Size Of Container Ships Research Articles

Containership size and quay crane productivity: empirical evidence from Busan New Port

Containership size and quay crane productivity: empirical evidence from Busan New Port

Container moves per lift: the impact of spreader technology on bay time

The trend of increasing containership size (length, beam, and draft) continues. The increase in containership size, especially beam size (bay size), increased berth and port time at a given number of lifts per hour. There are emerging technologies that allow a spreader of ship-to-shore gantry to handle multiple containers in a single lift. This paper studies the impact of the increase in the containership bay size on berth time and the role the spreader of gantry cranes can play in keeping up with the increase of bay size, thus reducing vessel port time. The paper analyzes the moves of containers per lift with different spreader technologies, where a spreader can handle one or multiple containers in one lift. The paper determines the combination of spreader technology needed to accommodate mega containerships with large bay sizes in order to reduce vessel port time. After a literature review, using the bay time determination method developed by the authors, the paper analyzes the moves per lift of different spreader technologies, vessel operations and containership bay size configurations. The analysis determines the optimal combination of equipment to comply with liner service schedules and the difficulties the equipment might pose on a marine container terminal.

Review of the Container Ship Loading Model – Cause Analysis of Cargo Damage and/or Loss

Abstract As the maritime transport of containers continues to grow and container ships change in terms of design and construction, it is important to ensure the appropriate level of safety for this type of transport. Over the decades, the size and cargo capacity of container ships have been changing, and so have their manoeuvring restrictions and required stability criteria. It seems that changes in the regulations, technological development and increased stability requirements are not yielding satisfactory results – the causes of container ship accidents continue to show similar patterns. The present article refers to the problem of ensuring safety in sea container transport, with a particular focus on cargo processes. Its purpose is to determine cause-and-effect relations leading to the loss of containers at sea, and to develop a model of loading that could significantly raise the level of safety of container transport. The article provides a general description of threats to ships related to weather conditions, loading methods or stability limitations. A statistical analysis of the occurrence of damage and/or loss of cargo from container ships was carried out and the risk of cargo loss was assessed on the basis of data from 2015‒2019. A Pareto diagram was used for this purpose. The authors present the concept of the container ship loading model, which may contribute to increasing the safety of shipping in the future.

Effect of Defects on Structural Integrity in High-Heat-Input Weldment

With the rapid increase in the size of container ships, the steel plates used for ship hulls have increased in thickness. The use of thick plates leads to an increase in welding. Alternative welding processes such as electro gas welding (EGW), with high heat input have been replacing the multi-pass flux cored arc welding process. Shipbuilding companies have tended to use EGW increasingly to improve productivity. However, because the toughness of steel tends to decrease for thicker plates, brittle fracture requireded more attention. Although some research on high-heat-input EGW weld joints has been performed, much less attention has been paid to estimating the integrity of defective high-heat-input weld joints. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of EGW weld joints for thick plates. To do so, the fracture toughness of EGW weld joints was investigated. In addition, to estimate the integrity of defective welds, the fatigue characteristics of experimentally reproduced defective welds were examined. Based on these investigations, an engineering critical assessmentwas conducted. As a result, a standard for the allowable defect size for field application according to the defect type is proposed.

Assessment of container terminals competitiveness in the Brazilian market: a cluster analysis

ABSTRACT This article presents an analysis of the competitiveness of Brazilian container port terminals and discusses the implications for the sustainable development of this sector in Brazil in the context of container ship size maximization. A cluster analysis was developed. Thirteen criteria were selected in the analysis taking into consideration both the previous literature and the characteristic of Brazilian ports. The classification shows that the third group of terminals (Santos Brasil, BTP and Paranaguá) has the highest average values in eleven out of the thirteen criteria, standing out mainly in annual capacity, number of plugs, and GDP hinterland. This is the most competitive group with the highest frequency of ship visits. It is also interesting to find that this group of terminals has a limitation regarding the operational draft that limits the port sector when receiving large ships. Considering the expected inclusion of New Panamax-class ships operating on the Brazilian coast, container terminals have restrictions due to the limited operational draft. Conclusions are drawn regarding the potential for implementing strategies and policy interventions. The study represents an application inspired by the current debate in the Brazilian port sector, which presents the country’s urgent problem of receiving large capacity ships.

