The European Sea Port Organisation (ESPO) held the 9th edition of its annual Conference in Sopot, the Polish seaside town located in between the ports of Gdansk and Gdynia, who were hosting the event. PortEconomics co-directors Peter de Langen, Theo Notteboom and Thanos Pallis, as well as PortEconomics associate members  Michael Dooms, Patrick Verhoeven, and Larissa van der Lught were there actively contributing to discussions around the theme of port financing and investment, the most important enabling factors behind port development.

Port privitisation has again become a topical issue in Europe as the economic crisis is pushing some countries to sell off ports and other vital infrastructures. During a special roundtable discussion on port privatisation, PortEconomics co-directors Theo Notteboom and Thanos Pallis joined port authorities trade unions, terminal operators and conference delegates, and discussed whether this a trend that is here to stay and would full privatisation be in the interest of ports and the trade that they serve. 

Another higlight of the second day of ESPO 2012 was, the presentation of the results of the PPRISM (Port Performance Indicators - Selection and Measurement) project conducted by several partners of the PortEconomics initiative by Chris Wooldridge.

The conference also devoted attention to the review of European ports policy that the European Commission recently announced. Other topics which were discussed included the financial capabilities of port authorities, public private partnerships, concessions and regional investment opportunities.

Acting at his capacity as Secretary General of the ESPO, PortEconomics associate member Patrick Verhoeven presented the ESPO 'Port Manifesto' advocating a 'renaissance' of port management and policy. The manifesto addresses port authorities, governments and the European Union. It advocates first of all a change of management culture among port authorities, one that combines a dynamic business policy with good corporate governance and transparency, both within and beyond the port area. Secondly, it invites responsible governments to devise frameworks that guarantee independent port management, removing all necessary bottlenecks. Finally, it recognises the potential of the European Union to be a positive force by ensuring a level playing field and legal certainty and fostering growth and development of ports.

Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas gave the closing keynote speech of the conference. "The ports policy review will not be a one size fits all approach. After all, there must be sufficient flexibility to take local circumstances into account. It is certainly not for the Commission to tell ports how their business should be run, or to suggest particular business models", said Mr. Kallas, "The review is about having greater transparency and fewer restrictions, to remove barriers for new entrants wanting to tender fairly and openly for port services. Fair competition is a healthy – and I would say, usual – requirement for improving port performance generally and for the system's overall efficiency."

In his conclusions, ESPO Chairman Victor Schoenmakers emphasised the need to balance legal certainty with the flexibility that port authorities need to manage the dynamic nature of the industry. "This is the most important challenge to resolve", said Mr. Schoenmakers.

You might download:
Theo's presentation via PortEconomics:  The end of the landord model? Economics pressures to privitise ports 
Thanos' presentation via PortEconomcis: Privitisation of Greek ports
The ESPO Manifesto via ESPO's webpage: ESPO Manifesto for Port Authorities, Governments and the European Union
Details of the event, and all speakers presentations @ the ESPO 2012 Conference webpage.

 Read also @ PortEconomics: ESPO 2012 twitted by Patrick Verhoeven as happened

PortEconomics co-directors Theo Notteboom and Peter de Langen, members Vicky Kaselimi and Dries Verbraeken and the associate members Wouter Jacobs and Larissa Van Der Lugt particpated at the First Port Research Centre Poster Session organized by the Erasmus Smart Port Rotterdam in Rotterdam on March 6, 2012, and included the latest developments of on-going port research,

Porteconomics members and associated that conduct doctoral research had the opportunity to present port reserch related to their research to an audience including several PhD-students and a selected group of senior port researchers in the Netherlands and Belgium.

In particular, the program included a presentation by Vicky Kaselimi on her research on "A Game Theoretical Approach to the Interrelation between Terminal Scale and Port Competition", whereas Dries Verbraeken discussed his research on the "Exogenous Determinants of Land Productivity of Container Port Terminals". These studies are conducted under the supervision of Theo Notteboom, ITMMA & Faculty of Applied Economics of the University of Antwerp. PortEconomics associate member Larissa van der Lugt presented her research "Beyond the landlord: An analysis into the Strategic Scope of the Port Authority".

Other themes discussed included "Gateway and Hinterland Dynamics" by Darren Fraser,
"The Institution and Governance of Inland Waterway Transport" by Jinyu Li, "Location Analysis of Dry Ports Based on Fuzzy c-Means (FCM)" by Zheng Chang and "From the Terminal to the Metropolitan Region: Governing Logistics Development in the Greater Paris Region", Nicolas Raimbault.

