The impact of import container flow characteristics on port operational efficiency

With the emergence of global markets, the efficiency of port operations has become a decisive factor for the economy and quality of global supply chains. After decades of streamlining terminal operations, ports still experience process and coordination problems due to a lack of information exchange and decision support. To improve the overall efficiency and quality of port operations, innovative information systems for gathering and processing operational data based on identification, sensing and mobile technologies are required to enhance the visibility of operations in information systems. A port-centric information system also requires the integration of external systems, such as traffic control systems, to further consider external factors. In this paper, we present a cloud-based system architecture for the real-time collection, management, and utilization of operational data with a particular focus on inter-terminal transportation. The proposed system architecture is based on widely adopted standards and utilizes the cost-effectiveness and scalability of a cloud computing infrastructure for processing large amounts of operational data. The information system lowers the bounded rationality of actors providing information and decision support as a service to the port community and other stakeholders. As such, this paper is intended to provide a conceptual view on a system for enhancing the management of real-time data to better manage traffic flows and transport modes, enhance the coordination between intra-terminal and inter-terminal/landside operations, and reduce empty handling processes.Keywordsport operationsinter-terminal transportationRFIDWSNwireless sensor networkscloud computinginformation exchangereal- time datadecision support

Supply Chain Management is a very convoluted network that transports the material or product to the end users. The products are distributed through different channels. Ports integrate the supply chains with the consumption market and production market globally and regionally. Also port being an intermediary for supply chain network, the efficiency of port operation has a great influence on the movement of cargo. Port operational indices like average turnaround time of the vessel, average pre-berthing detention and average output per ship berth day have an impact on supply chain network design. The author makes an attempt to find out the most efficient port, among the major ports, based on the above indices, while keeping other indices as constant. The most efficient port may have a competitive advantage over other ports and could be a preferred port in the supply chain network.

Purpose Going beyond the usual approach of measuring port performance – focusing on the efficiency of port operations – this paper aims to look into shipping lines and other port users’ perceptions on port performance. Design/methodology/approach The paper develops a framework measuring the perceptions of port users (i.e. shipping companies, shippers, etc.) on port performance. A typology of elements that shape port users’ perceptions has been developed with an eye on capturing the peculiarities of different port markets. Based on this typology, a tool to assess users’ perspectives, and subsequently evaluate, any given port has been developed. The tool provides port authorities the flexibility they need for customized approaches. The developed evaluation mechanism has been tested on a group of European seaports, and the results are presented by this study. Findings The framework and its pilot application unveil the key parameters that port users take into consideration when evaluating the effectiveness component of port performance. Moreover, the importance and evaluation ratings of specific performance parameters allow for a GAP analysis of the collected data. Research limitations/implications The paper advances scholarly and practical discussion on how of port users’ perceptions can be a valuable tool for port performance measurement. Practical implications The proposed tool can be a valuable add-on for port authorities to evaluate their performance from the port users’ point of view and take the necessary actions to improve it. Also, the tool can be used for the evaluation of a new process, infrastructure. The evaluation of port users’ perception of port performance can and must be part of a European ports observatory, as it is a set of indicators that clearly reflects the satisfaction of port users by engaging their view on port performance issues, instead of relying almost exclusively on port-generated data. Originality/value The paper develops a framework for measuring port user’s perception on port performance, which is flexible and can be applied in any port.

Purpose: This study derives the factors necessary for the Pohang Yeongilman Port to secure competitiveness as a small or medium-sized port.
 Research design, data, and methodology: By conducting AHP and IPA, the model from this study sets the top factors in four areas: specialized port development, port operation efficiency, port hinterland development and strengthening of connections, and activation of marine tourism and water-friendly functions.
 Results: Among the top factors, specialized port development was identified as the most important, and results were derived in the following order: development and strengthening of the port hinterland, port operational efficiency, and activation of marine tourism and waterfriendly functions.
 Conclusions: All Pohang Yeongilman Port stakeholders recognize the important factors for port development, but perceive low satisfaction with performance.