Mega Vessels – Mega Error?

Does it actually make sense to further increase the size of Ultra Large Container Ships from the shipping line’s perspective? Is possibly the opposite of what the growth in size is actually supposed to achieve experienced with the current ship sizes? These questions are followed up on the basis of some fundamental geometric and physical considerations, whereby the focus is on the effects of the longer port stays of the ever larger ships. Based on proportionalities a simple equation for a Fuel/TEU Indicator is introduced to determine the optimum ship size with regard to the fuel quantity and the carbon footprint per TEU for a particular liner service. This is complemented by a Total Cost Indicator for estimating the general optimum ship size. The literature published so far has meanwhile identified doubts on the overall economy of these ships especially when related land based costs are also taken into account but still acknowledge economies of scale effects for the ever growing ships themselves. This paper is intended to scrutinize this thesis.

Characteristics of Economic and Environmental Benefits of Shore Power Use by Container-Ship Size

To combat climate change, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are being made in all industries. The shipping sector is also one of the industries that emits GHG, including carbon. One way to reduce GHG emissions in the shipping sector is to use shore power (SP) rather than auxiliary engines during berthing. Port authorities are actively expanding SP facilities because it is possible to achieve the long-term goals of environmental benefits and green ports. However, the low economic feasibility of SP is a stumbling block for ship operators. Therefore, in this study, an economic analysis of SP use was conducted by container-ship size from the perspective of ship operators in consideration of benefits from differences in fuel oil and electricity prices, benefits through carbon emission reduction, and incentives from the port authorities. The result of the analysis showed that the benefit from the price of oil as well as the converted benefit from carbon emission reduction increased according to the size of the vessels. The economic analysis of a single port confirmed that small ships providing feeder services presented economic feasibility due to low installation costs and increased number of calls, while insufficient economic feasibility was presented for large ships above the old Panamax class due to the increased costs for installation. However, economic feasibility differs widely depending on whether port incentives are provided, and it was estimated that even large ships will be able to secure the economic feasibility of using SP if additional calls are made to ports that provide similar policy advantages.

Baseline sea time for containership liner service: A new method to evaluate voyage time efficiency and performance

Containerships have increased in size, thereby increasing in voyage time and the number of calling ports per voyage. The paper analyzes the impact of the increase in containership size on voyage time management. The authors developed a new and simple concept and standardized method, Baseline Sea Time (BST), that measures voyage time efficiency. BST is the sea time between the first and last ports of call in a service loop, calculated by using standard distance between the two ports divided by average vessel speed. Using BST, the time spent on transit for multiple ports, harbor waiting, and port time is redefined and used to develop new standardized ratios/indicators to calculate voyage time utilization efficiency. Using an illustration, the study finds that calling multiple ports is equivalent to an additional 25.5% of voyage baseline time compared to a shuttle service. The cargo between the first and last ports of call spends an additional 63.8% of the voyage time staying on board when compared to a shuttle service. The new BST tools provide new prospects for analysis, comparison, policymaking, asset utilization, and voyage planning.

A Study on Under Keel Clearance of Gadeok Channel for the Safety Passage of Mega Container Ship

