Exploring seaport - dry ports dyadic integration to meet the increase in container vessels size

Abstract

This paper explores the implications of vessel enlargement on seaport competitiveness and investigates the dyadic integration between seaports and dry ports to address drastic vessel size acceleration in the Malaysian seaport system. Therefore, this paper aims to reveal the seaport/dry port dyadic relationship to improve seaport competitiveness in light of the increase in vessel size in the arena of global trade. To achieve this aim, mixed methods were applied by conducting qualitative and quantitative approaches concurrently. The outcome of this paper indicates that vessel enlargement has caused several problems in seaports including reduction in operational efficiency, congestion, limited capacity and infrastructure support, outdated policies for existing seaport development, urgent needs for additional investment in spatial development, as well as requirements for new structure in manpower training. Furthermore, the integration of dry ports in the seaport system to deal with vessel size enlargement is expected to improve seaport accessibility through improved infrastructure and service quality as well as increased capacity and efficiency.