demands for its demise. Current developments in the revision of the York-Antwerp Rules are discussed. In conclusion, the resilience of general average as an age-old equitable maritime principle is recognized. But the author points to the sophistication in the modern regime of marine insurance in support of discarding general average and allowing maritime losses to lie where they fall; to be indemnified independently by the insurer of each interest in a maritime adventure without contribution from co-adventurers or their insurers.     

85000 DWT散货船系泊设计

综合考虑船舶常规靠泊、应急拖带、巴拿马运河新船闸的系泊要求,分析众多港口的系泊要求,拓展现有系泊模式,并最小限度调整现有设计方案,获得85000 DWT散货船新的系泊方案,使其系泊选型和系泊布置适应多港口要求,得到船东的认可.