Norwegian Shipping Companies Research Articles

Combining Optimization and Simulation for Designing a Robust Short-Sea Feeder Network

Here we study a short-sea feeder network design problem based on mother and daughter vessels. The main feature of the studied system is performing transshipment of cargo between mother and daughter vessels at appropriate locations at sea. This operation requires synchronization between both types of vessels as they have to meet at the same location at the same time. This paper studies the problem of designing a synchronized feeder network, explicitly accounting for the effect of uncertain travel times caused by harsh weather conditions. We propose an optimization-simulation framework to find robust solutions for the transportation system. The optimization model finds optimal routes that are then evaluated by a discrete-even simulation model to measure their robustness under uncertain weather conditions. This process of optimization simulation is repeated until a satisfactory condition is reached. To find even better solutions, we include different performance-improving strategies by adding robustness during route generation or exploiting flexibility in sailing speed to recover from delays. We apply the solution method to a case based on realistic data from a Norwegian shipping company. The results show that the method finds near-optimal solutions that offer robustness against schedule perturbations due to harsh weather. They also highlight the importance of considering uncertainty when designing a short-sea feeder network with transshipment at sea.

An economic analysis of introducing autonomous ships in a short‐sea liner shipping network

AbstractThe development of autonomous ships is at an advanced stage. It seems to be just a question of time before such ships become available at an industrial scale. In this paper, we investigate the economic advantages of utilizing autonomous over conventional ships. We consider a shipping network composed of conventional mother ships and autonomous daughter ships that perform cargo transshipment at specific ports. The mother ships sail between Europe and the Norwegian coastline and are conventional due to international regulations. The daughter ships serve small ports located along the Norwegian coastline and are autonomous. We apply this concept of mother and daughter routes to a Norwegian shipping company that transports containers between a continental European port and 21 ports scattered along the Norwegian coastline. Furthermore, we extend this case to a shipping network of 42 ports to study a possible increase in the activity of the company. For solving the corresponding optimization problem, we present a path‐flow‐based model formulation and a heuristic route generation method. We carry out extensive computational experiments that consider differently sized problems, various demand scenarios, advanced routes structures, and sensitivity analyses for cost rates and the degree of automation of the maritime transport system. The results provide evidence that autonomous ships might contribute to considerable cost savings.

Navigating through institutional complexity: adoption of a process view in functional organizations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing debate on the appropriate organizational design for the process management implementation. Using the lens of institutional theory, the paper discusses how organizations adapt to a required implementation of a process view alongside their organizational structures.Design/methodology/approachThe study is designed as a single case study of a Norwegian shipping company. On the one hand, shipping companies are traditionally managed by functions due to the specifics of maritime operations and high safety-related risks of the work. On the other hand, the rising demands of regulatory bodies and customers within the offshore logistics are calling for implementation of a process view within the organizations, which implies management by processes.FindingsThe study analyses conflicting requirements of the institutional environment influencing organizational structure and how these conflicts are addressed by the company. Besides, it describes the decoupling mechanism the company uses to balance between such requirements and adapt to the changes of the institutional pressures.Originality/valueThe study introduces a situational-based organizational structure as an alternative for both process and vertical views implementation within the companies operating in the highly demanding institutional environments.

Measurement challenges of supply chain performance in complex shipping environments

PurposeLogistics service performance measurement (PM) is a fundamental activity pertaining to the achievement of logistics goals and the improvement of services. The choice of logistics PM criteria depends on stakeholder goals and expectations, including logistics service providers, customers and government and regulatory institutions. PM is especially challenging in areas where high values are at stake, several actors are involved and uncertainty about cause-and-effect relations is high. This paper aims to examine the measurement of performance in offshore oil and gas logistics, which has unique characteristics such as a supply chain (SC) exposed to a harsh environment, the presence of several independent carriers and a highly specialised and costly set of vessels involved in long-distance transport legs.Design/methodology/approachThe study is designed as a multiple case study of two Norwegian shipping companies and two international oil and gas companies. Data were collected from several parts of the offshore service SC in several Arctic oil and gas fields.FindingsThis paper sheds light on the performance of the SC and presents key performance indicators for logistics operations. It concludes that the measurement of SC performance must be context-specific and emphasis needs to be placed on the degree of uncertainty and inter-dependency related to the SC in question.Originality/valueThe study suggests a list of context-specific key performance indicators for offshore logistics with a special emphasis on the peculiarities of a harsh operational environment.

