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Revisiting port system delineation through an analysis of maritime interdependencies among seaports
A port system is a system of two or more ports, located in proximity within a given area. In literature, various geographical and functional scales have been identified ranging from complete coastlines to the notions of a ‘range’ and a ‘multi-port gateway region’. Not only does the spatial scale create confusion on the true functional delineation of port systems, but it also complicates a clear understanding of the relational mechanisms at stake within these port systems. This latest portstudy of PortEconomics members Theo Notteboom...
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Greek ports: Connectivity upgrades their role in international maritime trade
by Thanos Pallis & George Vaggelas Greek ports experience eventful times. While they have successfully managed to sustain operations in conditions of lockdowns and covid-related restrictions, the pandemic outbreak has been followed by severe disruptions and changes in maritime supply chains. Lines shipping itineraries and models for serving the global economy are revisited generating prospects and challenges. Private operators and owners of the two major Greek ports, Piraeus and Thessaloniki, and public authorities...
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Top 15 container ports in the European Union in 2021
Port performance measurement covers a wide array of key performance indicators (KPIs) related to supply chain performance, productivity, connectivity, sustainability/energy transition, corporate social responsibility (CSR), financial performance, customer satisfaction, innovation and economic impact. Still, it remains relevant to observe how cargo volumes have evolved over time, as cargo flows and related activities remain the bread and butter of many managing bodies of ports. Herewith we summarise the trends in container throughput in...
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Chinese investment in overseas container terminals: The role of investor attributes in achieving a higher port competitiveness
Chinese enterprises have invested in more than 100 overseas ports globally in the past two decades, but their contribution to the local terminal's competitiveness remains unclear. Differing from the existing qualitative geopolitical interpretation of China-labeled port projects, this study empirically investigates how investor attributes with Chinese characteristics affect the throughput evolution and market shares of the respective container terminals. PortEconomics member Theo Notteboom, along with Dong Yang, and Lu Li, focus in...
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Strategic locations for global logistics distribution centres along the Belt and Road
Since the inception of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, the associated infrastructure and transport and economic corridor developments have been widely addressed in the research field of transportation, logistics and supply chain management. Such developments open windows of opportunity for accommodating trade flows in new or upgraded intermediate hub nodes and gateway locations along the BRI corridors. In the latest port study, PortEconomics member Theo Notteboom joins Paul Tae-Woo Lee, Zhi-Hua Hu, and Sangjeong Lee, and...
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PortGraphic: top15 container ports in the European Union in Q1-Q3 2021
By Theo Notteboom The vast majority of top 15 ports recorded container volume losses in 2020 The table shows the container throughput in TEU for the first nine months of 2021 in the top 15 containers ports in the European Union, the year-on-year growth figures for 2020 and 2009, and overall TEU growth between pre-crisis year 2007 and 2020. While the Coronavirus emerged in China in December 2019, its impact on European ports only started to be visible in March 2020. The top 15 EU ports combined handled 74.3 million TEU in 2020. Almost all top...
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Effects of distance on the network topology of the global container shipping network
Like many communication systems, maritime networks are embedded in space. But the effects of spatial properties on the network itself have not been deeply examined in previous research. Gravitational properties affect international trade, as well as container shipping flows in general, as distance represents spatial friction to exchange; yet the ability of the network and of specific nodes and links to operating at different geographic ranges of connectivity remains unknown. The latest port study of PortEconomic member Cesar Ducruet...
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Carriers investments in container terminals destined to alter calls schedule
Carriers announcements that they have acquired stakes in container terminal operations in North Europe, bring to the attention a port study that clearly demonstrates in a quantitative manner that ports have a much higher chance of receiving vessel calls of an alliance when one or more alliance members are having a terminal stake in the port. Big news from German ports in the last weeks. The first changes were noted in Hamburg as Cosco has undertaken a strategic investment to receive a 35% minority share in the Tollerort terminal operated...
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