Typhoons pose significant threats to harbors and coastal infrastructures through intense waves that can cause direct damage. Even typhoons located at a distance can generate swells that propagate into harbors, leading to harbor oscillations. Such oscillations cause moored ship motions with consequences for the operational downtime of dock operation. This study focuses on an offshore liquefied natural gas port in the southwestern Taiwan, Yongan Harbor, completed in 1990. Since its completion, the harbor has faced typhoon-generated swells, induced long-period wave oscillations and overtopping, thereby compromising dock operation safety. To mitigate this problem, additional breakwaters were constructed in 2005 to narrow the harbor entrance for better protection. However, instead of improving harbor tranquility, this modification unexpectedly prolonged wave oscillations and amplified wave amplitudes, as reported by longshoremen, though no field data available to confirm this phenomenon. To investigate the wave characteristics, a wave-resolving model is applied to simulate the spatial distribution of swells and infragravity waves before and after the harbor modifications. The model results indicated that waves concentrated energy along the breakwater walls and corners, intensifying harbor oscillations and affecting the safety and efficiency of port operations. Further simulations of typhoon-induced swells revealed that the primary oscillation periods within the harbor remained unchanged before and after the new constructions. However, the post-construction harbor configuration amplified the energy of these wave periods within the harbor. This amplification shows that while the harbor modifications aimed to enhance protection, they inadvertently intensified specific natural resonance periods, leading to increased oscillation durations. The findings highlight the importance of comprehensive wave hydrodynamics in harbor design and modification. It is crucial to consider not only the immediate protective benefits to narrow the harbor entrance but also their potential to alter wave patterns within the harbor. Future harbor designs should integrate advanced simulation models to predict and mitigate adverse oscillation effects, ensuring dock safety and operational efficiency.

Short-sea ports in Korea are classified as national or local according to their management and operation entities. Korea has 29 ports, of which 11 are nationally managed and 18 are locally managed. Meanwhile, according to Korea’s Harbor Act, short-sea ports are designed to support the promotion of benefits such as handling cargo required for local industries, transportation of passengers, and revitalization of tourism. However, even though they are designated as short-sea ports, there are cases in which the initial designation purpose was not achieved because of the minor traffic volume and number of passengers. Consequently, this study evaluated the operational efficiency of 29 Korean short-sea ports employing the data envelopment analysis (DEA) and presented the operational efficiency of 29 short-sea ports. Moreover, the study measured the correlation between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the port operation efficiency of 29 Korean short-sea ports. The analysis results of this study are as follows: First, the correlation between port-operation efficiency and sulfur dioxide was −0.41707. Second, the correlation between efficiency and carbon monoxide was −0.39952. Third, the correlation between efficiency and nitrogen dioxide was −0.30888. In summary, this study concludes that the higher the port-operational efficiency, the lower the GHG emissions. Improving the operational efficiency of ports can reduce GHG emissions, which can positively (+) affect port sustainability.

The objective of this paper is to identify the causes and impact of port/harbor accident on operational performance at Tin Can Island, Lagos, Nigeria using appropriate standard methods to obtain primary and secondary data from reliable sources by distributing 80 questionnaires. Data obtained show that the major causes of accident include; over capacity usage, failure to consider dangerous goods’ separation and coordination deficiency by management. The study's findings indicate that, based on the survey data that was collected and the testing of each listed hypotheses, all of the hypotheses were found to be significant, this relationship can be seen in the ANOVA table where the significance value of the F statistics is greater than 0.05 which means the variation explained by the model is due to chance. It was recommended that seaports should regulatory bodies and port operators should enforce safety regulations and provide adequate training and safety measures to prevent accidents and improve the safety and efficiency of port operations.

