Port Industry Research Articles

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.

북한의 해운·항만법제 변화 연구

The purpose of this study is to find out the implications of the revision of North Korea's Maritime and Port Law for the North Korean economy. North Korea's Maritime and Port Law was classified into three periods, and looked into two frameworks: characteristics of North Korean law and compliance with international norms.
 As a result, North Korea's shipping and port legislation presupposes international trade, so it was created within the framework of international convention from the beginning of its origin. Regardless of the time period, North Korea recognized the shipping and port industry as an important sector for economic growth, and reformed its laws to accept international norms in order to open its economy to the outside world. In addition, policy changes were made according to changes in the internal and external environment, and a causal relationship was shown in which changes in shipping and port laws were accompanied within the framework.
 The enactment and revision of the Shipping and Port Act in the 2010s, a period of expansion of economic opening to foreign countries, was more systematized and concrete compared to the previous period, and the law was reformed in the direction of mitigating discrimination against foreign ships and crew, objectivity, efficiency, and simplification of administration.
 However, in order to achieve a virtuous cycle structure in which law revision leads to industrial development, it is necessary to move towards market socialism through fundamental economic and institutional reforms.

Kajian Geoekonomi Kerja Sama Alih Teknologi Sektor Pelabuhan Antara Indonesia dan Singapura

This research describes the geoeconomic partnership built between Indonesia and Singapore. The discussion focuses on Indonesia and Singapore’s cooperation in the field of port development sector and technology transfer. In preparing this paper, the author employed a descriptive analytic research method to explore this issue. Data were gathered from a variety of literatures from different research sources, including publications and agreement documents from official, books, and scientific articles connected to the current cooperation. The cooperation between Indonesia and Singapore, which is highlighted in this publication, should focus more on the port industry, which is one of the key areas for boosting the economies of the two nations. According to an economic analysis of the port technology transfer issue, collaboration between Singapore and Indonesia is undoubtedly quite likely. It should be noted, however, that Singapore's position of managing technology independently as a necessity for sovereignty serves as a caution to Indonesia to always have a backup plan with other parties.

Analysis Of Employee Knowledge With A Safety Behavior Approach In Kendari Ocean Fisheries Industrial Area

Objectives: Development in Indonesia is so rapid in various fields, including the industrial sector, services, property, mining, transportation, and others. However, behind this progress there is a price that must be paid by the people of Indonesia, namely the negative impact it causes in the form of disasters, accidents, pollution, and occupational diseases that result in thousands of people being injured every year. Methods: This study uses a mixed method. The population in this study was selected from 3 companies using the random sampling method, namely, selecting subjects from the target sub-population using a random procedure so that the number obtained was 488 people, with a total sample of 83 people. Results: The results obtained indicate that there is a relationship between knowledge and safety behavior in the Kendari Ocean Fishing Port Industrial Area, with a calculated X2 value of 16,419. Conclusion: Management needs to increase positive reinforcer factors, for example, by giving awards in the form of praise, gifts, promotions, and so on, because behavior change tends to be easier if individuals benefit from changing their behavior.

The impact of the pandemic on the maritime transport of the Far Eastern region

The current pandemic has dealt a serious blow to the global market of the transport and logistics system. With the closure of borders, a sharp decline in demand for goods, the growth of the dollar, the volume of cargo traffic at the local and global levels has significantly decreased. The usual logistics schemes in the conditions of the pandemic ceased to operate, and many logistics companies were on the verge of economic collapse. Maritime transport was one of the first to suffer from the pandemic. Working under difficult conditions and restrictions, he continued to carry out his functions for the transportation of goods and passengers. However, the scale of the pandemic in the maritime transport of the Far Eastern region has not yet been determined, and its consequences have not been fully studied. In this regard, the regularities of the development of the port industry and shipping in the Far Eastern region during the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods are investigated. The negative consequences of the impact of the pandemic on maritime transport have been studied, the reasons for the "lengthening" of project deadlines, reducing the number of ship trips to ports, and the problems of reducing passenger traffic, including cruise shipping, have been studied. It is concluded that the pandemic has had an indirect rather than a direct impact on the maritime transport of the Far Eastern region.

