Assessing port readiness for mega vessels: the case of largest terminal seaports

Abstract

ABSTRACT As a result of global developments, seaports must be fully equipped for the forthcoming period following years of continual improvement of vessel characteristics and capacity and recognition of significant global trade changes and challenges. Port management, transportation agencies, and even countries recognise the critical nature of assessing port readiness for mega vessels to take necessary actions and prepare for the next level of global competition. As such, this study aims to address terminal port readiness for mega vessels by applying multi-criteria decision-making methods. The Delphi technique was used as the first step in identifying the relevant factors and measures. Next, those related factors were quantified and ranked using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique. Following that, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used to evaluate port data and develop readiness indexes for the largest one hundred terminal ports worldwide. While the anticipated mega savings in transportation costs and economies of scale are significant, this study demonstrates that mega vessels present several challenges in port operations, infrastructure, sustainability, and system requirements.