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Optimizing Asia–Europe container network: The Suez Canal and Cape of Good Hope routes in a changing world
The development of an approach for evaluating various maritime transportation routes in light of ongoing disruptions and evolving global factors, including changes in demand, fluctuations in fuel prices, geopolitical shifts, and environmental considerations is the aim of the latest portstudy of PortEconomics member Pierre Cariou along with Sadeque Hamdan (Bangor University), Dominique Feillet (Univ Clermont Auvergne), Ali Cheaitou (University of Sharjah) and Nadjib Brahimi (Rennes School of Business) For each alternative route,...
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Planning a network of marinas and tourist ports in Greece
PortEconomics members George Vaggelas and Thanos Pallis presented their latest study, "Proposals for the Development of a Network of Tourist Ports in Greece" during a special event organised by the Greek Marinas Association in Athens, Greece. Despite its extensive coastline, Greece lags in the number of organised tourist ports and marinas. Berthing capacity for yachts is less than the average availability in other European countries, with demand exceeding supply in several areas. A spatial discontinuity in the tourist port...
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PortReport 6 | Understanding risk dynamics in contemporary maritime logistics
Download PortReport No 6 – Understanding Risk Dynamics in Contemporary Maritime Logistics: A "Meteor Shower" of Challenges A real “meteor shower” of disruptive forces is currently impacting international trade and maritime logistics, fundamentally challenging conventional strategic, operational and economic paradigms. PortEconomics member Ricardo J. Sánchez and Rodolfo Sabonge explore this unprecedented complexity in their latest PortReport, where they analyse the convergence of multiple risks and facts —exogenous, endogenous,...
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Seaports in a tense geopolitical environment: key agents or sitting ducks?
In an increasingly uncertain world, seaports are no longer just logistical hubs facilitating global trade—they are becoming geopolitical focal points, caught between strategic interests, economic dependencies, and global power struggles. The geo-economic and geopolitical landscape has a major impact on seaports, which have limited control over these external factors. Geopolitical objectives and policies also have a significant impact on the strategies and operational decisions of port users. Meanwhile, the developments over the past...
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Container throughput at Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges: A growing rivalry
Theo Notteboom, PortEconomics co-director, analyses the evolution of container throughput at Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges over the past five decades and reveals a significant shift in European port dynamics. While Rotterdam has historically been the dominant container hub, Antwerp-Bruges has steadily increased its share, now nearly matching Rotterdam’s volume. As Theo Notteboom analyses: "The ports of Rotterdam (NL) and Antwerp-Bruges (BE) are situated in the Rhine-Scheldt Delta, the most significant multi-port region in Europe in terms...
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Top-15 EU container ports in 2024: strong growth despite geopolitcal tensions
The 2024 ranking of the top 15 EU container ports highlights both stability on the top of the ranking and significant changes in port performance for the remaining ports. Rotterdam retains its position as Europe’s largest container port, handling 13.82 million TEUs, followed closely by Antwerp-Bruges at 13.53 million TEUs. Hamburg remains in third place with 7.8 million TEUs, while Valencia moves up to fourth place, benefiting from strong 14.2% growth. Following, the graphic below presents the ranking of the top 15 EU container...
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A systemic analysis of container terminal layouts
PortEconomics member Jean-Paul Rodrigue latest portstudy provides a systemic analysis of the layout characteristics of a geodatabase comprised of a large sample of 331 global container terminals. Despite the propensity towards terminal standardization that can be expected from containerization, container terminals demonstrate a substantial diversity in measurable attributes such as perimeter, terminal surface, yard surface, and berth length. This is mainly attributed to site characteristics constraining terminal design and operations with...
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Sustainability, externalities, and ocean grabbing: addressing challenges in maritime transport
Due to the strategic role of the maritime sector in the world economy, attention should be paid to the changing context in which its activity is carried out. Global shocks, such as COVID-19, or those more specific, such as Brexit, the recent armed conflicts in Ukraine or the Middle East, the growing insecurity in the Red Sea, or extreme natural phenomena resulting from climate change, add to new trends related to the transition towards environmental concerns, the technological revolution, financial swings, trade wars, changes in consumer...
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