Quay Length Research Articles

EFFICIENCY ASSESSMENT OF SOME DANUBE PORTS BY USING DEA WINDOW ANALYSIS

The aim of this paper is to empirically assess the efficiency / inefficiency of five Danube ports in five neighbouring countries and to observe how it evolves over an eight-year period ranging from 2014 to 2021. The five ports are located on the lower course of the Danube River and are the most important in their states: Smederevo (Serbia), Ruse (Bulgaria), Galați (Romania), Giurgiulești (Moldova), and Izmail (Ukraine). The study uses a mixed-method, namely the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) window analysis method and Andersen and Petersenʼs super-efficiency model to evaluate the efficiency of these ports over time. Port efficiency analysis is based on a single output, i.e. the cargo throughput, and four inputs: the total port area, the total area of warehouses, the quay length, and the number of cranes. It was determined that none of the five ports analysed reaches the maximum efficiency of 1.000, their average efficiency being quite low, only 0.631. The highest average efficiency is recorded by the Serbian port of Smederevo, with 0.768, this port being found to make good use of its resources for production. On the other extreme, the Bulgarian port of Ruse was found to be the least efficient port, obtaining the lowest average efficiency over an eight-year period, with only 0.360. The study tries to capture the causes of the inefficiency of selected ports and propose some measures to improve their efficiency.

Contextual Comparative Analysis of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa Port Performance by Using a Hybrid DEA(CVA) Model

Background: This research conducts a contextual comparative analysis between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa ports, employing a hybrid data envelopment analysis (DEA) model that integrates the contextual value-added approach (CVA). The assessment incorporates various inputs (quay length, number of cranes, and storage area) and outputs (number of ship calls and cargo throughput) to compute efficiency scores, offering nuanced insights into the strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement of both ports. Methods: The hybrid DEA model with CVA is applied to calculate efficiency scores, considering the diverse inputs and outputs. This approach allows for a comprehensive evaluation of the relative performance of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa ports. The study also explores the influence of trade-related externalities on port efficiency, providing a holistic understanding of the factors shaping the ports’ operational effectiveness. Results: The efficiency scores depict distinctive performance trends between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa ports. Notably, Dar es Salaam exhibits maximum efficiency (efficiency value of 1) in 2018 and 2021, while Mombasa attains optimal performance (efficiency value of 1) in 2021. However, efficiency values fluctuate for both ports in other years, ranging between 0.895 and 0.985 for Mombasa and 0.924 and 0.960 for Dar es Salaam. Conclusions: This study highlights the dynamic efficiency levels of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa ports over multiple years and identifies critical factors influencing their performance. The findings contribute valuable insights to the field of port analysis, offering guidance to port management and policymakers in optimizing the efficiency and competitiveness of these vital maritime hubs.

Quay partitioning problem

AbstractIn this paper, we introduce the quay partitioning problem (QPP), that is, a problem of partitioning quay length into berths for minimum ship waiting time. Such a problem arises when designing the terminal layout. Two schemes of quay layout are considered: with at most one ship in a berth and with at most two ships in a berth. Ship arrival times, service times, lengths, and weights are given. We show that QPP is NP‐hard. The two versions of QPP are formulated as mixed integer linear programs (MIPs). Scalability of solving QPPs as MIPs is studied. We investigate, analytically and in computational experiments, features of the QPP solutions such as (i) changes in solution quality when one long berth length is used versus choosing various berth lengths flexibly, (ii) what lengths of berths are chosen when ship lengths mixture is changing, (iii) what is the impact of congestion on the chosen berth lengths, and (iv) how much is one quay layout scheme better than the other.

Performance efficiency assessment of Vietnamese ports: An application of Delphi with Kamet principles and DEA model

Ports form important links in the overall trade chain and act as driving forces for marine economic development. However, the operation of ports also has certain difficulties and challenges that port operators need to overcome. As such, this research aims to measure the performance efficiency of 22 ports listed in the stock market in Vietnam – a developing country with notable progress and role in global seaborne transport. The hybrid method of Delphi technique with KAMET principle and input and output – oriented DEA method was applied to solve the problem of efficiency assessment. The Delphi technique with KAMET principle was used to determine the efficiency evaluation criteria whilst the input and output – oriented DEA was employed to measure the efficiency. The findings show that capital, operation expenses, labour, port area, quay length, depth, revenue, and cargo throughputs are considered as input and output variables in the port efficiency evaluation. Additionally, it is also concluded in the research that scale and management skills are the dominant source of efficiency and Vietnamese ports show rather high management skills. Moreover, comprehensive and multi-variable assessment of port system may bring lots of benefits not only to the decision-making units but also the maritime authorities within constraint funds.

COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF OPERATIONS EFFICIENCY BETWEEN MAJOR SEAPORTS IN SOUTHERN AND EASTERN AFRICA USING DEA WINDOW ANALYSIS

The operations efficiency of Southern and Eastern Africa seaports was evaluated using DEA window analysis covering the period of ten years (2010-2019). The operations efficiency among the selected seaports from South and East African countries were compared and evaluated. The container throughput (TEUs), the available number of cranes, the quay length, the number of berths obtainable to hold up ships and total terminal area have been used as variables for input and output. The findings were; East African seaports have a lower container throughput volume (TEUs) and are smaller seaports size compared to South African seaports, but these East Africa seaports in general are more efficient than South African seaports. However, Durban seaport specifically in South Africa has been found to be the most efficient seaport among the six selected seaports from both regions (South and East African seaports). Moreover, the findings revealed that the least efficient seaport for the selected region over ten years is Walvis Bay seaport in South Africa. In this regard, policy maker should embrace the private and public investments as financial alternative sources. The timely, investment in port promotes a culture to modernise seaports so as to cope with the technological changes in maritime transport and improves seaport competitiveness and quality of services. The finding will be important in considering the selection of the future development strategies to be implemented by the seaports which are involved in this study.

Berth Allocation Model for Container Terminal using Genetic Algorithm Technique: Case of Apapa Wharf, Lagos, Nigeria

The Nigeria ports plays a vital role in socio-economic growth by being a cheap mode of conveying shipments for importation and exportation. The number of vessels coming into the Nigerian ports every year is on the average of about 4,900. A well flourishing and efficient ports and cargo management will in no doubt put a developing economy such as Nigeria in a leading pedestal with developed nations. Thus, stakeholders in container terminals are concerned about discharging containers as fast as possible, with the purpose of saving terminal costs. This study is driven to minimize the time being used up by ships in container terminal using genetic algorithm (GA) and thus attain maximum efficiency. The limited berth space in the wharf lead to berth allocation problem (BAP) and an optimal solution is required. Moreover, high berth occupancy results in congestion where vessels are queuing to be served. This leads to high turn-around time and results in bad service for the container terminal. The aim of this study is to develop and implement a genetic algorithm based model for berth allocation (i.e. GAMBA) with the view to minimize the total delay times of vessels at container terminals. A study of the operations in Apapa wharf was done with the view to understand the berth allocation process vis-à-vis the challenges therein. The relevant parameters required for berth allocation were identified and GAMBA was developed using the identified parameters. GAMBA was implemented using real life data collected from the container terminal, Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria. The results showed that increasing the quay length by 250m has a very similar outcome on the container port’s efficiency as reducing the proportion of increasing handling time by 0.0025 h/m. This revealed that the outcome on the container port’s efficiency by increasing the quayside length was the same as reducing the proportion of increasing management time. Based on these results, the optimized allocation of container storage and the automation of the handling process can be proposed as cheaper alternatives to construction and development of the containers port in relation to increasing the productivity of the port.

BENCHMARKING PERFORMANCE OF BRAZILIAN CONTAINER TERMINALS AND THE REST OF THE WORLD

A variety of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are commonly used to measure the performance in a container terminal. The assessment proposed in this article, and also possible to compare different assets under the same conditions, are driven by reliable data available publicly. Therefore, the benchmark KPIs outlined in this article refer to the total teu handled in a year by the total major physical resources available in a container terminal, i.e., the quay length, the quay gantry cranes and the yard space. For this purpose, it has been used the Drewry’s database containing relevant up-to-date yearly data ranging from total throughput to infrastructure features of many terminals handling a relevant minimum number of boxes. It has been proved that the size and scale of terminals tend to make them more efficient as they focus on container handling and deploy resources to this reason being. The performance of Brazilian terminals has proved itself usually below regional and world average, but the country has recently been through a period of significant investment improvement in the container port infrastructure, which has led the country to leave from a situation of under capacity to a current relative overcapacity.

Berth Allocation in a Bulk Terminal with Overall Quay Length Constraint

Motivated by the operation of bulk terminal in the Pearl River Delta, we study a berth allocation problem (BAP) with 2 berths and overall quay length constraint. The quay length occupied by a vessel depends on its berthing directions. The feasible berthing direction changes in a tide cycle. The objective is to minimize the total service of all vessels. We develop a mixed integer programming (MIP) model for the problem. We also propose an efficient genetic algorithm to tackle the problem. Our computational experiments show that the mixed integral programming model can only be solved by CPLEX for small-size instances, the genetic algorithm obtains good approximation solutions for large-size instances.