The Smart Port Rotterdam initiative aims to develop new ways of cooperation, and combine high academic quality with practical relevant, to deliver research, education and project research.

In order to get an impression of the day you may visit the Youtube video of the event

The awarding of terminals in seaports are the theme of the latest issue of the Maritime Policy and Management. The issue is co-edited by PortEconomics co-directors Theo Notteboom, and Thanos Pallis, in collaboration with Dr. Sheila Farrell.

In many countries around the world, governments and public port authorities have retreated from port operations in the belief that enterprise-based port services and operations would allow for greater flexibility and efficiency in the market (through more competition) and a better response to consumers' demands. In this new environment, the awarding of port terminals to private operators has become common practice. This can takes different forms ranging from management contracts/leases to BOT arrangements, with each type having specific modalities with regard to the spread of investments and of risks. In particular, concession policy has become a powerful governance tool to port managers. Through concession policy, port authorities can retain some control on the organization and structure of the supply side of the port market. The issue of terminal awarding processes has not received a lot of attention in academic circles, while it has become a key issue in port governance.

This special issue adds value to the existing knowledged by  deepening and broadening the discussion on the award of terminals to private terminal operators. In particular it contains seven port studies address key issues in terminal awarding processes combining theoretical insights with empirical case studies:

1. The ownership and management structure of container terminal concessions, by Sheila Farrell;
2. Concession of the Piraeus container terminal: turbulent times and the quest for competitiveness, by Harilaos N. Psaraftis & PortEconomics co-director Thanos Pallis;
3. Managing port concessions: evidence from Italy, by PortEconomics associate member Francesco Parola along with Alessio Tei & Claudio Ferrari;
4. Awarding of Port PPP contracts: the added value of a competitive dialogue procedure, by Hidde Siemonsma, Wouter Van Nus & Patrick Uyttendaele;
5. A new approach to granting terminal concessions: the case of the Rotterdam World Gateway terminal, by PortEconomics co-director Peter W. De Langen, along with Roy Van Den Berg & Aernoud Willeumier
6. A new lease charging system for Busan container terminals: a historical case study, by Paul T.-W. Lee & Tsung-Chen Lee; and 
7. Current practices in European ports on the awarding of seaport terminals to private operators: towards an industry good practice guide, by PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom, the PortEconomics associate member Patrick Verhoeven & Martina Fontanet
8. The guest editorial Terminal concessions in seaports revisited by Theo Notteboom, Thanos Pallis & Sheila Farrell

These port studies have been completed through discussions in the working group on concessions of the Port Performance Research Network (PPRN), that has put the concession issue on the research agenda of maritime economists.

 The special Maritime Policy & Management issue (vol 39, issue 1) is now available online @ Taylor & Francis Online.
   
 Download the authors' version of the guest editorial @ PortEconomics: 
  Terminal Concessions in Seaports revisited (2012)

Year 2011 concludes with a highlight for the port research activities of the PortEconomics team, the contribution of five port studies in the just published Blackwell Companion to Maritime Economics. The volume, edited by Wayne Talley, provides a comprehensive and in-depth coverage of the entire scope of issues relating to shipping and port economics, containing in total 11 chapters concerned with the economics of ports – i.e., the provision of port services and the users of these services,

Mary Brooks and Thanos Pallis discuss the recent developments in port governance. The globalization of production and distribution, changing forms of cargo transportation and technological breakthroughs ended a long period of stable, state-controlled (govern- ment) port governance in most countries. Although government ownership of ports remains firmly entrenched in many countries, private management in the provision of port services has also been widely adopted. Port corporatization continues to be an acceptable governance option. Under port reform, ports have incurred difficulty in addressing issues with their hinterlands, such as congestion and infrastructure investment beyond the traditional boundaries of the port. In some cases, this has spurred interest in broader and more community-based governance models. A study of major international ports reveals the involvement of private interests in port terminal operations, a movement toward more effective and efficient management of ports, a trend for port authorities to go beyond their traditional functions, and recognition of the economic influences on ports.

