Deep-sea Container Research Articles

Oxyfuel combustion based carbon capture onboard ships

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping sector is a challenging task. While renewable fuels stand out as the most promising long-term solution, their near- and mid-term viability is hampered by limited availability and high costs. An alternative approach is onboard carbon capture, which can reduce emissions from new ships as well as retrofitted vessels. This paper examines the techno-economic potential of oxyfuel combustion based carbon capture on ships. The oxyfuel concept uses an oxygen-rich atmosphere in the combustion process, resulting in a mixture of carbon dioxide and water. After the condensation of water, the carbon dioxide rich gas can be directly stored on board. Various onboard oxygen supply concepts are investigated, including different technologies for onboard air separation and liquid oxygen bunkering. Influences on the ship energy system are studied by system simulation of a deep-sea container vessel. Benchmarked against a technologically mature post-combustion carbon capture system, the results show that the oxyfuel concepts have limited competitiveness because of reduced engine efficiencies and high energy demands for onboard oxygen supply. Avoiding onboard oxygen supply by using liquefied oxygen as a byproduct from onshore electrolysis increases energy efficiency and the competitiveness of oxyfuel combustion but requires additional storage space. Sensitivity analyses highlight that the engine combustion concept and engine efficiency are the most critical influences on the techno-economic performance.

Mixed Integer Programming Models on Scheduling Automated Stacking Cranes

Automated deep-sea container terminals are the main hubs to move millions of containers in today's global supply chains. Terminal operators often decouple the landside and waterside operations by stacking containers in stacks perpendicular to the quay. Traditionally, a single automated stacking cranes (ASC) is deployed at each stack to handle containers. A recent trend is to use new configurations with more than one crane to improve efficiency. A variety of new configurations have been implemented, such as twin, double, and triple ASCs. In this paper, the authors explore and review the mixed integer programming models that have been developed for the stacking operations of these new configurations. They further discuss how these models can be extended to contemplate diverse operational constraints including precedence constraints, interference constraints, and other objective functions.

Port connectivity and competition among container ports in Southeast Asia based on Social Network Analysis and TOPSIS

ABSTRACT The evolution of the single-hub container system in Southeast Asia into a multi-hub system, with several emerging container ports serving deep-sea container vessels and forming their feeder service network, may result in intense competition in the region and a transformation in the ports’ roles. Thus, major ports in the region have sought to enhance their competitiveness by offering improved cargo handling capabilities, well-developed infrastructure, and modernised facilities as well as increased service coverage and connectivity to more countries both directly and indirectly. Several major container ports in the area have taken full advantage of competitiveness to become new hub-ports in the area. To understand the dynamics of competition in this rapidly developing region more clearly, this paper presents an evaluation of connectivity of major ports. In addition, the competitiveness of the top ten Southeast Asian container ports is evaluated using the TOPSIS method and K-mean cluster analysis. The results indicate that the top ten ports are categorised into three groups, and while Singapore (Group 1) takes the most advantage of its connectivity, ports in Groups 2 and 3 may be able to enhance competitiveness by developing cargo handling facilities and infrastructure.

A Study on the Effect of the Freight Variability Reduction by Cargo Owner’s Ship Investment: Focusing on the Deep See Container Freight Cycle

Purpose This study delves into theoretical background and the effect of shipping investment by container shippers while studying shipping investment methods through funds and investment inducement strategies. Design/Methodology/Approach We used the data of SCFI to deduce the freight cycle of the specific route which is the longest and the most frequent at the deep-sea container shipping and we used the methodology of Hodrick-Prescott (HP) Filter to separate the trend and cycle from the data. Finally we used the actual freight data of deep sea routes from Busan port, Korea to analyze and to find out whether there is the effect of freight variability reduction by Cargo Owner’s ship investment. Findings The findings have shown that there have been large declines in the fluctuations of freight rates during a shipping cycle of economic expansion in the order of sea lanes of the Americas, Europe. Research Implications Investments in maritime carriage by Korean shippers have many limiting factors in many unfavorable investment conditions even though such positive effect exists. So the government needs to support policy for shippers ship investment such as tax benefit, credit support for MSE logistics, Service Contract expansion.

THE EVOLUTION OF DEEP SEA CONTAINER ROUTES: THE ITALIAN CASE

SummaryIn this study, an analysis of deep sea shipping (DSS) container services, calling at Italian ports, is carried out. A...

