Mersin Körfezindeki Liman ve Kıyı Tesislerinde Pandeminin Etkisi ve İstatistiksel Analizi

Abstract

The biggest impact of the pandemic, which started at the beginning of 2020, was seen on logistics and supply chains. Ports are one of the most important nodes of the logistics and supply chain. In this study, Mersin International Port and other coastal port facilities which are in the East-Mediterranean were evaluated on a scope of data between 2013 and 2021. By using the regression analysis method for Mersin port, freight demand forecasts were made for the pandemic period 2020-2021. The impact of the pandemic was evaluated by comparing the freight demand forecasts made for the years 2020-2021 with the actual figures. In the regression analysis, the number of ships arriving at the port (V) was determined as the independent variable, the annual container (TEU - Twenty Equivalent Container Unit) handled at the port and the annual total cargo handled (MT – Metric Tonnes) were determined as the dependent variables. The impact of the pandemic on Mersin International Port was evaluated by comparing the estimated values for the years 2020-2021 with the actual data. As a result, when the port and coastal facilities in Mersin Bay were evaluated over V, MT and TEU parameters, it showed that the pandemic process did not have a statistically significant effect. On the contrary, it has been observed that the freight mobility in Mersin port has increased, the number of ships arriving at the port has decreased especially with the berthing of larger ships, but more TEU and total cargo have been handled as the tonnage of the incoming ships has increased.