The article aims to define and analyze modern management models of seaports. As a result of the conducted research, it was determined that the management model of a seaport is a concept that defines the features of managing port operations, infrastructure, and services. The analysis of contemporary scientific developments allows for the identification of several key management models, each of which has its own characteristics and specific application in the context of ensuring the stability and efficiency of port operations, especially in large and complex port complexes. The study concludes that the classical model is focused on a clear hierarchy and division of responsibilities among participants in port operations. The systems model views the port as a complex system in which elements are interconnected and interact with each other. The process model focuses on the interaction of various processes within the port, which allows for more efficient management of operations. However, its implementation requires clear organization and continuous monitoring of processes to prevent potential delays or disruptions. The situational model allows for the adaptation of management practices and decision-making based on specific conditions.

Maritime transport is the operation of moving goods from one place to another by sea. It takes into account the loading and unloading of containers in ports. Once the vessels arrived at the quayside, they are unloaded by means of quay cranes and then transferred to the storage or transshipment areas. The Container Stacking Problem (CSP) is one of the major problems in seaport terminals, in particular in view of the considerable increase in the number of containers and the limitation of storage areas in the container ports. It has a considerable impact on the efficiency of port operations. In this paper, we propose a new mathematical model for determining the exact storage locations of incoming containers in the storage zone in order to minimize the total travelling distance from the quay to the storage location. The suggested model takes into account different types of containers. It has been validated based on the real case study of the Tunisian Sfax seaport. The obtained results are promising and the storage responsible is satisfied with the reached solutions.

Ports play an essential role in international trade, and any inefficiency can lead to costly delays and major disruptions. Therefore, the efficiency of port operations is crucial for the smoothness of global supply chains helping reduce the risk of congestion and accidents, thereby enhancing maritime safety. Optimizing container management is particularly significant in this context. Thus, the problem of storage space allocation problem is a critical aspect of managing port operations, significantly influencing the efficiency of the retrieval process and the number of reshuffles. This study proposes a new policy, aimed at optimizing the use of space for import containers in a constrained environment. This policy incorporates considerations to facilitate the retrieval process and reduce the expected number of reshuffles. As a case study, we have taken the Port of Annaba in Algeria. Using an improved genetic algorithm and a heuristic approach, we achieved up to 22% improvement compared to the existing port policy. This demonstrates the effectiveness of our policy in enhancing port operations within spatial constraints.

Portal cranes play a crucial role in transshipment activities within maritime and riverine environments. As an essential component of the operational chain, the efficiency of port operations is closely tied to their dependable and uninterrupted functioning. Currently, over 88% of cranes in Ukraine's sea and river ports have surpassed their intended service life yet remain in use. The prolonged and intensive operational demands on these metal structures can result in fatigue-related defects, leading to component failures and potential accidents. Thus, prioritizing safe and efficient operations is critical when designing, modernizing, and managing cranes. A review of studies on the reliability of complex technical systems shows that the wear of gears of portal cranes, which have been operated in seaports for more than 35 years, has not been studied enough. The purpose of this study is to analyze the wear of the gears of the movement mechanism of portalcranes operating after their service life. 5 identical gantry cranes were selected for the research. The greatest wear of the working surfaces was recorded on the legs of the teeth, that is in places of maximum sliding, which completely coincides with the work of other researchers. The examination of the findings reveals that as the process continues, the level of wear escalates, nearing its upper limit. This data suggests that wear is affected not only by time elapsed, but also significantly by the operational stresses exerted on the material.

The twenty-first Century Maritime Silk Road is the economic trade corridor that uses seaways to connect dozens of countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe as an important component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Ports are important links, and the efficiency of port operations can influence the cooperation effect of the Road. This study analyzes relative operation efficiency of a series of key ports along the twenty-first Century Maritime Silk Road (ports of Qingdao, Ningbo Zhoushan, Shanghai Yangshan, Shenzhen, Rotterdam, Singapore, Piraeus, Hamburg and Colombo) on the basis of data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. Results show that Qingdao Port is substantially efficient and the ports of Ningbo Zhoushan and Shanghai Yangshan develop rapidly. The DEA–supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model is used as basis to analyze the port operating efficiency of ship inward–outward and stacking yard with Qingdao Port as the benchmark. Results indicate that ports with low relative efficiency suffer from input redundancy and inefficiency output, especially Rotterdam Port. This study could inform plannings and operations of seaports under the strategic background of BRI.

