Thematic Area
Thematic Area
Thematic Area
Port and hinterland: the impact of containerisation
The traditional notion of hinterland refers to the inland economic area influenced by the ports. In other words, hinterland represents the set of points of origin/destination of cargo flows, which pass through the port and generates the majority of its business. Following logistics and market transformations, the concept of hinterland has become rather dynamic and the traditional static approach may be misleading. In particular, it appears rather complex to identify hinterland’s boundaries due to the influence of drivers that are constantly...
Thematic Area
Underground logistics systems to cope with internal container traffic in the port of Antwerp?
In the past few days, various media sources reported that the Boring Company, which Elon Musk founded five years ago, has developed a tunnel concept with single or double lane configurations for the transport of containers using battery-powered freight vehicles. The idea of using above-ground or underground tunnel or pipeline-like systems to transport units, such as containers, is not new. Since the 1990s, many projects have looked into similar unit transport systems, particularly in Japan and northwest Europe. Ports have been on the...
Thematic Area
Convergence and growth traps in container ports
PortEconomics members Pierre Cariou and Jason Monios, along with their colleagues Gabriel Figueiredo de Oliveira, and Alexandra Schaffar (LEAD, University of Toulon, France) tested the existence of a middle-rank growth trap in the container port market. Their portstudy- published in the Transport Policy (Volume 110)- adopts an original perspective to study the dynamics of port hierarchies by applying different rank-size models, a Markov chain approach and transition modelling to a dataset featuring the annual traffic of 222 container...
Thematic Area
IAPH-WPSP Port Economic Impact Barometer One Year Report makes way for new IAPH Global Port Tracker
The IAPH-WPSP Port Economic Impact Barometer One Year Report, prepared by PortEconomics co-directors Theo Notteboom and Thanos Pallis has been published by IAPH. This survey-based analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on ports in the period April 2020 to April 2021 is the only report of its kind to truly reflect what has actually happened at these global cargo and passenger maritime hubs since the global outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020. The report brings together the results of all survey rounds conducted covering the...
Thematic Area
Encyclopedia: Cruise industry
PortEconomics members Thanos Pallis and Aimilia Papachristou contribute to the International Encyclopedia of Transportation with a chapter in Cruise Industry. Their chapter details the key features of modern cruise shipping, a maritime activity of continuous growth for more than three decades. Following a definition of modern cruising and a presentation of the levels of its uninterrupted and, seemingly, unstoppable growth and globalisation, it analysis the most vital trends in cruise, including the modern geography of cruise shipping, the...
Thematic Area
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,...
Thematic Area
Quay, yard & intra-terminal transfer equipment
The latest portstudy of PortEconomics member Theo Notteboom jointly developed with Mei Sha, Tao Zhang, Xin Zhou and Tianbao Qin (Shanghai Maritime University) presents a generic simulation model to determine the equipment mix (quay, yard and intra-terminal transfer) for a Container Terminal Logistics Operations System (CTLOS). The simulation model for the CTLOS, a typical type of discrete event dynamic system (DEDS), consists of three sub-models: ship queue, loading-unloading operations and yard-gate operations. The simulation model is...
Thematic Area
Venice move a reminder that going green is key for cruising
The Italian government has announced that cruise ships will no longer be allowed to sail near the historic center of Venice. Large passenger boats must now dock at the city's mainland industrial port at Marghera, in a move made to "protect a historical and cultural heritage not only of Italy but of the whole world". Like any other economic activity, is also associated with externalities raising social, economic, and environmental questions and challenges for cruise port and the surrounding areas. PortEconomics members Thanos...
Thematic Area