Featured
Featured
Featured
Ιnternationalization of port managing bodies
PortEconomics members Michaël Dooms, Larissa Van Der Lugt, Francesco Parola, Giovanni Satta, joined by Dong-Wook Song (World Maritime University) in their latest port study, published at the scientific journal Maritime Policy and Management, aimed to establish a framework being conceptually able to explain a variety of internationalization strategies and related activities employed by port managing bodies (PMBs), as defined by the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) in 2018, considering their hybrid nature. Having identified a potential to...
Featured
PortGraphic: Top15 container ports in Europe in 2018
By Theo Notteboom The cargo volume handled remains a key performance indicator for ports. While also other indicators related to logistics performance, sustainability, innovation and economic impact are gaining ground, it remains relevant to observe how cargo volumes have evolved over time. The table shows the top 15 container ports in the European Union in 2018 based on container throughput expressed in TEU. It also includes container growth figures compared to 2017 and pre-crisis year 2007. What do the figures reveal? Top 15: y-o-y...
Featured
The Analyst: ships and terminals through Amazon's eyes
By Peter de Langen Lately, there has been much talk about the entry of new disruptors into ocean shipping, with Amazon most frequently referenced When ‘entry’ is understood as providing ocean freight services, this is now happening: Amazon is already handling shipment of goods by ocean for Chinese merchants that sell on Amazon’s site. In addition, Amazon has entered the market for delivery services for businesses, competing with the like of UPS and FedEx. It has not gone unnoted that Amazon owns and leases more than 40 cargo...
Featured
PortGraphic: Top10 container ports in mainland China in 2018
By Theo Notteboom The table provides an overview of the total TEU throughput in 2018 of the top 10 container ports in mainland China (plus Hong Kong) and also shows the growth figures 2017/2018 and 2007/2018. The figures lead to the following conclusions. Shanghai remains the no. 1 container port in mainland China and the world The top 10 ports in China handled 183 million TEU in 2018 or +4.7% compared to 2017. Shanghai in the Yangtze River Delta remains the undisputed no. 1 container port in mainland China and the world with over 42...
Featured
Port automation: a paradox for the shipping industry
Automation is bringing a series of paradoxes to the shipping industry. Since maritime shipping is in the derived demand business, it is misleading to assume that automation does not affect the demand for shipping as well. Although automation is mostly considered by the industry at the port terminal level, it also takes place across entire supply chains, a process associated with the fourth industrial revolution (manufacturing 4.0/4IR). The impacts of automation may thus be more significant on the activities that drive port volumes, such as...
Featured
The Nicaragua Canal: potential impact on international shipping and its attendant challenges
The construction of an interoceanic canal in Nicaragua, a longstanding controversy, has once again become a source of concern in recent years, in both the global shipping industry and the world at large. Since the canal was green-lighted by the Nicaraguan government, scientists and specialists have sharply criticized its potential to inflict lasting environmental and societal damage. The vocal doubts raised by many experts regarding the canal’s feasibility have resulted in several recent postponements of construction. Studies of the...
Featured
Interview: Docker 4.0 to be international and IT skilled
Genova - In the Port 4.0, that runs towards the automation of as many activities as possible, the work on the dock is not destined to become extinct, but rather to evolve. A path that however can not pass only through the transformation of processes, but rather from the training of workers. George Vaggelas, professor at the University of the Aegean and a partner of P & S Advisory, a consulting firm for some big port terminals, such as COSCO and DP World, is convinced of this. Which are, in short, the skills that the docker of the future...
Featured
The Analyst: a rethink on container storage
By Peter de Langen The recent announcement of a new container storage system, which according to the developers can triple terminal capacity, is interesting news. Container storage methods have changed little, if at all, over the last decades. But now a German industrial engineering group — an ‘outsider’ with no prior expertise in container storage systems — and DP World have jointly developed a system, similar to those in automated warehouses, to store and retrieve containers up to 11 stacks high. The value of such a...
Featured