Major maritime carriers are globally demanding improvements in the efficiency of port operations. Cargo carried by ships must be loaded and unloaded quickly with minimal stopover time in the port. This requirement mandates seaports to deploy cutting-edge technology to the port area so that logistic processes are increasingly efficient and reliable. In this scenario, the attack surface of such critical infrastructure is growing very rapidly and advanced security techniques must be deployed to enforce a high attack resilience. A Distributed Ledger-based Credential Management System exploiting a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to enable transparent and real-time tracking of logistic vehicles and cargos within a terminal is presented in this paper. Based on a customization of Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) security standards, the proposed scheme provides authentication, authorization, and revocation capabilities to promptly exclude misbehaving logistic vehicles from the system, while maintaining an immutable record of all the logistic vehicles' activity. The laboratory validation demonstrates that the delay of the devised scheme is not dependent on the quay area capacity, thus being applicable in seaports of any size. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the solution is demonstrated with the field trial results obtained with the EU Horizon 2020 COREALIS project testbed deployed in the Port of Livorno.

The governments of Canada and British Columbia have been engaged in studies and initiatives related to west coast port security since 2004. The collaboration has involved Industry Canada (IC), Western Economic Diversification (WD), the BC Innovation Council BCIC), the University of Victoria (UVic) and the Maritime Awards Society of Canada (MASC). The primary consultant firm in this work has been CFN Consultants of Ottawa and Victoria. The motivation for the work was driven by both an interest in the security of west coast ports and a desire to showcase BC industrial capacity that is relevant to the port security question. The economy and prosperity of Canada's west coast is highly dependent on the efficient operation of its ports. Goods shipped through the several ports in BC come from or go to all parts of North America. The ports represent important links for trade and tourism and are vital to the Canadian transportation infrastructure thus their operations must be both efficient and secure. On the west coast the competition is intense and the stakes are high given the rapid growth of North American trade with Asia, especially China. Security could be seen as a hindrance; however as in the airline industry, security is a necessity. Process improvements that enhance both the security and the efficiency of port operations are therefore highly desirable.

In the field of logistics, port congestion can cause a seriously negative impact on the cost and efficiency of port operations, due to increased container processing time. Although numerous logistics companies are trying to make their transportation system more efficient, solving the port congestion problem has seldom been studied. In this paper, we explore methods for turn-time prediction of container trucks for efficient port operations. For the dataset, real-world data containing complex data such as truck license plate number, time, and loading/unloading information accumulated for five years at a port terminal company are used and the turn-time prediction algorithm based-on the LSTM model was constructed. For the implementation of the turn-time prediction algorithm, a given time series data was classified into three types: time, day, and week, and used as the input data for the model. When constructing a prediction algorithm based on the time type, it was found that when the input time interval was 7 hours, the time error was 18.31 minutes, which is about a 27% decrease in the time error compared to the time error of 25.17 minutes at 20 hours, which is the lowest input time interval. In the case of the day type, when the time interval is longer, the higher the prediction accuracy can be obtained. When setting the time interval to 20 days, the time error was the highest at 18.18 minutes and the time error was decreased by 30% compared to the time error of 25.82 minutes at the time interval of the 3-day with the lowest accuracy. For the week type, the time error was the lowest at 32.03 minutes when set to a three-week time interval. On the other hand, when the time interval was set to 7 weeks, the time error was 14.13 minutes, showing the time error reduction of more than 57% and the best performance among the total results. In addition, in order to increase the utilization of the above prediction model, we introduced a system consisting of various components such as data acquisition, processing, and analysis along with a mobile user application.