Swedish shippers\u2019 strategies for coping with slow-steaming in deep sea container shipping

When container shipping lines experience over-capacity and high fuel costs, they typically respond by decreasing sailing speeds and, consequently, increasing transport time. Most of the literature on this phenomenon, often referred to as slow-steaming, takes the perspective of the shipping lines addressing technical, operational and financial effects, or a society perspective focusing on lower emissions and energy use. Few studies investigate the effects on the demand side of the market for container liner shipping. Hence, the aim of this study is to elaborate on the logistics consequences of slow-steaming, particularly the strategies that Swedish shippers purchasing deep sea container transport services employ to mitigate the effects of slow-steaming. Workshops and semi-structured interviews revealed that shippers felt they had little or no impact on sailing schedules and were more or less subject to container shipping lines’ decisions. The effects of slow-steaming were obviously most severe for firms with complex supply chains, where intermediate products are sent back and forth between production stages on different continents. The shippers developed a set of strategies to cope with the low punctuality of containerised shipping, and these were categorised in the domains of transfer-the-problem, transport, sourcing and distribution, logistics and manufacturing, and product design. All firms applied changes in the transport domain, although the lack of service segmentation limited the effects of the strategy. Most measures were applied by two firms, whereas only one firm changed the product design.

Measuring the contribution of logistics service delivery performance outcomes and deep-sea container liner connectivity on port efficiency

One objective for countries in the European common market is to optimize the performance of their multimodal logistics chains. The attainment of this goal requires the continuous development of container ports' performance, better customer satisfaction and - at the same time - to deter the occurrence of waste and bottleneck. Many regions in Europe are shifting from a single-port to a multi-port gateway situation; their ports frequently have overlapping hinterlands and are therefore increasingly facing competition and rivalry between each other. This paper examines container ports located in six countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the UK. It focuses on sensitivities to the inclusion of country-specific measurements on logistics service delivery performance outcomes on port efficiency. Port efficiency is measured with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The results suggest that: (1) efficiency measurements for Danish, Finnish, Swedish and British ports are heavily influenced by whether logistics service delivery outcomes are included or not; (2) Icelandic and Norwegian ports appear to be not sensitive to whether logistics service delivery outcomes are included or not; (3) on average, the container ports located in countries that are directly called by deep-sea transcontinental container liners are over-performers and under-performers with regard to technical efficiency and scale efficiency, respectively. We further apply a second-stage regression analysis to explain the impact of country-specific contextual factors on DEA-based efficiency scores.

Stacking outbound barge containers in an automated deep-sea terminal

In this paper, we study the stacking problem of outbound containers in a deep-sea container terminal. In such a terminal, outbound containers -to be transported by barge to the hinterland or other terminals within the port area- are stacked in a container stack. Reshuffling which is the process of removing interfering containers to access a desired container is one of the main challenges of such container terminals. In order to avoid reshuffling, container terminals commonly use a stacking policy in which each pile (column) accommodates the containers of the same barge with the same weight class, destination, etc. However, due to a limited number of containers per barge per weight class and destination, this policy might result in a low stack utilization. To address this issue, this study proposes an alternative stacking policy allowing different container types to share the same pile. We aim to minimize the total retrieval time of a set of containers. We show that the problem is strongly NP-complete. Thus, we propose a heuristic to quickly solve the problem and we compare the results with a lower bound. The results show that the proposed stacking heuristic can provide solutions with a gap of less than 10% with the lower bound for real-sized instances with high utilization. In addition, the results show that the stacking heuristic can reduce the total retrieval time up to 30% compared to often-used in practice stacking policy. Furthermore, in order to investigate the performance of the proposed stacking policy under different settings, we perform a sensitivity analysis by varying block configuration, number of barges, barge size, and barge arrival time window.

