Port Industry Research Articles

Vietnam ports: becoming a new leader?

Vietnam's port system occupies a special place in the East Asian region, which is currently the world leader in the port industry and sea transportation. Over the past twenty years, Vietnam has been significantly ahead of its regional neighbors in terms of the average annual increase in port capacity. High port indicators become a response to an active state policy in this area. The article is devoted to the study of the increasing role of Vietnamese ports in the East Asian port system, the analysis of the current development and key problems of the port industry of Vietnam.

Innovation ecosystems in ports: a comparative analysis of Rotterdam and Valencia

The term ‘innovation ecosystem’ has become popular among stakeholders involved in innovation. The core idea is that innovation does not thrive through isolated actions of individual companies, but rather depends on a broad array of interrelated actors, institutions and policies. In this paper, we apply the concept of innovation ecosystems to ports by first providing a theoretical overview of its components and then comparing the efforts to build such an ecosystem in the port cities of Rotterdam and Valencia. Our main findings are as follows. First, the importance of innovation for the ability of ports to continue to create ‘value for society’ is widely acknowledged. Second, research and development (R&D) activities in both Rotterdam and Valencia are relatively limited and the dominant innovation challenge is the early application of new technologies developed outside the ports industry. Third, a ‘systemic approach’ is required to understand the innovation ecosystem in ports, given the strong interrelations among companies in the port and the need for broad coalitions to implement new technologies. Fourth and fifth, human capital formation and research cooperation, respectively, play a central role in improving the port innovation ecosystem. Finally, the ecosystem in Rotterdam is ‘distributed and connected’ while Valencia is more centralised.

Towards sustainable port management: Data-driven global container ports turnover rate assessment

Accurate assessment of port turnover rate is essential for port operators and shipping carriers to benchmark and improve their operations. This study proposes a standardized method to estimate the port turnover rate based on satellite data of ocean ships. This method can be generalized to accommodate ports of different geographic and operational characteristics with minimum input and running times. To achieve the research objective, we first construct berth polygon areas for terminals based on Greatmaps (GMap) visual technique. Then, two tailor-made algorithms are proposed to estimate the berthing time of ship in a berthing event. Finally, we assess the port turnover rate with aggregate berthing time at a port and its historical port throughput. Assuming that the turnover rate is unchanged in the short term, we can use the estimated turnover to estimate the monthly throughput of global ports. The findings suggest the average Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of our estimation is 3.84%. Standardized and high-frequency port statistics are highly valued by the industry but very costly to access. The proposed method makes high-frequency port turnover rate and throughput available for a wide range of users. The statistics and findings will enhance standardization and transparency of port statistics and promote the sustainable development of port industry.

Evaluating The Prospects of Financial Performance After Merger at PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Persero

Port is a gateway which facilitates connection between regions, islands and even continents as well as between nations that can develop the hinterland area behind or also known as the area of influence. Previously, to manage ports in Indonesia, four state-owned ports were formed that play a role in the development and operation of national ports which were divided based on different regions, namely PT Pelabuhan Indonesia I (Persero)/Pelindo I, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II (Persero)/Pelindo II, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia III (Persero)/Pelindo III, and PT Pelabuhan Indonesia IV (Persero)/Pelindo IV which have their respective operating areas coverage.. The separation of BUMN Ports into several operating areas contributes to the challenges of the national port industry. The merger of SOE Ports is expected to have significant benefits for stakeholders such as the government.
 This research aims to evaluate the prospect financial performance of PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Persero) after merger by comparing the financial ratio before and after merger , as well as comparing the financial ratio of PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Persero) with another 12 Global Port Company using descriptive analysis and K-Means Clustering.
 The research result shows that the financial performance before merger decreased, the company ‘s financial performance cluster before merger is low (in the 3rd cluster) and yje company financial performance after the merger is stable on the 3rd cluster. Therefore, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Persero) need to formulate several strategy to increase their financial performance especially in optimizing their assets and inventory to have more efficient operational to generate higher sales.

