Thematic Area
Thematic Area
Thematic Area
What makes a competitive hub in a interconnected world?
An introductory presentation on the theme "What makes a competitive hub?" gave PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom during the World Ports Conference of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) which was held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 8 to 11 May 2018. Theo moderated also the panel debate on the same theme during of which panelists shared experiences from Panama, Djibouti, Trieste and Dubai as well as the EU on how to develop successful logistics hubs. Guimara Tuñón Guerra, Gilles Bergot, Michael Proffitt, Zeno...
Thematic Area
Environmental differentiated port pricing: the case of the Hamburg-Le Havre range
Contested industries have fallen under increased scrutiny of the public eye when it comes to their environmental performance. In particular the transport industry is still considered as a large polluter. Therefore, stakeholders put pressure on the industry to work on their environmental footprint. Shippers assess whether their supply chain as a whole can be increasingly ‘greened’, given increasing environmental awareness from both customers (in B2B settings) and consumers (in B2C settings). Ports, as important nodes in transport...
Thematic Area
Port cooperation in the North Adriatic ports
Recent trends in port development show that ports are making increasing efforts to forge mutually beneficial cooperation strategies, particularly ports sharing a common hinterland. PortEconomics co-director Peter de Langen co-authored with Kristijan Stamatović and Aleš Groznik (University of Ljubljana) an analysis of the North Adriatic ports (Koper, Rijeka, Trieste and Venice) with a focus on two related themes. First, the complementarity of the North Adriatic (NA) ports in the container market is analysed based on port vessel service...
Thematic Area
Green port certification: the need for more collaboration
PortEconomics.eu member Michaël Dooms was invited as one of the keynote speakers and panellists at the annual international workshop on Green Port Certification at the APEC Port Services Network (APSN) held in Beijing on 17th and 18th of April 17thand 18th. APSN has been running a Green Port Award System since 2016 aiming at enhancing the green profile of ports in the Asia-Pacific region. Michaël shared his experience as one of the independent evaluators following the 2 years of existence of the GPAS system. About 100 port stakeholders from...
Thematic Area
Public shareholders in government owned port development companies: insights from the Dutch case
Ηow public interests in seaports can be secured in the corporatized model? This corporatized model, in which port authorities engage in port development on a commercial basis, is increasingly used. PortEconomics members Peter de Langen and Larissa van der Lugt discuss in detail an important question that so far has not received attention in the literature on port governance: how can the public shareholders use their influence as shareholders of port authorities to achieve public policy goals. In their latest port study published in the...
Thematic Area
Details of a port privatisation: Thessaloniki port
By George Vaggelas and Thanos Pallis The port is Thessaloniki in Greece. The date is March 2018. A long port privatization process that lasted almost 13 (!!) years is finally concluded, with the Greek state handing 67% of the shares of the Thessaloniki Port Authority S.A. to the new owners of the port, the South Europe Gateway Thessaloniki (SEGT) Ltd. This transaction is the outcome of an international call by the Greek government, that was initiated in 2014 and the winning of the tender by SEGT; the other two binding bids for a majority...
Thematic Area
PortGraphic: Top-15 countries with the highest container handling density
By Theo Notteboom The graph shows the annual container volume handled by a country’s port system per km of coastline. Belgium takes the no. 1 spot closely followed by Singapore. The list contains some other smaller nations with big container ports such as the Netherlands and Malta. The Belgian case is a bit special given that the nautical access via the river Scheldt to Antwerp (no. 2 container port in Europe) for a large part runs over Dutch territory. But even if we take Antwerp’s volume out, Belgium still makes it to the top 5...
Thematic Area
Cruise ports need to upscale their representation by subscribing to the WPSP
By Thanos Pallis The launching of the World Ports Sustainability Programme (WPSP) by the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH), the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), AIVP – The Worldwide Network of Port Cities (AIVP) and the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) in March is a major step towards a responsible growth of the port industry. It is a most welcomed initiative by all of us serving ports and the maritime world. WPSP aims to...
Thematic Area