Three Seas Initiative and Ukrainian Seaports’ Prospects amid Russian Aggression

After the outbreak of the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine indicated its desire to participate in the regional European Three Seas Initiative. The initiative’s basic ideas generally correspond to Ukraine’s interests and capabilities as a transit state. The significant potential of the Ukrainian port infrastructure makes Ukraine’s participation in TSI projects promising. At the same time, the prospects for the port industry in Ukraine can develop according to two different scenarios, directly determined by the course of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict and its results. Although already at this stage, providing Ukraine with new integration opportunities within the EU and changes in the EU transport policy can create the foundation for broad participation in TSI projects.

Factors Affecting Port Users’ Behavioral Intentions to Adopt Financial Technology (Fintech) in Ports in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case of Ports in Ghana

The study evaluated factors influencing port users’ intentions to participate in Financial Technology (Fintech) in the ports of Ghana. The study used non-experimental quantitative correlational design and the Extended Unified Theory of the Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) as the theoretical foundation to assess whether performance expectancy (PE), behavioral intention (BI), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), facilitating conditions (FC), hedonic motivation (HM), price value (PV), and habit (HT) were predictors of the intention of port users to participate in a Fintech program with age as a moderating factor. The sample comprised 407 individuals who work in the port industry and are between 18 and 64 years old; these were randomly selected through the SurveyMonkey platform. The study used principal component analysis (PCA), confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling to analyze and report the results. Findings show that PE, EE, and HT were predictors of the behavioral intention of port users to participate in a Fintech in the maritime and ports in Ghana. FC, SI, HM, and PV values could not predict BI for port users to enroll on a Fintech program. Neither did age have a moderating effect on the predictors variable influence on behavioral intention. This study offers a deeper insight into the adoption of Fintech in the port industry and sub-Saharan Africa. The findings can help researchers explain the variations in the UTAUT2 theoretical framework predictions relative to different sectors and disciplines. Researchers who intend to use the UTAUT2 theoretical framework to influence port users BI to enroll in the Fintech program will now consider PE, EE, and HT the most effective adoption factors. From a practical perspective, the study will help managers and stakeholders in ports in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa focus on the critical constructs as the first steps to implementing a Fintech program. On the other side, port users will also understand their role relative to performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and the habit to cultivate toward Fintech.

Seaports participation in enhancing the sustainable development goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda encourages and establishes initiatives that are important to society. In this sense, it is vital and valuable to adapt these initiatives on a sectoral basis. Therefore, this study aims to handle sustainability issues at ports within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) framework. Two targets were set. The first target is addressing the attention of European ports' sustainability disclosures to SDGs. The second target is to develop a comprehensive framework of port related sustainability initiatives to support the achievement of SDG targets. This paper is based upon a qualitative content analysis study. To consolidate the best practices, European Ports were selected as the research area. First, this study contributes to the extension of the UNSDG and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) indicator framework with port specific aspects. Therefore, it provides a comprehensive picture of port-related actions linked to each SDG goal. Secondly, it provides evidence of how European ports are aligned with SDGs. The results revealed that the port industry has the potential to contribute mainly to SDGs 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth; 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, 13 Climate Action, and 17 Partnership.

Hub port choice and shipping connectivity in Southeast Asia during COVID-19 pandemic: implications for post-pandemic competition landscape

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the container shipping and port industry in terms of its reach and scale. The research analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on hub port choice and shipping connectivity using the case of major container ports in Southeast Asia. This study enriches the definition of connectivity and proposes a new research approach that differentiates the order of port-call for mainline services. The research approach is applied to the case of major container ports in Southeast Asia for the Asia-Europe trade route. The study further analyzes hubbing strategies of major shipping lines and alliances with the application of data mining on global satellite ship data. Findings indicate shipping connectivity to have grown in Singapore particularly at the expense of Port Klang during the COVID-19 pandemic as evidenced by changes in the shipping networks of The Alliance and Ocean Alliance. The research offers important policy and managerial implications concerning the post-COVID competition landscape covering the aspects of joint venture terminals, shipping alliance networks, and container port development.

Appraisal of conservative service impacts on revenue generation in Nigerian Ports industry

This study is an appraisal of the impacts of conservative services on revenue generation in Nigerian ports. The conservative services are those operations designated by the law to be handled by the port authority in providing enabling environment for safe and secured navigation of calling vessels in and out of the ports, in which payments are made to the port authority on providing such services. The researcher considered among others, three basic conservative operations which include pilotage, towage and berthing/mooring operations. Data was collected on the number of vessels and vessel gross registered tonnage that visited the Nigerian ports for the periods 2010-2019. Port charges on the conservative services were. Ten years data series were collected for the period 2010-2019. The data series were from secondary data sources which include NPA statistics and NPA simplified tariff available online. The researcher formulated four hypotheses to answer the researcher questions on this study. Algebraic functions and regression model were used to analysis the data collected on the study. Excel and SPSS software were employed for computer based analysis. The study showed high significance of the impacts of independent variables on RGOCS of Nigerian Ports Authority. The researcher made some recommendations based on the findings and conclusion of the study.

