Cooperation between Sea Ports and Carriers in the Logistics Chain

Elena A Lezhnina,Yulia E Balykina

doi:10.3390/jmse9070774

Elena A Lezhnina, Yulia E Balykina

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9070774

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Abstract

In a modern economy, international trade is an important factor in the development of various regions. Shipping is one of the most important elements of the global supply chain. However, after the economic crisis of 2008, global shipping revenues plummeted. One way to restore profitability is the consolidation of shipping routes and the globalization of shipping lines. As container transport lines move to larger ships, the structure of the delivery route becomes a structure with intermediate points. This trend put forward higher demands on the port infrastructure, which aggravated the competition between regional ports, as well as ports that could degrade into a large cargo consolidation port. The economic advantage is enhanced by cooperation between shipping lines and ports. Thus, ports and shipping lines in the same supply chain can be mutually beneficial partners. The study analyses the effectiveness of horizontal and vertical cooperation between ports and carriers. As a source of information, a review of the literature on this issue, expert opinions, and statistical data is taken. Next, a mathematical model is built on the basis of cooperative game theory, and numerical analysis is carried out. The results show that the strategy of cooperation of shipping lines strongly depends on the situation with the supply and demand of vessels. A port that interacts with shipping lines will significantly reduce port charges, which creates the advantage of receiving more port requests. However, cooperation may lead to losses for the port, so a redistribution of profits is necessary to maintain the coalition.

Highlights

With the development of the world economy, international trade has become an important factor in the economic development of different regions
As a key element of the global trade chain, the shipping industry covers more than 80 percent of the world trade
Our goal is to demonstrate the benefits of cooperation and highlight the value of peripheral ports, many of which are on the verge of closure

Summary

Introduction

With the development of the world economy, international trade has become an important factor in the economic development of different regions. As a key element of the global trade chain, the shipping industry covers more than 80 percent of the world trade. After the global financial crisis of 2008, the shipping industry faced problems of overcapacity. By 2008 about 35–40% of container capacity was already excessive [1,2,3]. It has become common practice to consolidate sea routes and globalize shipping lanes. [3] discusses the cooperation of European seaports: the advantages, limitations, and development prospects

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