The power of a vision: a case of climate-neutral operations in maritime shipping

Maritime shipping is facing international requirements for more environmentally-friendly operations. This research explores how a firm's strategic vision for operational sustainability of its fleet is implemented. It studies the case of a Norwegian shipping company that put its vision of a climate-neutral business into practice through integrating a change in operational procedures with an innovative business model which combines a reduction in emissions of detrimental greenhouse gases to sea or air with compensations paid to the Norwegian Rainforest Foundation. The findings show that making the vision a powerful driving force calls for discursive leadership which consciously shapes alignment around the vision as an inspiring higher-order corporate objective. Also it was found that operationalising the vision through ongoing facilitation of the strategy-making process, establishing incentives and concurrently developing a supportive business model in line with social trends are key factors for a positive outcome.

Gas Lion: The first Clyde-built gas carrier and a microcosm of Norwegian shipping

This article, based on primary sources in Norway and Scotland, tells the history of Gas Lion, the first gas tanker built on the Clyde. The ship was delivered in 1968 from Scotts’ of Greenock to Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Skipsrederi (KGJS), a newly established shipping company from Bergen, Norway. In addition to the history of the ship per se, the article addresses two additional issues. First, the analysis of the ownership and financing of the vessel provides an example of how small Norwegian shipping companies organized their funding in the late 1960s. This analysis also includes an example of how inflation and exchange rate movements drastically changed the basis for shipping investments in the 1960s and 1970s. Second, the subsequent fates of the investors that provided the equity in the venture illustrate the many and varied fortunes of Norwegian shipping companies in the last decades of the twentieth century, encompassing successes, failures and several varieties in between. Specifically the Gas Lion was the first ship managed by KGJS, which 40 years later had become one of Norway's largest shipping companies, with an international leadership position in three market segments.

The relationship between psychological capital, job satisfaction, and safety perceptions in the maritime industry

In two studies we examine whether Psychological Capital (PsyCap) is related to perceptions of safety climate and job satisfaction among maritime workers from three Norwegian shipping companies. Results from Study 1 (N=486) and Study 2 (N=594) showed that PsyCap was positively associated with – and explained between 10% and 12% of the variance in perceptions of safety climate. PsyCap contributed to the variance in safety climate after adjusting for social desirable responding. An interaction analysis indicated that officers and non-officers perceived the safety climate as similar when their PsyCap is low, but that officers with high levels of PsyCap have a more positive perception of the safety climate than non-officers with high levels of PsyCap. In Study 2 a positive association was established between safety perceptions and job satisfaction, as well as between PsyCap and job satisfaction in a multicultural sample of maritime workers. Findings from analyses of indirect effects suggest that PsyCap has an indirect (mediating) relationship with perceptions of safety climate through job satisfaction. Altogether, PsyCap and job satisfaction explained 21% of the variance in safety climate. Cross-national differences were established in that the indirect effect was only valid for European workers, and not for Filipinos. An important implication of these findings is that safety focused interventions could benefit from taking PsyCap into account in training and motivating for safety.

A brief safety climate inventory for petro-maritime organizations

The first aim of this two-study paper was to report psychometric properties of a brief 11-item measure of safety climate adapted to petro-maritime organizations. The second aim was to examine potential indicators of predictive validity. Factor structure, internal consistency, and validity analyses were performed in two independent samples. The first sample consisted of 396 personnel working on offshore oil- and gas installations in the North Sea (response rate: 42%). The second sample comprised 594 crew members working on vessels belonging to two large Norwegian shipping companies (response rate: 73%). Data from both studies supported a three factor solution labelled Individual intention and motivation, Management prioritization, and Safety routines. The subscales had good psychometric properties. The validity indicators revealed correlations between the safety climate scales and transformational and authentic leadership, risk perception, health problems, intentions to leave, and job satisfaction in the expected directions. The present study indicates that this 11-item measure has a psychometrically sound factor structure that represents a theoretically meaningful and empirically anchored expression of safety climate in a petro-maritime organization.