Competition among and the competitiveness of container ports is the theme of the study conducted by Theo Notteboom and Wei Yim Yap. Container ports are in a better position to compete with neighboring container ports if they have modern infrastructures supported by competitive and reliable transportation services and serve as collection and distribution points for hinterlands that extend far beyond their traditional boundaries. Ports that lose ship calls will experience a decline in connectivity, choice of service providers and container throughput. The negative impact will also affect other ports that have complementary services with the port. A methodology is presented for analyzing inter-container port competition and competitiveness of container ports along the Malacca Strait, the Pearl River Delta and the Antwerp–Hamburg range. It is demonstrated that the configuration of container shipping line services has a direct effect on inter-container port competition. The decision by a container shipping line to switch port calls from one port to another can lead to significant economic and commercial ramifications for both ports. Container ports that are less flexible in accommodating the needs of shipping lines may be circumvented, while ports that are able to accommodate, complement and add value to the port calls of container shipping lines will be preferred.

Peter de Langen and Elvira Haezendonck discuss port clusters. A port cluster is a spatially concentrated group of firms of related industries for which one firm is a port; these firms are linked through vertical and horizontal relationships. The chapter discusses the relevance of applying the cluster concept to ports, as well as the port cluster concept as a tool for analyzing the impact of port cooperation and changing port governance structures on ports located in geographical proximity. Central to the port cluster concept is the recognition that interdependent firms cluster together in port regions for purposes of coordination and resource sharing. Analyzing ports from the perspective of port clusters provides (1) new insights into determinants of port competitiveness, (2) additional measures of port performance, (3) insights into the role of the port in promoting activities among interdependent firms in its region, and (4) an alternative framework to that of port governance for describing the role of port authorities. A dominant firm such as a port authority may have a strong influence on the performance of a cluster. In many port clusters, the port authority or a terminal operator plays a crucial role in the success of the port cluster.

George Vaggelas along with Adolf K.Y. Ng focus on port security, and the ISPS Code in particular. Their study is concerned with port security activities within the port's domain that protect port facilities and coordinate security activities between the port and its users. It discusses the International Maritime Organization's International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, the major international port security regulatory code, and examines the challenges faced by ports in the implementation of this Code. For the latter, cases studies of port security at Hong Kong in Asia and Piraeus in Europe are used. In Hong Kong, port security is not widely regarded as an important port issue, as revealed by the fact that port security man- agers hold junior positions. The core rationale of port security compliance by major stakeholders of the Port of Hong Kong appears to be one of avoiding potential economic consequences from non-compliance (e.g., losing US trade). In contrast, the Port of Piraeus has a strong security culture. It has implemented a stricter form of the ISPS Code, and cooperates with other ports on port security know-how and good practice.

Finally, PortEconomics associate member Pierre Cariou partners with François-Charles Wolff and Maximo Q. Mejia, Jr in a discussion of port state control (PSC) – a regime of unannounced safety inspections on board foreign ships in ports or marine terminals by designated PSC authorities for the purpose of verifying the adherence of ships to international regulations related to ship manning, equipment, maintenance and operations – and the deficiencies of the system PSC inspections provide information about factors such as vessel age, vessel type, classification society and vessel flag, which may predict the likelihood that a vessel will be found to be substandard. These factors are reflected in the target factors used by PSC regional memoranda of understanding (MoUs). This chapter describes these target factors and how vessel deficiencies detected during PSC inspections are corrected or recur over time. A data set of 42,071 vessels/ inspections carried out from 2002 to 2009 by 18 state members of the Indian Ocean MoU (IO-MoU) is used to determine factors that increase the likelihood of detecting vessel deficiencies in PSC inspections and the persistence of vessel deficiencies in sub- sequent PSC inspections over time.

Read the Introductory chapter, the full Table of Contents more about the Blackwell Companion of Port Economics at the publisher's page.

A fruitful meeting on the implemention of the Port Performance Indicators: Selection and Measurement (PPRISM) project between PortEconomics members acting as academic partners, the European Sea Port Organisation (ESPO), and the European Commission took place in Brussels last week.

With the European Commission co-funded PPRISM project delivering a much interesting approach, the partners set down the foundations for establishing further actions that would benefit all those involved in the port sector.

Port authorities and port community stakeholders take pride in the important contribution seaports deliver to European trade and welfare. But is anyone outside the industry aware of this? And what does the port sector really know itself about its overall performance, apart from the number of tonnes and passengers handled?