The worldwide sizes of container ships are rapidly increasing. The container ship size in 2005, which was about 9,200 TEU has increased to 24,000 TEU in recent times. In addition to the increase in the sizes of the container ships, the arrivals/departures of large container vessels to/from Korea have also increased. Hence, the necessity for reviewing safe passage of such vessels is emphasized. In the present study, a 24,000 TEU container vessel was used as a model ship to calculate the under-keel clearance (UKC) at Gadeok Channel through which vessels must pass to arrive at Busan New Port, in accordance with the Korean Port and Fishing Port Design Standards and Commentary. In addition, the maximum allowable speed that meets UKC standards was calculated using various squat formulas, whose results were then compared with the current speed limit standards. The analysis results show that Busan New Port requires 10% marginal water depth, and the squat that meets this requirement is 0.95 m. Gadeok Channel requires 15% marginal water depth, and the squat that meets this requirement is 1.78 m; in this case, the maximum allowable speed is calculated as 15 kts. Busan New Port has set the speed limit as 12 kts, which is higher than the calculated 11 kts. Thus, speed limit reconsideration is required in terms of safety. However, the set speed limit for Gadeok Channel is 12 kts, which is lower than the calculated 15 kts. Thus, additional considerations may be provided to increase the speed limits for smooth navigational passage of vessels. The present study, however, is constrained by the fact that it reflects only a limited number of elements in the UKC and allowable speed calculations; therefore, more accurate UKC and safe speed values can be suggested based on extended studies to this research.

A simulation approach towards a sustainable and efficient container terminal layout design

ABSTRACT Seaports are considered gateways for international maritime trade. The flow of trade and the size of containerships have been growing exponentially in the last two decades, and as a result, the exchange of containers has increased dramatically. In consequence, adapting container terminal designs is required in order to confront these new challenges more efficiently and with improved sustainability. This paper studies the effect of changing the layout of seaport terminals by taking into consideration both costs and emissions. A new design of a container terminal located in the Port of Montreal is proposed and compared with the current layout. A discrete event-based simulation approach is adopted to investigate the impact of terminal layout on economic and environmental performance. This study aims to improve the performance and handling capacity of a terminal by recommending a new layout. Computational experiments were conducted to evaluate and compare the performance of both layouts using data collected from the Port of Montreal. The results indicate that terminal layout design has a significant impact on terminal performance and emission under the configuration of different transportation modes.

Identify determinants of container ship size investment choice

ABSTRACT In one of the most capital-intensive industries in the world, the investment decisions of container shipping companies, especially concerning new ships, are crucial to the success of companies. This study investigates shipowners’ ship choice decisions and ship size preference through multinomial logit models using a dataset compiled by Clarkson Research Services Limited. The model incorporates the factors that affect ship size choice from three aspects: the internal traits of companies (company trait), the environment of the shipping market (market-driven strategy) and the performance of rivals (competition strategy). Different factors have different influences on shipping companies’ ship choice behaviour and ship size preference in different market situations. From a market-driven perspective, the high new-built ship price makes companies choose small ships. In a prosperous market, when freight rates are high, medium-sized vessels are preferred, and investment in large vessels is less likely. From the company attributes perspective, the empirical estimation shows that larger container ships are preferred by larger shipping companies. When it comes to competitive strategy, shipping companies will be more inclined to choose larger ships when they see capacity expansion among their competitors. These results confirm the nature of an oligopolistic market structure of the container market.

Assessing the Link between Vessel Size and Maritime Supply Chain Sustainable Performance

This study determines the relationship between the increase in size of dry bulk carriers and container ships and the changes in sustainable shipping performance. It measures the elasticities of shipping costs for bulk carriers and container ships. Using regression, it derives the functions of the daily and unit costs of shipping with respect to the size of dry bulk carriers and container ships. The estimated daily and unit cost elasticities and cost models reveal significant but diversified impacts of vessel size on dry bulk and container shipping cost and its components, other operating capital, and fuel costs. Findings: Dry bulk carriers and containership size mean elasticities of daily operating costs estimates respectively: total operating costs 0.291 and 0.552, other operating cost (labor cost included) 0.238 and 0.328, capital costs 0.329 and 0.765, fuel costs 0.289 and 0.462; dry bulker and container ship unit shipping mean elasticity respectively: full operating costs (−0.751) and (−0.553), other operating cost (−0.804) and (−0.782), capital costs (−0.713) and (−0.399), fuel costs (–0.757) and (−0.702). This research provides an insight into the impact of technology and the way the services are provided (irregular versus regular) on shipping cost and energy savings. The cost models can be used for estimating the savings in shipping costs resulting from handling larger vessels in seaports.