Appraisal of conservative service impacts on revenue generation in Nigerian Ports industry

Appraisal of conservative service impacts on revenue generation in Nigerian Ports industry

ASSESSMENT OF AIR POLLUTION SCENARIO IN CEMENT FACTORY: THE MONGLA PORT INDUSTRIAL ESTATE OF BANGLADESH AS A CASE STUDY

Cement industries are responsible for huge amount of air pollution, which is harmful for relevant workers health. This study was carried out to measure the emission rate of SPM, SO2 and NO2 and impact on the workers health of cement factories of the Mongla Port Industrial Estate of Bangladesh. It has been found that the emission rate of SPM, SO2 and NO2 is above the acceptable limit of the Environmental Conservation Rule, 1997 of Bangladesh Government. As a result of air pollution, most of the workers between 15 to 50 years age groups are affected by asthma (34%) and respiratory infection (35%). Bronchitis is a major threat to the workers of above 50 years age. Again, the workers working for the long time in the cement factories are highly susceptible to the diseases like bronchitis, asthma. Except respiratory infection, female workers are more at risk of diseases happened by air pollution than male workers. The results of the study imply that immediate remedial actions are crucial to minimize the air pollution of cement factories and its impact on the workers health.

Evaluating the economic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on shipping and port industry: A case study of the port of Shanghai

The stability of shipping and port operations are crucial for international trade and global supply chain. However, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the shipping and port industry enormously in late 2019, and continues till now. It is important to identify the impacts of the pandemic on shipping and port operations and evaluate the potential economic impacts for better setting future development strategies and policies. A System Dynamics (SD) model is proposed to depict the impact transmission within the supply chain considering 5 sub-systems (shipping, port, transportation, manufacturing and social). Potential economic impacts which are represented by the shipping loss and port loss will be assessed. 6 scenarios with different epidemic durations and capacity recovery degrees have been set to investigate the economic impacts. The port of Shanghai, together with the container shipping business is selected as input for case study. Results indicate that in the first few months the port and carriers may suffer economic loss due to shrunken demand caused by COVID-19. But later carriers may enjoy an increase of income compared to non-pandemic scenario owing to strong recovery in most scenarios. Moreover, we found that manufacturing, transportation and port operation capacities would jointly affect the recovery process and economic impacts. The findings can facilitate policy makers in making port management and future industry development decisions.

선박의 항만 이접안 계획을 위한 디지털 트윈 개발

The shipping industry is a crucial part of the national industry, interested in efficiently managing the operation of ships and ports to increase national competitiveness. The smart port industry is a topic of international interest, and we want to apply digital twins to make it a reality. A digital twin implements a real-world object in a virtual environment, significantly reducing costs and risks when used in operational experiments on ships and terminals. The Busan New Port Container Terminal was implemented as a digital twin, considering the waiting cost in the port of the ship, the terminal operation cost to handle the container, and the towing cost incurred when the ship is berthing. The efficiency of the berth plan was improved by comparing the berth plan before and after digital twin application for June 2021 of the PNIT Pier of Busan New Port. This study provided additional tugboat planning to the berth plan, increased the berth layout productivity, shortened the update cycle compared with the existing berth plan, and developed a long-term berth plan. Future studies are expected to optimize the scheduling of autonomous ships and ports.

Evaluation of Gender Equality Criteria Related to Social Sustainability in Ports

Ports are developing sustainability frameworks in order to cope with latest requirements from the stakeholders. Economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability are the three pillars of the topic. Although economic and environmental aspects of sustainability in ports are widely researched in the literature, the social dimension of gender equality research is scarce. To fill the gap, it is important to identify the most important efforts for improving gender equality in ports. The aim of this study is to evaluate the gender equality criterias by port executives in terms of social sustainability. For this purpose, one of the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods, Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) was used to evaluate the priority weights of five criterias in Turkey. The results show that recruitment policy is the most important criteria in the field. Therefore, some suggestions are made to port industry to become more socially sustainable by minimizing the gender gap.