Assessment of the impact of Charter Party clauses and port’s characteristics on the port’s financial result

Some ports belong to one single shipper, which plans the port operation according to the affreightment contract with the shipowner, known as Charter Party. Therefore, it is important to plan the port operation based on the Charter Party, mainly considering dispatch and demurrage, to achieve a better financial result to the port. This paper proposes a mathematical model and a metaheuristic to plan the port operation, considering dispatch and demurrage, aiming to increase the dispatch received and to reduce the demurrage paid by the shipper, which is the owner of the port. We tested 300 instances based on the major Brazilian wood pulp port, aiming to assess the impact of Charter Party clauses (layday, laytime, dispatch and demurrage) and port’s characteristics (quay’s length and operation time) in the port’s financial result. Results show that layday, demurrage and quay's length had higher negative impact on the port's financial result than the other assessed parameters.

Efficiency Analysis with Different Models: The Case of Container Ports

This paper estimates and compares the technical efficiency of the container ports using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) models and check the role of the characteristics of infrastructure on container port efficiency. The comparisons are based on cross-sectional data for 26 world’s major container ports in 2015 using an input variables related to the characteristics of port infrastructure, such as: the total quay length (meter), the maximum alongside depth (meter), the total terminal area (square meter) and the storage capacity thousand Twenty-foot equivalent unit (thousand TEU/year). The result represents the mean DEA-SFA efficiency differential. DEA-BCC model results indicate that 16 container ports have more than 0.5 score efficiency while with the SFA models all container ports achieved score efficiency more than 0.5. The results show that SFA models improve the score technical efficiency of the container ports. The most efficient container ports in 2015 are Shanghai and Shenzhen achieved the high value technical efficiency with an undetectable difference.

Efficiency pattern and spatial strategy of ports in Yangtze River Delta Region

This paper measures the efficiency of ports in the Yangtze River Delta Region (YRDR) in 2008 and 2013 using port berth quantity, quay length, and human resources as input indicators, using cargo and container throughput as output indicators, and considering traditional (foreign trade dependence and industrialization level) and modern environmental factors (traffic line density, financial development level, and informatization level). To achieve such aim, this study constructs a multi-stage data envelopment analysis model (DEA) that identifies effective port decision-making units (DMUs) and generates a highly accurate conclusion by eliminating the interference from the exogenous environment and random errors. First, the external environment significantly affects port efficiency, with the traditional environmental factors showing huge fluctuations and the modern environmental factors producing great benefits. Second, the efficiency of ports in YRDR has increased from 2008 to 2013 primarily because of their pure technical efficiency. Third, the weighted standard deviation ellipse (SDE) analysis results reveal that the efficiency pattern of ports significantly deviates from their throughput pattern, while the center of SDE of port efficiency moves from the eastern coastal regions to the northwest regions. Based on these findings, this paper proposes spatial development strategies for YRDR, such as creating an unblocked environment where spatial elements can freely circulate, intensifying port-city joint development, implementing differentiated policies, and focusing on the spatial collaboration of port efficiency.

On measuring the efficiency of Brazilian ports and their management models

Brazil is currently encumbered with various logistical inefficiencies, some of which related to the port logistics chain, affecting the competitiveness of the country’s exporters and importers. Given this context, it is important to assess the efficiency of ports as strategic links in this chain. The article evaluates and compares the efficiency of the main Brazilian ports using data envelopment analysis. The inputs used are cargo capacity, quay length and maximum draft. Outputs considered are cargo throughput and the number of shipping calls. Owing to the diversity of the Brazilian port system, the main goal of this article, in addition to identifying the most efficient port, is an attempt to assess whether the nature of cargo handled, or the management model adopted, affect significantly efficiency. Outcomes indicate that the port of Paranagua is the most efficient port of Brazil and could therefore be considered as a benchmark. Our analysis did not find significant efficiency differences based on different management models or nature of cargo handled.

