Maritime transport governance challenges in the Global South

Abstract

The majority of problems in managing maritime transport originate from fragmented governance. The practice of coordinating decisions across different ports or between port and hinterland can pose a significant challenge in many countries. A related issue is that suggestions for maritime transport governance in the current literature are less clearly focused on the Global South. The present study aimed to identify challenges in improving the governance of maritime transport systems. This paper presents a case study focused on Indonesia to serve as an example from the Global South. We conducted a content analysis of policy and implementation documents to paint a comprehensive picture of contemporary governance practices and the challenges encountered in maritime transport. Here, maritime transport is defined as a system that consists of three main subsystems: port-to-port, within-port, and port-to-hinterland connectivity. Our study illustrates that the same maritime transportation system in the Global South can have different governance patterns with different strengths and weaknesses. We point to the importance for transportation planners and policy makers in the Global South to be aware that fragmentation must be understood in view of these interrelated subsystems, but also that coordination requires a focus on practicalities and thus that less-comprehensive forms of integration may well be legitimate in policy formulation. In improving maritime transport systems, transportation planners and policymakers in the Global South must be aware of the challenge that changes in one sub-system will define other sub-systems while no universal one-fits-all solution for the whole system exists.