Efficiency of inland waterway container terminals: Stochastic frontier and data envelopment analysis to analyze the capacity design- and throughput efficiency

Although terminal efficiency has been thoroughly studied for deep-sea container ports and terminals, up till now, there has been little scientific literature on the efficiency of inland waterway container terminals (IWTs). This paper therefore focuses on determining and analyzing terminal characteristics that influence efficiency. Our analysis led to a number of conclusions. First, there exist important differences between IWTs and maritime terminals in terms of design capacity and thus also in operations. Different combinations of inputs and output have been tested with the SFA and DEA methodologies. Important terminal inputs turned out to be yard and crane, but also terminal operating hours and terminal area are important. When capacity is excluded as an input it turns out that the importance of inputs becomes more diverse under SFA. Furthermore, when the inputs and output are varied it shows that this leads to a variation in best and worst performers (the efficiency depends on defined inputs and output). Finally, terminal operating hours are an important input for IWTs which is an important difference with maritime terminals which are open 24/7. In terms of how efficiency is defined, there arises a considerable difference between design efficiency (capacity) and the operational efficiency (terminal throughput).

Communication between deep sea container terminals and hinterland stakeholders: information needs and the relevance of information exchange

Hinterland container transport is increasingly identified as an important element in door-to-door transportation of goods in the context of global supply chains. Container terminal operators also continuously seek strategies to distinguish themselves from their competitors by providing dedicated information on containers, transport means and the terminal. This paper explores the information needs of container terminals and hinterland stakeholders and highlights the importance of different information types for different stakeholders. Information needs are studied through gate survey, interviews and questionnaires sent to different parties involved in seaport-hinterland transportation at the APM Terminal in Rotterdam. This information is divided in three main categories: information about containers, information about transport means and information about deep sea terminal. In each category, the specific information types and the importance of that information for each hinterland party are discussed. The findings of this research can be used by different hinterland parties to optimize the planning and control of container logistics processes. They can also support developing customized ICT solutions for hinterland transportation.

Freight Transport Deceleration: Its Possible Contribution to the Decarbonisation of Logistics

The paper challenges the conventional view that the movement of goods through supply chains must continue to accelerate. The compression of freight transit times has been one of the most enduring logistics trends but may not be compatible with governmental climate change policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60–80% by 2050. Opportunities for cutting CO2 emissions by ‘despeeding' are explored within a freight decarbonisation framework and split into three categories: direct, indirect and consequential. Discussion of the direct carbon savings focuses on the trucking and deep-sea container sectors, where there is clear evidence that slower operation cuts cost, energy and emissions and can be accommodated within current supply chain requirements. Indirect emission reductions could accrue from more localised sourcing and a relaxation of just-in-time (JIT) replenishment. Acceleration of logistical activities other than transport could offset increases in freight transit times, allowing the overall carbon intensity of supply chains to reduce with minimal loss of performance. Consequential deceleration results from other decarbonisation initiatives such as freight modal split and a shift to lower carbon fuels. Having reviewed evidence drawn from a broad range of sources, the paper concludes that freight deceleration is a promising decarbonisation option, but raises a number of important issues that will require new empirical research.

Benchmarking deep-sea port performance in the Hamburg-Le Havre range

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on answering the following research question: “How efficient are deep-sea ports in the Hamburg-Le Havre (HLH) range compared with each other?” Design/methodology/approach – Input-oriented (and output-oriented) Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) results demonstrate that the deep-sea port of Vlissingen is perfectly efficient and also that the port of Amsterdam is quite efficient. These DEA results are underligned by the single-point benchmarking results. Findings – The Dutch deep-sea ports are the most efficient ports in the HLH range. Finally, relatively smaller deep-sea ports (with a market share of about 5 percent, such as Amsterdam, Vlissingen, and Zeebrugge) are relatively more efficient than larger deep-sea container ports (such as Antwerp, Hamburg, and Rotterdam). It can be observed that especially in these larger ports, the container sector is (very) important as compared with the smaller ports. Furthermore, Dutch ports are relatively more efficient and receive the lowest subsidies, suggesting efficiency improvement opportunities for the Belgium, German, and French ports. Originality/value – The originality of the paper is in its focus on all deep-sea ports in the HLH range (and not on container ports only) and in the combination of methods (DEA and single-point benchmarking).