An Investigation into Switching Vessel Sizes for Efficient Container Terminal Operations: A Case Study of Kaohsiung Port

Given the continued growth in the size of container ships, major hub ports around the world have carried out large-scale upgrades of their port facilities to attract shipping companies to choose their ports, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of their ports. This study takes Kaohsiung Port as an example and uses the Decision Analytic Network Process (DANP) method to investigate container terminal operations by switching container terminal operations to appropriate new locations. The results of the study indicate that, despite the external issues (such as a lack of deep-water terminals and hinterland in the port area, the upsizing of ships, and new strategic shipping alliances), Kaohsiung Port authority must accelerate the upgrade of its container terminals, integrate its port resources to build deep-water berth facilities with highefficient container operating system, and improve the operating efficiency of its existing terminals, as a means to maintain the status of Kaohsiung Port as a regional centre.

Looking into the future ten years later: big full containerships and their arrival to south American ports

Since 2006, when the Emma Maersk broke into the world of shipping, the growth in containership size has remained a continuous trend.For the last 14 years, since 2006, the enlargement of fullcontainerships size has remained a continuous trend since Emma Maersk broke into the world of shipping. This process - that also affected north-south trades - has crucial implications in the shipping business, particularly in the planning of ports and its services and related activities. This paper analyses the global increase in vessel size and forecasts larger vessels’ arrival to South American coasts. The paper analyses evidence since 2006 to understand the factors behind the trend for bigger ships (fleets between 18,000 and 24,000 TEU) and introduce a validated methodology for the prediction of the size of container ships. Experts presented a consensus vision in which factors associated with infrastructure, economics, technology, and the environment play a crucial role in driving the trend. Next, the paper presents a methodology for forecasting the size of containerships and applies it to Latin America’s trade. The models include two alternative thresholds for the dependent variables (1310 ft LOA and 18,000 TEU of nominal capacity) that are controlled by cascading effect (i.e., the size gap between Latin America and the world’s main trade routes), and the economic activity at the destination countries (represented by port activity). Finally, the conclusions highlight the forecast’s call to take action on infrastructure planning and investments, analyzing issues such as “economies of scale,” concentration, or entry barriers. Overall, the paper warns about the importance of efficient medium-term planning in the port industry to maximize its economic impact.

Sea state estimation using monitoring data by convolutional neural network (CNN)

In recent years, the size of container ships has become larger, thus requiring a more evident assurance of the hull structural safety. In order to evaluate the structural safety in operation, it is necessary to grasp the encountered sea state. The aim of this study is to estimate the encountered sea state using machine learning from measurement data of ocean-going 14,000TEU container ships. In this paper, as a first step in the study, considerable amounts of virtual sea state data and corresponding ship motion and structural response data are prepared. A convolutional neural network (CNN) is developed using these data to estimate the directional wave spectrum of encountered sea based on the hull responses. The input parameters of the formulated CNN include the spectral values of ship motion and structural response spectrum. The output of the CNN includes the sea state parameters of the Ochi-Hubble spectrum, specifically, significant wave height, modal wave frequency, mean wave direction, kurtosis, and concentration of wave energy directional distribution. It is found from the performance examination that the developed CNN is capable of accurately estimating the sea state parameters, although the level of accuracy decreases when the hull response is low. However, the decrease in accuracy when the hull response is low has a weak influence on the evaluation of the structural response to the estimated sea state.

Wind Affected Maneuverability of Tugboat-Controlled Ships

Abstract The development of maritime transportation, in terms of the size and traffic volume of container ships, is increasingly posing technical challenges especially in crowded harbors and narrow canals. To ensure safe and efficient operation, tugboats are used for assisting large ships in such critical areas under the supervision of the responsible pilots. However, the mis-assessment of risk, especially under bad weather conditions, can lead to accidents, economic losses, and even casualties. Accordingly, the need for automated assistant systems is strong. In this paper, we investigate the maneuverability of tugboat-controlled ships under the influence of wind. We provide a characterization of the admissible set of safe wind situations for the execution of a given maneuver in terms of a constrained system of differential equations. Under some restrictions over the type of maneuvers, we prove the star-convexity of the admissible set. For this purpose, the dynamical model of the ship motion is derived, which takes tugboat and wind forces into account. The star-convexity of the sought-after set and the ship model allow for an efficient approximation of this set by optimal control methods. As an application, we propose a visual aid that allows the tugboat pilots to clearly distinguish between safe and hazardous wind situations during maneuver planning.

