Innovative Container Terminals to Improve Global Container Transport Chains

Abstract

Due to globalization, the container traffic has been growing rapidly and it was observed that the transshipment activities of many major ports are increasing at a faster speed. One of the main reasons is due to the increasing vessel size and the preference of ocean liners in adopting the “hub-and-spoke” system. Connectivity plays an important role for these major ports to remain competitive in capturing transshipment markets. In this chapter, we propose novel performance indicators which can be used to measure the impact of connectivity from the network perspective. These indicators can be used for port benchmarking and also provide useful insights for port operators, such as who are their competitors, and how fragile they are in the competition. We also introduce yard management strategies which aim at improving land productivity while retaining the operational efficiency in transshipment ports. As there is a strong drive for sustainability to address issues such as land scarcity, labor shortage and using of green energy, there is a need for new and innovative concept for designing the port of the future. We have proposed an innovative double storey automated container port—Sustainable Integrated Next Generation Advanced Port (SINGAPort) in this regard.