Ports, crime and security: governing and policing seaports in a changing world By Anna Sergi, Alexandria Reid, Luca Storti, Marleen Easton, Bristol University Press. 2021. £80.00 (hbk). ISBN: 978‐152921771

Regional Science Policy & PracticeEarly View BOOK REVIEW Ports, crime and security: governing and policing seaports in a changing world By Sergi, , Reid, , Storti, , Easton, , Bristol University Press. 2021. £80.00 (hbk). ISBN: 978-152921771 Marco Antonelli, Corresponding Author Marco Antonelli [email protected] Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, ItalySearch for more papers by this author Marco Antonelli, Corresponding Author Marco Antonelli [email protected] Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, ItalySearch for more papers by this author First published: 03 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/rsp3.12673Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. REFERENCES Bottalico, A. (2022). Innovation and labor in the port industry: A comparison between Genoa and Antwerp. Journal of Business Logistics, 43(3), 368– 387. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbl.12303 Brooks, M. R., & Cullinane, K. (2007). Devolution, port governance and port performance. Elsevier. Kleemans, E. R. (2018). Organized crime and places. In G. J. N. Bruinsma & S. D. Johnson (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of environmental criminology. Oxford University Press. 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190279707.013.24 Sergi, A. (2020). Policing the port, watching the city. Manifestations of organised crime in the port of Genoa. Policing and Society, 31(6), 639– 655. 10.1080/10439463.2020.1758103 Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue ReferencesRelatedInformation

Forecasting future electric power consumption in Busan New Port using a deep learning model

As smart and environmentally friendly technologies and equipment are introduced in the sea port industry, electric power consumption is expected to rapidly increase. However, there is a paucity of research on the creation of electric power management plans, specifically in relation to electric power consumption forecasting, in ports. In order to address this gap, this study forecasts future electric power consumption in Busan New Port (South Korea's largest container port) and, comparing this with the current standard electric power supply capacity, investigated the feasibility of maintaining a stable electric power supply in the future. We applied a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model trained using electric power consumption and throughput data of the last 10 years to forecast the future electric power consumption of Busan New Port. According to the results, electric power consumption is expected to increase at an annual average of 4.9 % until 2040, exceeding the predicted annual 4.7 % increase in throughput during the same period. Given these results, the current standard electric power supply capacity is forecast to reach only 35 % of demand in 2040, indicating that additional electrical power supply facilities will be needed for stable port operation in the future.

우리나라 항만산업 분야 적정인력 산정 연구: 평택당진항 항만배후단지 사례

The primary purpose of this study is to clarify the scope of the responsibilities and tasks and to evaluate the appropriate manpower at the port hinterland in Pyeongtaek-Dangjin Port, South Korea. It is expected that this will not only lead to the stabilization and sophistication of the operation and management of the port hinterland and strengthen competitiveness, but also contribute to the improvement of the business expertise of the practitioners in charge of this and the improvement of the work environment. Above all, the methodology and analysis results of this research have a greater significance since there are no studies of application in the existing port industry.

How Does Trade Policy Uncertainty Affect Supply Chain Efficiency: A Case Study of Listed Companies of Chinese Port Industry

This paper uses a data sample from listed companies in the national port industry from 2007 to 2020 to systematically explore the impact of trade policy uncertainty on the supply chain efficiency of listed companies in the national port industry and its mechanism based on the events of Sino–US trade policy changes. It is found that the increase in trade policy uncertainty significantly reduces the enterprises’ supply chain efficiency. The further influence channel test shows that the increase of trade policy uncertainty inhibits the improvement of enterprises’ supply chain efficiency by reducing the export quantity and technological innovation channel of enterprises. From the perspective of trade policy changes, this paper provides a new explanation for understanding the dynamic changes in the supply chain efficiency of Chinese enterprises in recent years and enriches relevant research on evaluating the economic effects of trade policy uncertainty.

Performance audit evaluation of marine development projects based on SPA and BP neural network model

Abstract Accurately grasping the comprehensive cost-benefit and influencing factors of various marine development projects is of great significance to the promotion of high-quality marine development. This work screened and constructed the performance audit evaluation index system of comprehensive cost-benefit of marine development projects from the four aspects including society, economy, resources, and environment. The entropy weight set pair analysis (SPA) was used to audit and evaluate the comprehensive cost-benefit of 15 marine development projects during the construction and operation period. The back propagation (BP) neural network model was used to test the results. The main influencing factors were analyzed by the grey relational analysis (GRA) model. It was found that the comprehensive cost-benefit performance audit evaluation index of the six projects of marine protected area and offshore wind power were higher than the other nine projects of mariculture, sewage dumping, and port industry. The main influencing factors were economic net income, loss of wetland ecological service value, environmental pollution prevention and control cost, new addition employment rate, etc. The countermeasures suggestions were put forward.