The possible influence of the shipper on carbon emissions from deep-sea container supply chains: An empirical analysis

This article examines the extent to which shippers can influence the level of carbon emissions from the deep-sea container supply chain. It uses data collected in an online questionnaire survey of 34 large UK shippers, supplemented by the results of focus group discussions and interviews with a range of key stakeholders, including shipping lines, freight forwarders, logistics companies and port operators. The online sample comprised shippers responsible for inbound and/or outbound deep-sea containers flows. The amount of leverage that they can exert on ‘carbon-sensitive’ decisions depends partly on the Incoterms that they employ and their use of freight forwarders. Many large shippers still retain significant influence over the choice of carriers used for deep-sea and port feeder services, consignment routing and scheduling and the choice of port. Shippers responsible for inbound flows reported high levels of container fill, though opportunities exist for improving the weight utilisation of outbound containers, possibly by moving to a port-centric logistics model. Around 40 per cent of the shippers consulted currently measure CO2 emissions from their deep-sea container supply chains with only 6 per cent explicitly implementing carbon reduction initiatives. The research shows the importance of adopting a broader supply chain approach to decarbonisation in the maritime sector and emphasises the need for a multi-stakeholder perspective that recognises the important role of the shipper in the process.

Deep-sea container carrier performance: how efficient are the respective container carriers?

The central research question in this article is: how efficient are globally operating deep-sea container carriers compared with each other? The answer is that most deep-sea container carriers are quite efficient. A point efficiency analysis shows that, first, the differences between the respective container carriers are considerable, and secondly, that efficiency depends on the carriers’ strategy if performance in terms of a certain indicator is ‘good’ or ‘aimed for’. From the input-oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA) under constant returns to scale (CRS) it follows that most carriers are efficient or close to being efficient. Actually, this range of efficiency for deep-sea container carriers in such a volatile business environment is a good performance, and indicates that the carriers are successful in dealing with the Cob-Webb theorem. The input-oriented DEA [under variable returns to scale (VRS)] also shows that most carriers are efficient. The output-oriented analysis [under both CRS and VRS] again indicates that most deep-sea container carriers are efficient.

Critical mass for the development of a new container port in Vlissingen

The economic importance of accommodating container transport and the increasing demand for container-handling capacity are major triggers for conventional ports to develop container terminals. The port of Vlissingen, located between Rotterdam and Antwerp, is aspiring to gain a position in deep-sea container handling. A relevant factor that greatly determines the potential of the port of Vlissingen is the critical mass of the container terminal handling operations to be developed by the port authority. In developing a full deep-sea terminal there is consensus about a critical mass of approximately one million TEU with possibilities to extend to at least two million TEU. In its role as a satellite port for Antwerp, a critical mass of 350 000 TEU could be sufficient. In attracting sufficiently large container flows to Vlissingen, the competitive strength of the port plays an important role. Our contribution in this article lies in the analysis of the optimal size of container port development. The competitive position of the proposed container port of Vlissingen is analysed by using economic research and forecasting methods, backcasting analysis, and analysis of the competitive position vis-a-vis Antwerp and Rotterdam.

Port and terminal selection by deep-sea container operators

This paper deals with the importance of port choice and container terminal selection for deep-sea container carriers. The paper focuses on the research question: on what basis do deep-sea container operators select container ports (strategy) and container terminals (financial reasons) in the Hamburg–Le Havre range over others? In answering this research question, three dimensions are addressed in detail: the buying decision characteristics; port choice strategy; and terminal selection. The results show that strategic considerations at company level are important. For port choice the most important criteria from a carrier's perspective are: availability of hinterland connections; reasonable tariffs; and immediacy of consumers (large hinterland). In addition to these criteria, shipping lines attach great value to often neglected factors, such as feeder connectivity, environmental issues and the total portfolio of the port. The study reveals that port selection and terminal selection are not the same with terminal selection criteria mainly depending on: handling speed; handling costs; reliability; and hinterland connections. The analysis also brought forward that the decision making is different per container carrier, per trade and per port type, implying that a one size fits all approach is not relevant.

An Assessment of Long-Term United Kingdom Port Performance: A Regional Perspective

