The potential for the clustering of the maritime transport sector in the Greater Dublin Region

Abstract

A cluster of industry is an economic occurrence that provides a particular industry with a distinct and sometimes global competitive advantage. Successful clusters are seen as avenues for regional and national growth. Maritime clusters are a selection of industries that are usually located at, or originally centred on, the trading activities of a port. Some of the world's major maritime clusters include the clusters of Rotterdam, Singapore and London. Island nations like Ireland require, out of necessity, transport services to facilitate the trade of commodities. However, due to Ireland's peripheral location and its lack of transhipment port status, the maritime transport sector in the Greater Dublin Region (GDR) is not a world-renowned maritime transport cluster. However, not all industries and nations can have a successful cluster affording global market dominance. Therefore ‘what is a cluster’ can mean different things to different nations and their industries. By examining the potential clustering of the GDR maritime transport sector, the main aims and objectives of the research are: to establish by consensus if the GDR maritime transport sector is a maritime transport cluster as opposed to basic firm agglomeration and to develop a level of understanding on the capability of the GDR maritime transport sector to improve its clustering potential.