Thematic Area
Thematic Area
Thematic Area
Shipping technologies: from wind to coal … and breakbulk to containers
by Cesar Ducreat Our recurrent focus on the present and future of containerization makes us forget older revolutions such as the sail to steam transition in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Are such revolutions comparable with each other? Do they obey similar mechanisms, in terms of spatio-temporal diffusion, port competition, and hierarchical dynamics, shipping network reorganization? Research on this is only at its eve. Our most recent research provides preliminary results using the archival corpus of the...
Thematic Area
Cruise shipping supply chains and the impacts of disruptions: the Caribbean
Cruise shipping supply chains have unique characteristics where product and service providers accommodate stringent requirements related to the nature of the cruise product. Since cruise ships are floating resorts that must be resupplied during their short port rotations, they require customized procurement practices. The sustainability of such practices is investigated by PortEconomics members Jean-Paul Rodrigue and Grace Wang, through the lenses of contract dynamics among actors, including sourcing patterns, consumption patterns, pricing,...
Thematic Area
Port management and governance in a post‐COVID‐19 era: quo vadis?
In a port study on port management and governance, that is published as an editorial in the scholarly journal Maritime Economics and Logistics (MEL), PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom and Hercules Haralambides provide a critical assessment of some of the key issues and themes in port governance research, attempting at the same time, to propose new avenues for further port research in a post-COVID-19 era. As the authors state, "Port management governance is continuously challenged to adapt to a changing port...
Thematic Area
UN-ECLAC port report reveals effects of COVID-19 on Latin American and Caribbean ports
By Ricardo J. Sánchez & Eliana P. Barleta The throughput of containerized cargo in Latin American and Caribbean ports remained static in 2019, registering an increase of only 0.04% compared to the previous year, according to the Port Report launched today by ECLAC. The sample covers 36 countries and territories, with a total of 125 ports and port areas in the region. The total volume transferred in 2019 exceeded 54.2 million TEU, representing 6.5% of the total global throughput, The total volume transferred in 2019 exceeded 54.2...
Thematic Area
Digital technologies and business opportunities for logistics centres in maritime supply chains
The latest port study of PortEconomics members Francesco Parola and Giovanni Satta, co-authored by Nicoletta Buratti and Francesco Vitellaro (University of Genoa) investigates how the adoption of emerging digital technologies can provide valuable business opportunities for logistics centres in maritime supply chains. For this purpose, a systematic literature review (SLR) of prior academic studies addressing this topic is performed. The review unveils the current lack of a comprehensive framework to assess the impact of digital technologies...
Thematic Area
Top 15 container ports in Europe in the first half of 2020
While the Coronavirus emerged in China in December 2019, its impact on European ports only started to be visible in March 2020 . The table shows the container throughput for H1 2020 in the top 15 container ports in Europe. Note that the figures for Hamburg and Gioia Tauro relate to Q1 2020 (H1 2020 figures are expected to be lower), while the figures for Gdansk and Bremerhaven only cover the first five months of 2020. Antwerp is the only large gateway port in Europe which was able to reach a volume level comparable to last year The port of...
Thematic Area
Key Performance Indicators for measuring energy efficiency in port terminals
The port industry as an energy-intensive sector, generating negative externalities and environmental impacts in several areas, e.g., air emissions, water emissions, etc. (Bailey and Solomon, 2004; Dinwoodie el at., 2012). magnitude of highly impacting business processes/activities embedded in port spaces variety of economic actors located within/around port boundaries. These arguments are urging for the adoption of innovative green strategies for the reduction of energy consumptions, making energy management more efficient (Acciaro, 2015). The...
Thematic Area
Eleventh bi-weekly issue of IAPH-WPSP Port Economic impact barometer confirms overall improvements
The eleventh and final bi-weekly version of the IAPH-WPSP Port Economic Impact Barometer has just been published, showing progressive improvement in three of the four survey questions asked to the world’s ports. Active since April 6 2020 on a weekly basis and then bi-weekly as of mid-May, co-authors Professor Theo Notteboom and Professor Thanos Pallis are working on a more comprehensive report to be published in September 2020. This summary report will provide a detailed analysis of the trends observed from the survey weeks 15 to 29....
Thematic Area