In all major trading regions there are geographic concentrations of ports, and their prosperity is closely related to the economic well-being of their hinterlands and of the overseas regions to which they are linked via shipping services. The UK is well suited to studies of regional shifts in port activity. This paper outlines the trends in port traffic at selected UK ports over the last four decades or so. Traditional trade routes have largely been replaced by both near-sea and short-sea business in response to European Union (EU) expansion and fresh, rapidly growing links with low-cost Far East trading partners. Changes in port traffic are set in a regional context and the quality of the local transport infrastructure, important for distribution, is also evaluated. This paper therefore examines port performance as expressed by annual change in cargo tonnage handled in relation to port location, hinterland and foreland connectivity, and other variables. The concentration of economic activity and port capacity in the southeastern region of the UK is reflected in port traffic statistics. Important influencing factors are EU expansion, increasing use of unit loads and a move towards Far East sourcing. The main beneficiaries have been the deep-sea container ports, mostly in the southeast, a number of Ro-Ro ports, certain multi-purpose ports such as Immingham, and specialist facilities such as the liquid bulk terminals at Milford Haven. The main trends have been a concentration of business into certain favoured regions. Broadly, the expansion of the EU and the move towards Far East sourcing via ever larger ships have accentuated the regional contrast in container traffic growth between the northwest and the southeast. For other cargoes, the regional pattern is more complex and less well defined. Port traffic in the south and east has generally shown steady growth; the major exception is the dry bulk sector where volumes have, in recent years, reduced in the southern ports but risen through northern ports. Overall, port location and inland connectivity are found to be powerful determinants of port performance over the timescale examined.

Case study analysis of the impacts of electronic commerce on the strategic management of container shipping companies

Despite the prevalence of its use, very little is understood about the role of electronic commerce (EC) practice on the strategic management of container shipping companies. Four case studies were undertaken to assess the main uses, motivations, barriers and strategic relevance of EC in the container shipping industry between 1992 and 2002. The cases studies included one large, one medium and one small deep-sea container line, and one medium-sized feeder line. The research found that despite pressing technical and managerial barriers, the need to improve internal economies provided the most fertile grounds for EC use in 1992 and EC was seen as a tactical tool to achieve these goals. By 2002, customer-oriented motivations became critical to the increased relevance of EC and to its perception as a business necessity.

Sustainability and national policy in UK port development

Given the private sector character of the UK port system it might well be thought that, so far as port development is concerned, the market ruled. There are of course permissions to be obtained, including planning consent under the Town and Country Planning Acts; but this process has not so far been considered to interfere with market function. Ports are already well used to the process of obtaining approval, to negotiations with objectors and environmental interests, and to mitigating the effects of development when defining projects and seeking approval. However, as ports policy is being brought into line with transport policy generally, and in particular with Government policy for sustainable development, ports are being faced with a more challenging regulatory framework. The search for sustainable transport is leading Government towards a broader based approach to the approval of development applications in which market need and commercial viability are simply two of a number of considerations which ports must take into account in designing projects which also meet environmental concerns. There has been a long standing requirement for developers of major projects to carry out Environmental Impact Assessments. In addition Government policy is set out in a number of publications, applying sustainability and the associated “New Approach to Transport Assessment” (NATA) to the ports sector. In a separate and broader initiative it has also considered a radical reform of the planning system and the establishment of national priorities for infrastructure combined with a simplification of the Public Inquiry process. In the event it has been decided not to establish national priorities in the ports sector, although the aim of simplification of the Inquiry process remains. The aim of this paper is to explore the emerging theoretical and practical issues arising within the development approval process. These are of most concern in the development of major projects for cargoes which have broad hinterlands, and where there are competing locations for new facilities. The most important example of this is in the deep sea container sector where there is a demand for new capacity and a choice of widely spaced locations in the south east of the UK. Some comment will be made on this sector and on the issues arising at the Public Inquiries for the proposed container port developments at Dibden Bay (Southampton) and the London Gateway at Shellhaven on the north bank of the Thames.

China’s transport and communications firms: transforming national champions into global players

China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) exposes its state‐owned maritime, aviation and telecommunications operators to unprecedented competition. This development raises a series of critical issues about China’s transition from a state‐planned regime towards a real market economy. How will China’s leading state‐owned firms in deep‐sea container shipping, air passenger transport and telecommunications respond to the dilemma posed by the World Trade Organisation and to what extent has Hong Kong been involved in China’s transport and communications restructuring process? These broad issues are addressed by examining progress on the Chinese Government’s post‐1993 plans to restructure each of the key state enterprises in sea‐land transport, air transport and telecommunications. Specifically we are concerned with the degree to which China’s national champions in these transport and communications arenas have been remade into global players. Particular attention is paid to the role of Hong Kong in this transformation since its return to China in 1997. Our studies show that China has transformed its national champions into a global players in container shipping. The process may be beginning to happen in air transport but has yet to get underway in telecommunications.