As the PPRISM project coming closer to its completion this will change. At the end of 2011 the project will deliver a Port Sector Performance Dashboard capable to measure performance trends in the European port sector.   As such, PPRISM is not looking at the performance of individual ports and terminals, but focuses mainly on the performance of the port system as a whole. During the past year European port authorities together with business and societal stakeholders engaged in an extensive assessment of potential indicators. This has resulted in a shortlist of fourteen indicators tested through a EU-wide pilot test for the actual feasibility of the selected indicators and for data collection at European level. 58 Port authorities replied to a user-friendly form with data requirements for the selected indicators.

The members of the PortEconomics team involved along with ESPO intend to take the create a culture of performance measurement and reporting in the sector which today is far from being general practice.

More about PPRISM and soon the conclusions and recommendation @ the PPRISM webpage.

A personal message from ESPO Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven on PPRISM can be seen @ ESPO YouTube channel.

PortEconomics members presented several new studies at the European Conference on Shipping, Intermodalism and Ports - ECONSHIP 2011. The Conference was the first PortEconomics endorsed event, an was held in Chios Greece (22-24 June).

The papers presented by the PortEconomics team were:

• Chen L. & Notteboom T. (2011). Determinants for assigning value-added logistics services to logistics centers within a supply chain configuration.  Download
• Feng L. & Notteboom T. (2011). Small and medium sized ports (SMPs) in multi-port gateway regions: the role of Yingkou Port in the logistics system of the Bohai sea.  Download
• Kaselimi E.N. & Notteboom T. (2011). "Preferred" scale of containers terminals in seaports: A size distribution analysis.  Download
• Lekakou M.B., Pallis A.A. Vaggelas G.K. and Vitsounis T.K. (2011). Users speak: coastal Shipping Services and islanders perceptions.  Download
• Li J and Theo Notteboom T. (2011). The evolutionary path of inland waterway transport in Pearl river Delta china: The role of governance and institutions.  Download
• Ng A.K.Y., Padilha F. and Pallis A.A. (2011). Institutions, regional and transport development in developing economies: Lessons from Brazilian dry ports.  Download
• Notteboom T. and Rodrigue J-P. (2011). Global container terminal operators: from diversification to rationalization?  Download
• Notteboom T. and Cariou P. (2011). Bunker costs in container liner shipping: Are slow steaming prac- tices reflected in maritime fuel surcharges?  Download
• Pallis A.A. and Bissias I. & Papachristou A.A. (2011). She goes maritime: Women in marine and maritime education in Greece.  Download
• Rodrigue J-P. and Notteboom T. (2011). Looking inside the box: evidence from the containerization of commodities and the cold chain.  Download
• Verbraeken D. & Notteboom T. (2011) Land productivity of seaport ter- minals: the role of exogenous factors.  Download
• Van den Berg R. and de Langen P.W. (2011). Towards' inland terminal to inland terminal' as a new value proposition in container transport?  Download
• Vitsounis T.K. and Pallis A.A. (2011). Measuring port users perceived value.  Download
• Vitsounis T.K. and Pallis A.A. (2011). Rethinking port actors.
• Wang S. & Notteboom T. (2011). Fleet distribution in the LnG shipping market: A comparative study with container and dry bulk markets.  Download

The PortEconomics SummerCourse was completed with participants and instructors sharing their enthusiasm for the event. Updates on developments in the field and state-of-the art research, interesting discussions and networking dominated four productive days on the theme of "Advances in Port Management: Theory and Practice".

Instructors included Thanos Pallis (University of the Aegean, Greece), Peter de Langen (University of Eindhoven/Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands), Theo Notteboom (ITMMA-University of Antwerp, Belgium), Mary Pierre Cariou (Euromed Management, France), Brooks (Dalhousie University, Canada), Jean-Paul Rodrigue (Hofstra University, USA), Adolf Ng (Hong-Kong Polytechnic University) and Thomas Vitsounis (University of the Aegean, Greece).

The first PortEconomics SummerCourse concluded with the wrap-up session by George Vaggelas (Advisor to the President and CEO of Port of Thessaloniki), Michalis Sarlis (Advisor to the Hellenic Champer of Shipping) and Patrick Verhoeven, (Secretary General, European Sea Ports Organisation - ESPO).

The PortEconomics team would like to thank all those that trusted our initiative and participated in the inaugural event. With evaluation reports being most promising, we promise to keep contact with the most promising young generation of academics and practitioners by developing further our activities.