Vessel charges estimation by using geospatial approach for Kuantan Port, Pahang

Rapid changes in global shipping transportation introduce numerous technologies, among them known as “Automated Identification System (AIS)”. AIS is a transponder system that continuously transmits vessel information data between nearby vessels and shore stations via “Very High Frequency (VHF)” signals channels. In the recent past, a majority of the ports in the world use AIS to monitor and handle vessel activities within their jurisdiction. Nevertheless, there are integration issues with other information systems such as Geographic Information System (GIS) for marine and maritime environments. In regards to these issues, this study highlights the study of vessel charges estimation by using a geospatial approach for Port Kuantan, Pahang. The methodology involves tasks such as reviewing the current practice of vessel port charges estimation, undertaking geospatial analysis for vessel movement charges, estimating and validating charges for selected vessels. The result shows the information of vessel movement that is used to estimate specific vessel charges where finally this result is validated using Kuantan Port Consortium (KPC) charges system known as “Estimation Charges”. To conclude, the vessel charges estimation enables the integration between AIS and GIS in solving the problem of maritime transportation at port industries.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS AS A TOOL FOR IMPROVING THE SEAPORTS PRODUCTIVITY

The object of the study is a seaport as a transport hub with an internal infrastructure consisting of various departments whose actions are coordinated by the management system. It is noted that the introduction of information systems into the port management structure allows coordinating actions between port departments and external partners. The seaport is considered as a system consisting of subsystems, information about the state of which allows to streamline the processes of cargo movement, to carry out the activities of the port for a certain planning period and to make decisions in case of non-standard situations. It is noted in the paper that loading and unloading operations in the port are carried out by means of lifting and transport equipment, which has recently been produced with automatic and automated control. Attention is drawn to the fact that automated loading and transport equipment and related technologies for processing and tracking storage locations of processed goods contribute to improving the seaports efficiency. It is emphasized that the use of information technologies in seaports reduces the errors probability that may occur due to the human factor, contributes to the optimization of technological processes and reduces vehicle downtime. It is particularly noted that the development of information systems contributes to the integration of the cargo plan of the seaport with the shift-daily plan and the arrival of vehicles for processing, which allows for the operational management of the seaport. These data indicate that information resources are an economic value and act as one of the factors of seaport management. The information technologies used in the transport industry are considered and trends in the development of information systems of the port economy are identified in the paper. Based on the analysis of literary sources, it is concluded that the introduction of information technologies in ports contributes to increasing productivity and strengthening cooperation between interested parties in the transport sphere of activity. Smart ports will allow the port industry to interact with external enterprises with higher accuracy, openness and transparency, thereby improving relations and efficiency.

Implications of COVID-19 on the US container port distribution system: import cargo routing by Walmart and Nike

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implications of COVID-19 on container import flows via the US port distribution system. We employ statistics collected for more than 21 US ports and for more than 550,000 container shipments by Walmart and Nike to identify trends and potential shifts in the US port distribution system. Results unveil different changes in distribution channels during the pandemic era, between aggregated port level and industry level. These differences are specific to firms and could be explained by the origin of flows, carrier selection to transport cargos and US port/inland distribution systems. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the different role played by ports for industries (retailers, footwear and apparel) and shows that the ability to adapt supply chains to a major disruption remains subject to the initial choices on the location of production, on carrier choices and on port/inland distribution networks.

The coupling effect between economic development and the urban ecological environment in Shanghai port

With the rapid development of ports in the world today, the ecological environment pollution of port cities is becoming more and more serious. How to coordinate the port industry and the urban environment is an urgent problem to be solved. This article proposes a system to evaluate the coordination between port industry chain development and the urban ecological environment by taking Shanghai Port as an example. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method was applied to calculate the weights of various indexes, then the Coupling Coordination Degree Model (CCDM) was adopted to systematically study the coordination relationship between port industry development and the urban ecological environment. Our research finds the coupling coordination degree between Shanghai Port's economic development and the urban ecological environment shows an overall upward trend, changing from severely misaligned in 2000 (0.125) to barely coordinated in 2019 (0.691). Shanghai has achieved some results in constructing the ecological environment and green port, but there is still much room for improvement. Shanghai port needs to strengthen container transportation, enhance energy conservation and emission reduction, and vigorously promote the development of a green port. This study will provide a basis and reference for relevant institutions, government departments, and policymakers to formulate scientific and effective green port industry chain development strategies.