PortEconomics members Geraldine Knatz, Theo Notteboom, and Thanos Pallis' latest portstudy identifies and analyzes the relative importance of the multi-faceted factors that drive the decision to automate container terminals and the realized benefits, thus establishing how accurately terminal operators predicted the benefits of automation.
The authors' empirical analysis relies on a survey-based approach and the input of senior representatives of terminal operating entities in charge of the fully and semi-automated container terminals. The...
By Ricarod J Sanchez
The world economy continues to show signs, sometimes contradictory, of both recovery and decline, which extend over time. Uncertainty and volatility have become part of normalcy because of a succession of crises.
The pandemic crisis was a human, social and economic scourge of enormous magnitude at a planetary level, and its effects have yet to disappear completely. Moreover, the health emergency was compounded by the intensity of climate phenomena -such as the recent droughts-, the growing geopolitical tensions,...
By Ricardo Sanchez
The following chart shows the evolution of Top-20 container ports between 2021 and 2022.
Sources: CSA and port authorities.
The top-20 sample is approximately 82% of the container ports activity in the Greater Caribbean, excluding Mexico. The year 2022 shows an extremely slight growth of the top 20 Caribbean ports regarding 2021 (just 0.2%), with some ports strongly increasing (Panama Caribbean, Kingston JA, Caucedo RD, Honduras and T&T) and others with soft to sharped declines. In 2022, the top 20 ports...
PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom compiled a list of the top 15 container ports in the European Union (EU) in 2022 based on the container throughput in TEU and analyses the findings.
"While the ranking of the top 15 container ports in the European Union (EU) in 2022 based on the container throughput in TEU might be a mere distraction from other major port-related themes such as sustainability, energy transition, and supply chain resilience, the table provides more insight on the EU container port landscape:
The...
By George Vaggelas and Thanos Pallis
Τhe recent released data regarding the container throughput at the biggest Greek port, showed a decrease in the container volumes by almost 2,7% mainly due to the global economic environment. In many countries the trade has been severely impacted by the economic conditions which are characterized by increased inflation, reduction in consumption and disturbance in the supply-demand relationship.
Despite the economic environment and the reduction in the container throughput, the port of Piraeus...
In his latest port study, PortEconomics co-director Peter de Langen advances a conceptual understanding of strategies of port development companies (PDCs) by applying the business ecosystem perspective.
Peter's analysis. which is published in the scholarly journal Maritime Transport Research, leads to a distinction between four stylized strategies for PDCs and associated types of services: minimalist (six services), integrator (six services), and ecosystem services (six services).
An analysis of the services provided by a PDC reveals...
The preliminary results of an ongoing study by PortEconomics members Thanos Pallis and George Vaggelas on the "Assessment of the Socio-Economic Impact of the Cruise for Thessaloniki" were presented during the 7th Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum that was held in Thessaloniki, Greece, 25-26 April 2023.
Developed for the Thessaloniki Port Organisation and the Thessaloniki Tourism Organisation, the research, which started in November 2022 and is expected to be completed in October 2023, investigates the economic impact of the cruise activity both in...
Based on earlier exploratory research, PortEconomics members Elvira Haezendonck, Michael Dooms, and Peter de Langen, P. join Lynn Faut and Fanny Soyeur, in a port study on how best to ensure a circular strategy implementation by world ports.
The study recently published in the Journal of Maritime Transport Research focuses on developing a comprehensive set of relevant and feasible circular economy (CE) indicators to support port managing bodies (PMBs) and port stakeholders in monitoring the ongoing CE transition. Through...
The latest IAPH World Port Tracker reports lower congestion and call size reductions with modest average port productivity gains in some regions; investments move ahead in infrastructure, new land use and sustainability projects; resurgence in cruise and ferry passenger volumes continues at pace.
The International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) has just published its latest World Ports Tracker Report exclusively for its members and respondents, which combines confidential survey-based data collection on the container, bulk,...
The prioritization of alternative energy sources for sustainable shipping is the theme of the latest study by PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom – along with Ziaul Haque Munim, Mojahid Chowdhury and Hasan Mahbub Tusher.
The research assesses seven energy sources for shipping with a view to ranking their prospects based on sustainability as well as identifying the energy transition criteria. Data were collected from maritime industry experts, including seafarers, shipping company executives, government representatives,...