AI-Empowered Speed Extraction via Port-Like Videos for Vehicular Trajectory Analysis

Automated container terminal (ACT) is considered as port industry development direction, and accurate kinematic data (speed, volume, etc.) is essential for enhancing ACT operation efficiency and safety. Port surveillance videos provide much useful spatial-temporal information with advantages of easy obtainable, large spatial coverage, etc. In that way, it is of great importance to analyze automated guided vehicle (AGV) trajectory movement from port surveillance videos. Motivated by the newly emerging computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, we propose an ensemble framework for extracting vehicle speeds from port-like surveillance videos for the purpose of analyzing AGV moving trajectory. Firstly, the framework exploits vehicle position in each image via a feature-enhanced scale-aware descriptor. Secondly, we match vehicle position and trajectory data from the previous step output via Kalman filter and Hungarian algorithm, and thus we obtain the vehicular imaging trajectory in a frame-by-frame manner. Thirdly, we estimate the vehicular moving speed in real-world via the help of perspective projection theory. The experimental results suggest that our proposed framework can obtain accurate vehicle kinematic data under typical port traffic scenarios considering that the average measurement error of root mean square deviation is 0.675 km/h, the mean absolute deviation is 0.542 km/h, and the Pearson correlation coefficient is 0.9349. The research findings suggest that cutting-edge AI and computer vision techniques can accurately extract on-site vehicular trajectory related data from port videos, and thus help port traffic participants make more reasonable management decisions.

The Dynamic Effects of the Foreign Economic Shocks on the Korean Port Industry

Although the port industry is very important in the Korean economy, there are few literature studies that shed light on the macroeconomic implications of the business cycles in this industry. This paper examines the roles played by foreign economic factors in the business cycle in the Korean port industry. Specifically, it aims to estimate the impulse response of the seaborne freight volume in the port industry due to the shocks of the foreign economy and analyze the contributions of each shock considered on the variation in the freight volume. The structural FAVAR (SFAVAR) model was employed to extract the unobserved foreign economic factors. This paper estimates the four foreign economic factors and the parameters of the model using the one-step Bayesian Gibbs sampling method. The findings of this study show that foreign economic activity statistically affects the freight volume of the Korean ports. Specifically, the shocks to the foreign real economic activity increased freight transportation for nearly one year. Following the world inflation shocks, the freight transportation was enhanced. However, this impact disappeared after a year. Similarly, the rise in global liquidity was shown to encourage transportation activity; nevertheless, this activity declined after five quarters. Moreover, the increase in the world interest rates exerted a negative effect on the volume of transportation. Furthermore, the variance decomposition analysis shows that 49.2% of the variation in the transportation volume could be attributed to foreign economic activity. This analysis can contribute to drawing useful implications in establishing the port industry policy in response to the change in the economic environment such as the foreign economy.

EU-Funded Energy-Related Projects for Sustainable Ports: Evidence from the Port of Piraeus

Energy matters are a challenge for many ports and port industry stakeholders, especially in today’s rapidly changing environment and on the back of multiple transitions in the sector. In particular, mainstreaming environmental targets and sustainability in port operation and development affects strategic choices. This article focuses on EU-funded energy-related projects in the Port of Piraeus, presenting field evidence in the form of a case study. We take stock of efforts undertaken, results achieved and impacts of the projects so far, in order to provide useful insights for the industry, but also reflections on policy and governance in this subject area. We argue that implemented projects have created added value for the port and clearly helped achieve its stated objectives, in relation to both energy and environmental issues and promoting sustainability. What is more, goal-setting has often been initiated within the framework of the projects and/or their implementation. In addition, project identification and implementation have produced positive externalities for the port, thus laying the groundwork for further change. Project impacts obviously depend on many different factors, as well as on their interaction. The momentum for EU-funded energy-related projects in the port sector will hold up and most probably grow, as will mainstreaming sustainability. Industry, policy and governance need to step up their efforts in order to maximise results.

