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The Analyst: african ports awards-importance of port performance indicators
By Peter de Langen In June 2019, the winners of the fourth edition of the African Ports Awards (APA) were announced in Lomé, Togo. I had a small involvement as member of the Jury. The role of this Jury is minimal as the awards are based on performance data of the ports. There are different awards in different categories, all based on performance data that African ports submit. This focus on performance data is why, in my view, this initiative is helping to promote the conversation between all stakeholders about performance. The...
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Colombian ports: present needs & planning for the future (in spanish)
PortEconomics member, and chair of the global Port Performance Research Network (PPRN) Gordon Wilmsmeier assesses the Colombian port system and provides his thought on its future. En este momento no veo la necesidad de hacer un puerto en Tribugá The full interview (in Spanish), to Lorenzo Morales, as published in El Espectador "Para este investigador del Global Port Performance Network y profesor honorario de geografía marítima de la U. de Ciencias Aplicadas en Bremen (Alemania) y de la U. de los Andes, el país debería analizar y...
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Port policy: which principles are still relevant today?
In 1990 Richard O. Goss wrote four seminal articles about the economic principles underlying port policies, which were published in Maritime Policy and Management under the title Economic Policies and Seaports. These explored the economic functions of seaports, the diversity of port institutions, the need for port authorities, and the strategies that ports might adopt to promote port efficiencies. Economic principles included the existence of seaports for the benefit of traders, the use of competition to maximise public welfare, the...
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The Analyst: ports and lines are in need of a "positive story"
By Peter de Langen The societal impact of cruise vessels is increasingly under scrutiny, focused on the effects of cruise passengers on cruise cities and environmental effects of cruise ships. The report on emissions by Transport & Environment is a case in point. This report is one more signal of an underlying trend of an increasingly critical stance towards cruise that threatens its ‘license to operate and grow’. So far, at least in my perspective, both the cruise ports and cruise lines have not developed a ‘positive...
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Sustainable development & ocean governance: a shipping & ports perspective
The World Maritime Day is an opportunity for the international maritime community to commemorate the efforts to preserve the safety of life at sea and the marine environment protection through international mechanisms and instruments. This significant event was proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations, to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of September of each year. Each year, the International Maritime Organization confer the privilege to a country to host the Parallel Event to World Maritime Day. Therefore, in 2019...
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Ports near port cities face an uncertain future
by Ricardo J. Sanchez Very often, the largest cities in the world were built next to the ocean or rivers. For this reason, ports were built and developed in cities. However, as time went by, it was questioned whether ports were needed specifically in those locations. Around the world, cities are increasingly answering "no". The latest issue of Container Management addresses the issue, taking into account the cases of Sweden and Denmark. The causes that have motivated the decision to move the ports located in the centre of cities or in...
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Polycentric port governance
The latest port study of PortEconomics member Jason Monios applies the theory of polycentric governance to the port sector. The study demonstrates that port governance is already polycentric, including a variety of actors at different scales with overlapping jurisdictions, but some of the established principles of effective polycentric governance such as collective choice arrangements and distribution of costs are not currently in place. This has resulted in an inability to manage current challenges, which can be broadly divided into...
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Strong growth in H1 2019 for top European container ports
By Theo Notteboom The table shows the top 15 container ports in the European Union in 2018 based on container throughput expressed in TEU and the year-on-year growth for H1 2019. No growth figures were available for Marsaxlokk and Gioia Tauro. What do the figures reveal? First, with an overall weighted average growth of 5.7% (4.5% unweighted), the top 15 ports are performing better than in 2018 (+4.2%), 2017 (+4.6%), 2016 (+2.1%) and 2015 (-1.6%). Second, the top three ports recorded a weighted average growth of 6.3% in H1 2019...
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