Planning hinterland container transportation in congested deep-sea terminals

The size of container ships and the number of containers being transshipped at container terminals have steadily increased over the years. Consequently, it is important to make efficient use of the hinterland capacity. A concept that is used to do this is synchromodal transportation, in which at the very last moment the mode of transportation for a container is decided. Unfortunately, some deep-sea terminals are rather congested and it is unknown by the time the transportation plan is made how many containers can be loaded to and unloaded from a barge. Motivated by this, we study an operational planning problem with uncertainty that is faced by an inland terminal in the port of Amsterdam as a two-stage stochastic problem with recourse. We solve this problem using sample average approximation (SAA) and a fast heuristic using constraints based on stochastic programming (SP). The SAA method gives near-optimal solutions for small instances. For larger instances, the SP-based method is shown to be a good alternative because it is much faster than the SAA method and produces solutions that are less than 1% from the SAA solutions.

Key factors of container port competitiveness: A global shipping lines perspective

To analyse the competitiveness of container ports, it is crucially important to identify and characterize the key factors of competitiveness. Their relative importance depends on the location of the port, the situation in the market and it can be perceived differently by different groups of stakeholders. The aim of this study was to examine factors of global competitiveness of container ports as perceived by shipping lines. The research method applied was a quantitative primary non-random social sampling. Data were collected from survey participants via a business-oriented social network. Two statistical methods were used to rank and group these factors: a Friedman test and a post-hoc analysis involving Least Significant Difference test (LSD). Shipping executives (n = 120) stressed the importance of three factors: container terminal service quality, social harmony with labour and adequate nautical accessibility. This corresponds with growing size of container ships, which require deep water container terminals and reliable port services. Shipping lines' decision makers need services of a high standard and with a low risk of labour-related disruptions to maintain their own high level of service quality. These strong views are held by decision makers of shipping lines with over 250 employees, while smaller organisations are more lenient on container terminal requirements. Survey results were also presented per continent, which clarifies any differences in importance of competitiveness factors based on geographical location. This may be useful for competitiveness gap analysis at a more granular level. Port operators and regulators should take these findings into account and address them in ports’ strategic plans.

Does a carbon tax affect the feasibility of Arctic shipping?

The Arctic route has huge potential for shipping between Europe and Northeast Asia with significant savings in transit time and distance. However, GHG emissions from shipping would harm the environment of Arctic area. Potential Market Based Measures of GHG emission reduction (such as carbon tax) are under consideration but they may affect the economic viability of Northern Sea Route (NSR) for containerships. This paper investigates the economic viability of NSR against Suez Canal Route (SCR) under 2 proposed carbon tax schemes (fixed vs. progressive). Three different fuel oil types (Heavy Fuel Oil, Light Fuel Oil, Liquified Natural Gas) are used as main bunker fuel for the calculation of economic feasibility. Our result reveals that when there is no carbon tax on NSR nor SCR, or both routes are under a carbon tax scheme, no matter fixed or progressive, NSR is more economically viable, regardless of fuel type choice. When only NSR is under a carbon tax scheme, the viability depends on specific carbon tax scheme and fuel choice, but for the majority of containership sizes, NSR has lower unit cost. The result also suggests that for a given route, a progressive scheme in preferable than a fixed one and LNG would be an appealing fuel with lower unit cost.

Digital maritime container terminal - an element of digitalization of container transportation systems

Sea container terminals are an important infrastructure element in the global supply chain. An increase in the number and size of container ships, as well as an increase in container traffic, led to the expansion of sea container terminals and an increase in their capacity. Extra-large container vessels require more handling equipment, as well as more storage space for containers, and increased throughput capacity for supporting infrastructures. To solve these complex problems in a global competition, the search for integrated effective solutions is required. The article proposes a solution to the integrated digitalization of the sea container terminal.