A Study on Port (Terminals) Operational Efficiency Analysis Using PCA-DEA Approach: Focusing on Container Terminals on Busan Port

Previous literature has recognised the importance of port efficiency to port performance, and two popular methodologies of DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) and SFA (Stochastic Frontier Analysis) have been widely applied to efficiency evaluation. However, there seems a limitation of lacking objectivity when selecting the variables of inputs and outputs. Meanwhile, as for the largest port in Korea, although many related efficiency studies already exist for Busan Port, most of them are founded on a whole port level basis while seldom on the container terminal level. Therefore, to fill the gap, this paper introduces a PCA (Principal Component Analysis) - DEA approach to research the operational efficiency of nine container terminals of Busan Port with the latest data of 2021. The PCA-DEA port (terminal) evaluation approach is practical and unbiased, and it may have some special practical value for the port industry. Container throughput is set as the output, and 13 variables from three scopes of land, facilities and labour are identified as inputs, followed by PCA which eventually detects three indictors of “No. transfer crane (RMGC) in yard”, “Staff average salary” and “Container freight station (CFS) space” as the core inputs representing the above three dimensions. Then, the DEA (CCR) and DEA (BCC) models are used to gain the assessment results: “PNIT, “PNC” and “HJNC” are DEA efficiency, while others of “HPNT”, “BNCT”, “Jaseongdae”, “Shinseondae”, “Gamman” and “Shin Gamman” are non-DEA efficiency. In addition, to achieve the target efficiency for the non-effective terminals, this paper confirms improvements through Return to Scale (ROS) and input redundancy discussion. This study objectively evaluates port terminals and provides useful data when establishing strategies to strengthen port efficiency and competitiveness in the future.

Quantitative evaluation of China’s shipping decarbonization policies: The PMC-Index approach

In the past few decades, ship-source GHG emissions have increased significantly. As a large country with massive shipping activities, China has issued a number of governmental policies with the aim of promoting shipping decarbonization and achieving green shipping. This study adopts the Policy Modeling Consistency Index (PMC-Index) approach to quantitatively evaluate 15 representative policies that are dealing with shipping decarbonization affairs to different extents in China. The results show that there exists an overall good policy consistency with the average PMC index scoring 6.26, but all studied policies have certain aspects to be further improved. By reviewing these representative policies, it reveals that more emphasis has been placed by the Chinese government on the development and application of clean energy, coordination between shipping and port industries, and governance mechanism for shipping decarbonisation issues. In addition, two policy implications are draw for policy-makers in China.

Port Competitiveness Criteria for Transshipment Container Market: A Turkish Port Industry Application

Port Competitiveness Criteria for Transshipment Container Market: A Turkish Port Industry Application

Designing urban ports for improved coastal ecosystem services: Lessons learnt for enhancing biodiversity and reducing social-ecological conflicts

Ports are expanding urban systems worldwide which provide important economic benefits to local economies. But port land reclamation together with infrastructure deployment and operations, produce unprecedented pressure on surrounding coastal ecosystems. Thus, the implementation of effective management strategies to deal with social-environmental conflicts is often required. Only a few studies have addressed the socio-ecological link between port impact on coastal ecosystem services and how this related to social conflicts. Here, we use multidisciplinary research to address these questions considering two ports located in Coquimbo city-port (29°S) in Chile, as our study port-system. Index scores of port impacts on urban natural ecosystem services and the city were calculated from known drivers of decline. Questionnaires were used to identify local citizens’ concerns about port operations and expansion. Our results demonstrated significant pressures from port infrastructure and operations on maritime but also in shoreland coastal ecosystem services, which were perceived as a critical environmental concern by local respondents. There was low knowledge, but positive appreciation, of ecological engineering initiatives in urban environments to rehabilitate ecosystem attributes. Field experiments showed that biodiversity enhancement of port infrastructure is effective, and might be a good initiative to link people with the port. Our results suggest that port industries must engage in more explicit initiatives to compensate for the environmental impacts of the expansion of built infrastructure, resulting in more effective integration of these urban systems with natural ecosystems.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON DECISION CRITERIA FOR PORT PERSONNEL USING HYBRID ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS (H-AHP)

The demand for talented labor to serve the maritime logistics, particularly in port operations, is growing as the industry expands globally. This requires professional competency in terms of manpower and skills that must be developed effectively. Furthermore, considering the harm done to the industry from the COVID-19 pandemic, capable professionals in port management are a crucial part to reviving the business and its long-term growth and viability. This study explores the criteria for the needed talent from the perspective of port logistics experts using the following multicriteria decision making (MCDM) approaches: Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Preference Ranking Organization System Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE). The objective of this study is to identify the important criteria for personnel performance evaluation in the port marine logistics industry. In order to determine the performance evaluation framework for personnel performance evaluation, the study uses the AHP method to calculate the weightage of the criteria. The highest weightage is Work Attitude (0.560), followed by Job Performance (0.298) and Work Ability (0.120). Lastly, in order to identify the suitable hybrid MCDM approaches for personnel performance evaluation in the port marine logistics industry, three different MCDM approaches (AHP, TOPSIS and PROMETHEE) were used and the results show that the AHP is the best MCDM method to rank the personnel in the port industry by obtaining the highest Kendall’s Tau coefficient of 0.619.

