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Measuring the missing link in port performance evaluation
Port performance measurement is continuously gaining ground in contemporary port management. Intense competition and the progressive metamorphosis of port authorities’ idiosyncrasies towards more commercialised and industrialised entities have been vital: ports, in their vast majority, are actively engaged in the complex supply chains aiming, among others, to increase market shares. In this setting, the importance of port performance measurement emerged as a necessary condition for ports in order to benchmark their business vis-a-vis...
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Emission control taxes in different port competition and co-operation settings
Using a game theory approach, the latest port study of PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom and Cui Han (University of Antwerp, Belgium) analyses a situation in which the government imposes a certain emission tax on vessels and port operations for emission control in port areas. Two ports are considered: a purely private port and a landlord (partial public) port. These two ports are in Cournot or Bertrand competition or cooperation with differentiated service. The authors' model outcomes lead to the following conclusions. First, the...
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Cruise lines searching for legitimacy: Stakeholder relationship management and CSR reporting
The rapid growth of the cruise industry since the beginning of the ‘90 has stimulated the ongoing debate on its positive and negative impacts at economic, social and environmental level. Under multiple stakeholder pressure, leading international cruise companies have re-shape their communication strategies by fostering their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) attitude to successfully manage stakeholders and support their corporate strategies. Grounding on stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory, the paper addresses cruise lines’ CSR...
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“Slow port studies” - on the future of maritime economics
Celebrating 25 years since the establishment of the Association, the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) Annual Conference organised a special opening session to discuss the future of maritime and port economics. PortEconomics co-director Thanos Pallis presented a call for a more measured pace port studies development and dissemination. PortEconomics invites its readers to follow the link in order to download the call – and, not least, to apply the concept: Pallis A.A. (2017): Slow port studies. IAME 2017, Kyoto,...
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PortGraphic | Top EU container port regions (2007-2016): the rise of South Europe
By Theo Notteboom Total container throughput in the EU increased by 13.9% between pre-crisis year 2007 and 2016. Rotterdam is the largest container port in Europe (12.38 million TEU in 2016) followed by Antwerp (10.04 million TEU) and Hamburg (8.91 million TEU). When grouping seaports together in multiple-port regions we get a better picture of the container port handling hotspots in Europe. Observation 1 - The Rhine-Scheldt Delta is, more than ever, the stronghold of the Hamburg-Le Havre range With 24 million TEU handled in 2016,...
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Challenges and bottlenecks for green port management in Africa: Kenya
Since the 1990s, negative environmental externalities related to port activity have been a widely researched topic, in particular since port expansion projects in developed economies got delayed due to litigation and court decisions invoking environmental harms (e.g. emissions) or losses (e.g. birds and habitats). The introduction of a green port management or a green port policies was formulated as an answer on the level of port authorities, and in particular trade associations in the developed economies have been active in promoting green...
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Conversation between two maritime economists: the future of ports & maritime shipping
An interesting coversation between two maritime economists members of PortEconomics took place during TOC Europe which was held 27-29 June 2017. Jean-Paul Rodrigue and Peter de Langen had a live exchange of views and arguments regarding: The 4th industrial revolution and peak containerization The inland terminal as a value proposition in container transport The disadvantages of scale in maritime shipping The relevance of business ecosystems for terminal operators Download the presentation of the conversation via PortEconomics...
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PortGraphic | Upscale or die: from 20 to a handful of global container carriers
By Theo Notteboom Since 2014, the container shipping industry is witnessing a massive wave of carrier consolidation. In mid-2014, Hamburg Süd acquired CCNI (Compañía Chilena de Navegación Interoceánica). In December 2014, the merger between Hapag-Lloyd and CSAV (Companía Sud Americana de Vapores) was completed. In late 2015, NOL/APL and CMA CGM agreed on the sale of APL container division to CMA CGM. Early 2016 brought the merger between China Shipping and Cosco to form China Cosco Shipping Group. Hapag-Lloyd and UASC...
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