Container Shipping And Ports: An Overview (original) (raw)

Chapter 2 Strategic Challenges to Container Ports in a Changing Market Environment

Research in Transportation Economics, 2006

The global market place, with powerful and relatively footloose players, extensive business networks and complex logistics systems creates a high degree of uncertainty in the port industry and leaves port managers with the question of how to respond effectively to market dynamics. The focus of port competition is gradually changing and so are the roles of the various stakeholders involved. This chapter provides a bird's eye view on the economic and logistics market developments affecting (container) ports. It identifies key market developments in trade and logistics and analyses how the economic and logistics trends affect seaport authorities. $ This chapter is partly based on the study 'Factual report-Work Package 1: Overall market dynamics and their influence on the port sector' commissioned by the European Sea Ports Organization (Notteboom & Winkelmans, 2004).

RECENT TRENDS IN THE MARKET STRUCTURE OF CONTAINER TERMINAL SERVICES: WHICH WAY TO INTEGRATION?

In recent years three main trends have occurred in maritime and ports industries, mainly in those involved in containerised traffic: i) the lowering of ports tariffs; ii) the development of vertical and horizontal concentrations of port terminal operators; iii) the adoption of different forms of co-operation in order to face the increased competition of the market. Those trends are leading to a clear-cut division among great and small port operators, on market side, and to a greater differentiation of port services -not only on a spatial basis -in order to regain some profits. The increasing differentiation of port services arouses interests as it is involving the logistic supply chain. The paper aims at investigate those trends both on the theoretic and the practical point of view, mainly referring to European and Italian experience.

Container ports competition in light of contemporary liner shipping market dynamics

Pomorstvo

Since the development of containers and Intermodalism in the late 1960’s, containerization is constantly growing and penetrating almost all seaborne trade sectors, as by 2016 nearly1.7 billion tons were transported by container [8]. Moreover, Container ports play an important role as nodes in the supply chain and focal points for containerized cargo as they complement and add value to the shipping lines and shippers’ objectives. Moreover, competition among container ports is taking place at all levels regionally, nationally and internally. In the same context, shipping lines are competing vigorously and increasing their fleets in both size and number of vessels, resulting in excess market supply. Recently, shipping lines are consolidating rapidly by means of vertical and horizontal integration through mergers, acquisitions and forming alliances to cool down competition and backup each other as well as escape bankruptcy. This policy increased the market concentration and shipping lin...

Containerization and the Port Industry

Vickerman, Roger (ed.) International Encyclopedia of Transportation vol 5. pp. 545-556. United Kingdom: Elsevier Ltd., 2021

From the poorly managed public infrastructures of the previous century, ports have evolved into high-tech enterprises and crucial nodes in global supply chains of production, transport and distribution. Containerization has been instrumental in this transformation, together with the impressive and seemingly unstoppable gigantism in containership sizes. The former ‘city-ports’ –facilities created inside or at the confines of river cities—are no longer sufficient to handle the requirements of modern ships, and ports, in need of more space and water depths, have moved downstream, in river estuaries, towards the open sea. Pressure on ports to continue upgrading their infrastructure is mounting, necessitated by increasing port competition and the requirements of mega-ships. Limits to growth are, however, visible, and equally visible is the need for a more balanced approach between the benefits of mega-ships and the costs these ships impose on the planning, development and operations of ports.

Introduction to global container shipping market

2021

This chapter recalls and demonstrates deep changes in the way maritime transport had been reorganised with the ongoing advent of containerisation in the past decades up to the present time. This multifaceted approach to containerisation is not so common as often, specific aspects are well covered and analysed by scholars and professionals but without offering an all-encompassing view. A review of the complex and changing relationships between containerisation (technological change) and economic development, port and shipping line operations, and related impacts on former ways of doing things is necessary before widening the approach to other segments of the global value and supply chain, such as hinterlands and shipping networks, as described in the other chapters.

Improving port services competitiveness: Trends, challenges and opportunities

This paper provides an integrated analysis of the various challenges that the port sector faces, and contributes in a comprehensive typology of the essential adjustments that existing port governance models need to undertake. A number of major recent developments, including globalisation, containerisation, and the changes in the production-transport-distribution process have transformed the port sector and intensified competition between port service providers. The extent is such that traditional styles of port management and operations become obscene. The paper examines these trends, and the implied challenges, focusing on three major issues: (a) the interface of the public/private involvement in the port sector, given the need for the provision of more "sophisticated" and integrated services by port operators; (b) the ‘new’ relations between providers and users of port services (in a context of vertical integration, penetration of liner shipping companies on the provision of port services, and the increase of bargaining and market powers that few players enjoy), and (c) the implications of these two issues on port governance models.