La eficiencia de los puertos en la región del APEC, 2005-2013: una medición a través del Análisis de la Frontera Estocástica (SFA)

This paper presents a model using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis to measure the efficiency of container terminals in the main ports of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation for the period 2005-2013. Efficiency is calculated through the estimators: JLMS (Jondrow, Lovell, Materov & Schmidt, 1982) and BC (Batesse & Coelli, 1988). It was used as inputs quay length and employed personnel and for output teus annually moved. The scores showed that in the period analyzed, any port was efficient on average, while Shanghai was the one who presented the highest results, in contrast to the port of Callao in Peru, whose efficiency levels were the lowest.

Technical Efficiency in the Container Terminals in Mexico, 1982-2010: Through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)

The paper shows an analysis of the global technical efficiency of container terminals of the main ports of Mexico in the period 1982-2010, through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). This methodology allows us to measure each decision unit evaluated in relation to other homogeneous units. The aim of the study is to determine the importance of global technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency in the ports of Mexico. For this purpose, quay length and number of employees are used as input and as output of the number of containers. The results show that the Mexican ports in general have a low technical global efficiency and only the ports showed that technical global efficiency, technical pure efficiency and scale efficiency were Veracruz and Tuxpan in the year 1982, and Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas in the year 2010. For that reason, it requires better operability which means greater mobility of TEUs.

Quay Length Optimization Using a Stochastic Knapsack Model

AbstractVessels arriving at a port wait for an available berth at the quay to load/unload. The ability to provide a berthing space for a vessel without delay is a major managerial concern. Thus, there is an optimal resource-allocation problem, in which the resource is the length of the quay allocated dynamically over the vessels according to an arrival process. Unfortunately, quay length cannot be changed arbitrarily because of the construction and operating costs, which are increasing functions of the quay length. This paper’s concern is the determination of the optimal quay length, and this problem is formulated using a variant of the stochastic knapsack problem. This method is primarily intended to estimate the length of a single quay. After introducing the mathematical formulation for the model, it is applied to a number of case studies built based on the real data obtained for several ports. Next, a sensitivity analysis of the model is presented with a wide range of arrival and service parameters dra...

80 million-twenty-foot-equivalent-unit container port? Sustainability issues in port and coastal development

The container port industry has experienced phenomenal growth over the past decades since the era of containerisation. The continuous population growth, urbanisation and industrialisation will continue to propel seaborne commodity trades which are largely handled via ports. Given that the four busiest container ports of Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shenzhen handle significantly high throughputs, this research aims to examine their likely growth paths, sustainability issues in port and coastal development and related policy implications. The paper uses a longitudinal approach to analyse growth patterns that are exhibited by the selected ports in 1990–2010. The results of which will be used to derive scenarios for throughput growth and additional quay length required up to 2025. Container ports could expect to face immense pressure for their traffic-handling systems given that container throughput is projected to increase by several times within the next 15 years. The research contributes to both policy and research by addressing the need for a balanced approach in sustainability for port and coastal development. Increasing capacity does not mean that ports must resort to new terminal/berth construction extensively. If the decision is made to accommodate this growth in throughput, innovative solutions and flexibility in capacity expansion will also be required to accommodate the addition to traffic given the scale involved so as to alleviate pressures on spatial demand and the environment.

A Simulation Study on the Determination of the Best Investment Plan for Istanbul Seaport

The article involves an account of a simulation study undertaken to determine the best investment plan and the best investment year for Istanbul seaport. The best investment plan is defined to be the alternative with minimum total cost, which is the sum of investment costs and ship waiting time cost discounted to their present value. Investment alternatives considered consist of the construction of a new port, construction of a new berth for the existing port and construction of hinterland warehouses. An attempt has been made to determine the best quay length, number of cranes and warehouse capacity for the new port. The sensitivity of the best investment plan and year to different demand levels is studied. Next, another experiment is conducted to determine the effect of increased efficiency on investment requirements. In all experiments total cost is determined with three levels of inflation and three levels of devaluation rates using three levels of discount factors.

DEA Window Analysis for Measuring Port Efficiencies in Serbia

The aim of the paper is to apply Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method in measuring and analyzing the efficiencies of ports on the river Danube. DEA window analysis is used to determine the efficiency of ports and to observe the possibility of changes in the port efficiency over time. A study is conducted to evaluate the efficiencies of ports on the territory of Serbia in order to identify the sources of inefficiencies and formulate proposals for improving the services of those ports and their operations through a four-year window analysis with port efficiency trends and average efficiencies. The progress is made in the measurement of port efficiency in relation to port productive activities - total area of warehouses, quay length, number of cranes and port throughput, for the Serbian river ports. Keywords: river ports, total area of warehouses, quay length, number of cranes, port throughput, port efficiency, DEA window analysis