Bullying in work groups: The impact of leadership

The aim of this study is to examine whether and how laissez-faire, transformational, and authentic leadership styles are related to the occurrence of bullying in work groups. It is hypothesized that the investigated leadership styles have direct associations, as well as indirect associations through group cohesion and safety perceptions, with indicators of bullying among subordinates. Using a cross-sectional survey design, the variables were assessed in a randomly selected sample comprising 594 seafarers from two Norwegian shipping companies. Laissez-faire leadership was associated with an increased risk of exposure to bullying behavior, self-labeled victimization from bullying, and perpetrated bullying. Transformational leadership and authentic leadership were related to decreased risk of exposure to bullying behavior. Authentic leadership contributed to the variance in bullying beyond laissez-faire and transformational leadership. Analyses of indirect effects showed that the association between transformational leadership and bullying was fully mediated through safety perceptions, whereas a partial indirect association through safety perceptions was found for authentic leadership. This study makes a significant contribution to the literature by providing evidence for how leadership styles predict workplace bullying. The findings highlight the importance of recruiting, developing, and training leaders who promote both positive psychological capacities and positive perceptions among their subordinates.

A decision support methodology for strategic planning in maritime transportation

This paper presents a decision support methodology for strategic planning in tramp and industrial shipping. The proposed methodology combines simulation and optimization, where a Monte Carlo simulation framework is built around an optimization-based decision support system for short-term routing and scheduling. The simulation proceeds by considering a series of short-term routing and scheduling problems using a rolling horizon principle where information is revealed as time goes by. The approach is flexible in the sense that it can easily be configured to provide decision support for a wide range of strategic planning problems, such as fleet size and mix problems, analysis of long-term contracts and contract terms. The methodology is tested on a real case for a major Norwegian shipping company. The methodology provided valuable decision support on important strategic planning problems for the shipping company.

National cultures and safety orientation: A study of seafarers working for Norwegian shipping companies

Up to now, little work has been conducted on safety in relation to national culture. This paper examines the association between national culture and the safety orientation of seafarers on Norwegian-owned vessels. Safety orientation is the result of cultural, organizational, and contextual factors that create attitudes and behaviours that in turn influence safety. In this study a safety culture/orientation questionnaire was designed and used to determine risk and safety characteristics. Survey data was collected from 2,558 seafarers from 27 countries. The sample used consisted of seafarers from the 10 countries for which there were more than 10 respondents. Five national (cultural) characteristics were calculated using Hofstede's Value Survey Model 94. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that (a) the number of nationalities represented on a vessel was related to their attitude towards safety issues, such that two-nation vessels obtain relatively negative scores regarding these issues, and (b) national culture was related to safety culture, such that high power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, and high individualism were positive for safety. The implications of these findings for practice and future research are discussed.

The performance effect of innovation in shipping companies

The aim of this study is to investigate how innovation contributes to company performance in Norwegian shipping and to extend our knowledge concerning what organizational and inter-organizational factors influence innovation in shipping firms. The study is based on a survey of 46 Norwegian shipping companies. We find that innovation contributes to firm performance. We also find that a conscious strategy, strategy involvement, external relationships, especially market relationships, and productivity slack have a significant positive effect on the degree of innovation. The results are dependent upon the companies’ degree of differentiation and the type of innovation.

Safety-culture in a Norwegian shipping company

Problem: Although there has been considerable interest in safety culture and safety climate in many industries, little attention has been given to safety culture in one of the world's riskiest industries, shipping. Method: Using both self developed items and items from published research on safety culture, safety climate, and quality and management style, a 40-item safety culture questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was distributed in a self-administered form to sailors onboard 20 vessels and to officers attending a seminar in Manila. A total of 349 questionnaires were collected (total response rate, 60%). Results, discussion and impact on industry: Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed 11 factors when the Kaiser eigenvalue rule was used and four factors when the scree test criterion was used. The factor structure in the material confirmed structures found in other industries. The relative importance of the factors from the factor analysis on “level of safety” measures was tested by canonical correlation analysis and regression analysis. The results confirmed previous research and showed that the most important factors were influential across industries. To determine weather differences existed between nationalities, occupations, and vessels the factors from the PCA was subjected to Multiple Discriminant Analysis. Significant differences between occupations, nations, and vessels were found on one or more of the factors from the PCA.

Internationalisation and Foreign Direct Investment in Shipping: A Study of Norwegian Firms

The degree of internationalisation of a shipping firm is paramount to its long-term success. As a result, the paper assesses the factors that affect the relative internationalisation of shipping firms' land-based activities, such as terminals and sales offices. Based on the response from top executives of 23 Norwegian shipping companies, a multivariate model is employed to test the proposed hypotheses. Significant differences have been found between shipping companies that are domestic-based (no foreign investment) and companies that are more global. Three factors that make investment in foreign countries more attractive to shipping firms have been identified, namely: (1) a firm's possession of exceptional technology or unique experience; (2) the possibility of gaining access to unique resources in foreign markets; and (3) shipping markets with mostly long-term contracts.