The PortEconomics SummerCourse diary

Day 4: Production Factors (Capital, Labour, and Land) were the theme that dominated the final day of the PortEconomics SummerCourse, with Thanos Pallis and Theo Notteboom presenting an update of market developments. In the following session, participants were updated on Port Governance and Devolution by Mary Brooks. The first PortEconomics SummerCourse concluded with presentations by representatives of port authorities the users of the ports, and the European Sea Ports Organisation that concluded the SummerCourse. Participants enjoyed the farewell drink at the gardens of "Maria Tsakos Foundation" Centre for Maritime Research and Tradition. For most participants, this was also the welcome drink to the PortEconomics sponsored European Conference on Shipping, Intermodalism and Ports - ECONSHIP 2011.

Day 3: In the beginning of the executive course, Theo Notteboom and Jean-Paul Rodrigue presented to participants the latest "Developments in Shipping Markets as well as in Terminals and ITO Strategies". The sessions were followed by an informative discussion on "Ports and Supply Chains" by Peter De Langen, and presentation on "Port Performance Measurement in Practice" by Pierre Cariou and Thomas Vitsounis. In the final session of the day, participants of the SummerCourse had the opportunity to receive an update of the latest developments in port of North America, Asia, and Europe by Mary Brooks, Adolf Ng and Thanos Pallis respectively. The day ended with participants joining the PortEconomics dinner at the picturesque village of Thimiana.

Day 2: Lively discussions during the "PhD Breakfast and Brunch Session" marked the second day of the PortEconomics SummerCourse. Drs Chen, Gang (University of Southern Denmark), Vaggelis Kounoupas (University of Piraeus), Spyros Niavis (University of Thessaly), Kourounioti, Ioanna (University of the Aegean) and the PortEconomics member Papachristou Aimilia (University of the Aegean) presented the progress of their PhD research and discussed in a lively discussion themes, methodologies, research and publication potentials with other participants. The afternoon session included a relaxing trip to the villages and beaches of the famous Mastichohoria of Chios island, in a networking and "battery recharging" excursion. Participants return to the class tomorrow in a unique gathering including instructors from North America, Asia and Europe: These are: Theo Notteboom, Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Pierre Cariou, Mary Brooks, Adolf Ng, Peter De Langen, Thomas Vitsounis and Thanos Pallis.

Day 1: The inaugural PortEconomics SummerCourse on "Advances in Port Management: Theory and Practice" commenced on Saturday 18 June in Chios, Greece . The first day concentrated on the latest developments in port research, with Peter de Langen, Thanos Pallis and Thomas Vitsounis discussing the prospects and challenges for port research, as well as they ways that one might take advantage of the PortSudies database. They were joined by George Vaggelas (Port of Thessaloniki) who discussed the expectations of Port Authorities from the academia.The event will continue its works at the Korai Library in Chios, Greece, on Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 June. 

The full program The Full Program (final version)  is available @ PortEconomics.

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The study Port Economics, Policy and Management – Content Classification and Survey co-authored by A. Pallis, T. Vitsounis, P. De Langen and T. Notteboom, is published in the latest issue of the scholarly journal Transport Reviews (Volume 30, Issue 4, 2011, pp. 445-471).

This study presents a taxonomy and content analysis of research in port economics, policy and management (‘port studies’) that were published the period 1997-2008. There is a growing interest in the study of ports, yet the research characteristics and directions of this research field are unidentified. This study provides a unique systematic analysis of port studies published the period 1997‐2008. Based on a cross‐citation analysis and content survey, seven themes of port studies are identified The content of each theme is analysed by focusing on research topics, widely used research questions, concepts and research methods, and the most important research findings. Finally, it identifies emerging research questions that still need to be answered.

The authors' version of the work is posted by permission of Taylor & Francis for personal use @ PortEconomics [Download] - The definete version of the study is available @ Journal's webpage

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The pair study:
Pallis A.A., Vitsounis, T.K. and de Langen, P.W. (2010), Port economics, policy and management: Review of an emerging research field, published in an earlier issue of Transport Reviews, 30(1) 115-161, is also available @ PortEconomics [Download] and provides a complete bibliometric analysis and further information on research methodologies. 
In pair these studies provide a complete and detailed analysis of port related published research during the period 1997‐2008 and the foundations of the PortStudies Database that is freely available to visitors of the PortEconomics initiative.

The Database:
The PortStudies Database is updated at the end of each month - visit it regulalrly for the latest publications in Port Economics, Management and Policy.

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