European Port Policy
European Port Policy
European Port Policy
Transparency as practiced (or not) in port governance
The study reveals a need for increasing and differentiating the existing levels and standards of transparency in the governance of the port industry, and for greater consistency between ports within and across regions. The study concludes with a research agenda for future research. In their latest study, PortEconomics members Mary Brooks, Geraldine Knatz, Thanos Pallis and Gordon Wilmsmeier examine the concept of transparency as practised (or not) in ports. It explores the availability of information to the general public and port...
European Port Policy
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...
European Port Policy
Levels of global port integrity
The levels of port integrity around the globe and the development of a Global Port Integrity Platform has been the theme of an initiative that is currently developed by the Maritime Anti- Corruption Network (MACN), with the contribution of PortEconomics members Thanos Pallis, Gordon Wilmsmeier, Evie Kladaki and Luisa Fernanda Spaggiari Castro. The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) is a global business network working on several initiatives serving the vision of a maritime industry free of...
European Port Policy
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...
European Port Policy
Visibility and verifiability in port governance transparency
Transparency remains an under-analyzed topic in port research, and previous research has shown that port decision-making and governance reporting are inconsistent across countries. While transparency might be imposed through legislation or voluntarily adopted, effective transparency also includes (a) an organization’s willingness to consistently communicate and make transparent information available to internal or external stakeholders and (b) the stakeholder`s expectations on the visibility and verifiability of information. Ιn...
European Port Policy
National Integrated Maritime Policies: vision formulation, regional embeddedness
Integrated maritime policies (IMPs) provide a comprehensive governance framework to support the sustainable use of the seas and oceans while ensuring a horizon of prosperity for the population of the surrounding coastal regions. PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom along with Hubert Paridaens (Antwerp Maritime Academy), developed a study, published in the academic journal Sustainability, on how IMP governance can be arranged to support more effective policy integration. The authors identify and discuss a number of key strategic and...
European Port Policy
The Analyst: unconventional steps to combat crime?
Drug crime has been present in ports for centuries and is unlikely to ever go away, writes Peter de Langen. In some ports, like Rotterdam and Antwerp, much more attention has been given to drug crime recently. It is increasingly clear that workers in various activities, such as terminals, container depots and warehouses are vulnerable. Criminal groups actively try to get these workers to work for them. Given the huge ‘street value’ of drugs, the financial benefits for the workers are huge. Yet it does not stop there,...
European Port Policy
Future scenarios for maritime transport in Europe
The IV Strategic Plan of the Port of Barcelona, recently presented, includes a projection on the maritime traffic trends in Europe for 2040. PortEconomics member Peter de Langen partnered with the consulting firm blueFocus, analyze these trends two decades ahead to establish long-term traffic forecasts. Given the difficulties in making reliable forecasts, the scenario technique was used to predict this future. This is how the four scenarios arise in the IV Strategic Plan of the Port of Barcelona. The starting point of the maritime traffic...
European Port Policy