Thematic Area

July 15th, 2016
Thematic Area

By Α.Α. Pallis and A.Α. Papachristou Mediterranean cruise ports have gone a long way in measuring the perspectives of their users. Our PortGraphic details a survey of 71 cruise ports in the Med and its adjoining seas, the second biggest cruise region of the world. The PortGraphic reveals that the measurement of users’ satisfaction has turn to a standard practice for most cruise ports. Eight out of 10 cruise ports conduct regular users’ satisfaction surveys. 56% of them receive feedback from the passengers, 71% from the cruise...
July 5th, 2016
Thematic Area

Port system development is a key theme in port geography literature. Recent decades have brought a rise in container terminal development at estuarine, coastal and offshore port locations, in part driven by scale increases in vessel size. The latest port study of PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom examines how container ports located upstream on rivers use processes of adaptive capacity building in an attempt to remain competitive in port systems. Theo links the development path of upstream seaports to a range of economic,...
July 4th, 2016
Thematic Area

The aspirations of the cruise companies and how they are shapping the challenges that cruise ports are facing today was the key issue addressed by PortEconomics member George Vaggelas during the presentation titled "Cruise ports and sustainability – Contemporary issues". Cruise ships gigantism, port-city relations, cruise port efficiency and investments in cruise ports along with the cruise port user’s satisfaction are among the top challenges. How these challenges are connected with cruise ports sustainability issues was also a...
June 28th, 2016
Thematic Area

By Jean-Paul Rodrigue An updated graph (below) on the evolution of containerships with more detailed ship profiles and a more revealing depiction of the number of containers they can load is available in The Geography of Transport Systems webpage. Since the beginning of containerization in the mid 1950s, containerships undertook six general waves of changes, each representing new generations of containership: A) Early containerships. The first generation of containerships was composed of modified bulk vessels or tankers that...
June 22nd, 2016
Thematic Area

By Jean-Paul Rodrigue and Theo Notteboom Shifting Rationale The interoceanic canals of the global shipping network are undergoing a major upgrading. One year after the expansion of the Suez Canal aimed at facilitating two-way vessel traffic, we are witnessing the opening of a new and larger set of locks at the Panama Canal. The new locks are designed to allow the transfer of ships with a length of up to 366m, a width of 49m and a draft of 15.2m. These New Panamax dimensions are 25% longer, 52% wider and support a draft which is 26% deeper...
June 10th, 2016
Thematic Area

How the One-belt-one-road (OBOR) policy might affect european port-hinterland dynamics? In 2013 Xi Jinping embarked in a strategy to “break the connectivity bottleneck” in Asia.  60 countries are already involved, with this policy impacting 4.4 billion people.  In March 2015, the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiatives action plan was detailed. PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom addressed the theme during his invited presentation gave at the ESPO Conference 2016, held in 2-3 June in Dublin, Ireland. Theo also...
June 6th, 2016
Thematic Area

The evolution of clusters in modern ports, and the interrelated wave of port devolution in the 1990s, led to a redefinition of the role of each actor involved, including that of port authorities (PAs). The latter have been transformed to hybrid organisations, mostly disassociated from operational activities and port services provision, yet maintaining a key role as the managing bodies advancing the prospects of the port they manage and these of the respective clusters. Marketing is among the functions working towards this end. PortEconomics...
June 2nd, 2016
Thematic Area

With total throughput 6.36 million tonnes of dry bulk cargo, 3.98 million TEUs, 28.23 million coastal passengers and 2.07 cruise passengers in 2014, Greek ports are important actors in local, national and regional level. In 2014, their turnover exceeded the €326 million. GREPORT 2016, the Report on Greek Ports  by PortEconomics members Thanos Pallis and George Vaggelas is the first comprehensive record and analysis of the developments of the Greek port industry over the last decade. The port study, published by Port &...
June 1st, 2016
Thematic Area

By Theo Notteboom Alliances are about operational vessel-sharing co-operation between container shipping companies on multiple trade routes (mostly east-west). The first strategic alliances between shipping lines date back to the mid-1990s, a period that coincided with the introduction of the first post-Panamax containers vessels on the Europe-Far East trade. The alliance partnerships evolved as a result of mergers and acquisitions (e.g. merger between P&OCL and Nedlloyd and the take-overs by P&O Nedlloyd and SeaLand by...
May 20th, 2016
Thematic Area

The movement of cargo in containers in Latin American and Caribbean ports grew 1.7% during 2015, according to figures unveiled in ECLAC’s new edition of its ranking of container port throughput, published in its Maritime Profile. These figures confirm two trends observed during the last years in the region: the slowdown of foreign trade shown by container terminals and great heterogeneity of the growth rates inside the region. Regional average of 1.7% container throughput growth, although still higher than the rate recorded in 2014...
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