Thematic Area
Thematic Area
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
Geography and institutional change: insights from a container terminal operator
The relationship between space and institutional change by studying the evolution and development of Hongkong International Terminals (HIT), a Hong Kong-based firm with a highly-established institutional system, in the early 1990s is the theme of the latest port study of PortEconomics member Adolf Ng co authored with Kenneth Wong, K. (Hutchison Port Holdings Limited, Hong Kong, China), Eva C. Shou (Independent Business Professional, Hong Kong, China) and Changmin Jiang (University of Manitoba). The port study investigates how HIT has...
Thematic Area
PortGraphic: european container port traffic gains and losses, 2007-2017
By Theo Notteboom The portgraphic shows the changes in container throughput in European ports between pre-crisis year 2007 and last year. We use absolute growth figures in TEU. The total container throughput in the entire European container port system increased by some 17 million TEU between 2007 and 2017, but not all ports saw traffic gains. Hamburg's volume in 2017 was still 1.07 million TEU below the 2007 volume. Among the losers, we also find Med hubs such as Gioia Tauro and north European ports that were hit hard by the rather recent...
Thematic Area
The Analyst: battle of hinterland expansion
By Peter de Langen Many port development companies, including port authorities, develop commercial strategies which guide their commercial and investment activities. One common ambition in those strategies is the aim to expand the hinterland The Port of Algeciras aims to serve the Madrid metro area, where Valencia is currently dominant; Rotterdam and Antwerp aim to improve competitiveness in Bavaria, where German ports, especially Hamburg, are dominant; and various US East Coast ports aim to expand their hinterland to destinations such...
Thematic Area
¿Quo vadis América Latina?: the triple "E"-evolution, strategies & expectations (in Spanish)
¿Quo vadis América Latina? by Gordon Wilmsmeier El sector marítimo y portuario está experimentando cambios profundos en su organización (concentración de la oferta, alianzas estratégicas, integración vertical entre operadores de terminales y navieras) y tecnología (mayor oferta de capacidad de buques y puertos, automatización y electrificación de terminales portuarias, mayor eficiencia en propulsión de buques, etc.). Estos cambios son globales y ya han comenzado a llegar a nuestra región. ¿Los actores públicos,...
Thematic Area
Supply chain automation: mind your (shipping) business
By Jean-Paul Rodrigue Before going into the specifics about the potential impacts of automation of maritime shipping, it is important to underline that although automation can be solely considered at the port terminal level, it also takes place across entire supply chains. The fourth industrial revolution: The big picture of value chains Actors usually optimize the systems they can control and benefit from, but a common mistake is not to consider the larger impacts of the technologies they are using, both upstream and downstream...
Thematic Area