Smartening up Ports Digitalization with Artificial Intelligence (AI): A Study of Artificial Intelligence Business Drivers of Smart Port Digitalization

Artificial intelligence (AI) is digitalizing transportation at sea, on land, and in the air. It has the potential to cut human error and make operations faster. However, AI is one part of a broader process to digitize and improve port operations. AI digitalization and autonomous shipping are critical in the port world; AI allows human work to be shifted toward digital platforms that are currently not fully capable. Following this, the ports industry can be sketched as a natural fit for applying AI technology, known for its complicated processes and the high proportion of human work intervention. This paper aims to analyze and explore the artificial intelligence Business Drivers of Smart Port Digitalization. This study employs the exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) approaches using Advance Managed Outsourced Solutions (AMOS) based on a ports communities operation management view. Then propose new AI-Ports initiatives. The value-added core tasks of ports are examined to determine the possible utilization of AI technology and the AI adoption within the ports community.

Overseas ports of China: evolution, geography, investment structure.

The beginning of the formation of a targeted process of using overseas Chinese port investments was stimulated by the new national policy of openness to the outside world, the strategy of "Going global". Over the past two decades, China's port industry and shipping have developed rapidly due to integration into the world economy, as well as the rapid development of China's own economy and foreign trade. Taking full advantage of the experience and advantages of building ports inland, China is promoting the improvement of port infrastructure in countries along the Maritime Silk Road, which contributes to the development of the port industry and the economy of the hinterland in the host country. At present, China regards the 21st century Maritime Silk Road as a new concept and an important strategy for national development, establishing a new international economic and political order. Forms of cooperation with countries in terms of port construction are diverse and effective. The article provides a periodization of the investment development of foreign port construction by Chinese capital, due to the influence of state policy and development strategies of the PRC. Although the current geographical structure of China's overseas port investment is highly decentralized, it covers the global shipping area and covers strategic maritime regions, straits and bays. The overseas port structure of China is analyzed in the article from the point of view of regional distribution by types of investment projects, the capital ratio of Chinese companies, ways and mechanisms of China's entry into foreign ports.

ЦИФРОВА ТРАНСФОРМАЦІЯ ІНФРАСТРУКТУРИ МОРСЬКИХ ПОРТОВИХ КЛАСТЕРІВ

The article highlights the potential of digital transformation in optimizing maritime port clusters. A primary focus is given to the implementation of blockchain technologies to ensure transparency, security, and efficiency of information flows. Digital transformation is highly significant for seaport clusters, as it enhances the efficiency and competitiveness of these facilities. The authors examine the need for business process and management strategy adaptation to maximize the benefits of technological upgrades. Port clusters must learn to swiftly respond to changing market conditions, leveraging digital innovations to maintain competitiveness and steady growth. The integration of "green" technologies also appears promising for the sustainable development of the port industry. The article discusses the role of a specialized portal that facilitates coordination and integration of port activity participants, improving service quality and optimizing responses to market challenges. Based on research conducted, the authors have constructed a diagram outlining the functional capabilities of the portal for a seaport cluster. This diagram serves to identify the key functional components of the portal, and to improve comprehension and optimise processes taking place within the seaport cluster. The portal facilitates centralised control and management, enhancing seaport cluster productivity, safety and competitiveness. The authors analysed the platform's integrated capabilities to optimise seaport cluster activities. These functionalities aim to enhance resource management, streamline logistics processes and promote collaboration among different members of the port cluster. This, in turn, leads to better productivity and rational resource utilization. The study's results demonstrated that implementing digital transformation via blockchain technology in seaport clusters using a portal enhances operation management and security. Additionally, it encourages resource optimization and industry sustainability, thereby rendering it more competitive and viable amidst present-day demands and challenges.