Business Environment-Based Risk Model for the Container Liner Shipping Industry

Container liner shipping is a risky industry. There are many unexpected risks and uncertainties in extended journey around the world which can be the result of external events such as political actions, economic situation and natural disasters. The impact of these external risks can be devastating. In this paper, a new business environment-based risk (BEBR) model for prioritising and assessing the external risk criteria in the CLSI, is developed. The term BEBR can be defined as a wider scope of external risks including political risks, economic risks, social risks and natural hazards that directly or indirectly influence the business performances in the CLSI. An analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach is employed to prioritise the importance of risk criteria and is adapted into a deterministic weight factor in the context of risk impact level. So far, no study has been found that developed this model for the CLSI which highlights a significant research gap to be fulfilled. Based on the test case, the result has shown that economic risks are the most significant main criteria in the BEBR model, followed by political risks, natural hazards and social risks. For future research, this paper recommends a quantitative risk analysis for assessing the targeted or whole risk criteria in the BEBR model. Keywords: business environment-based risk (BEBR), container liner shipping industry (CLSI), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), prioritisation

Identification of Data Analysis Methods and Focus Trends in Port State Control Inspections: A Comprehensive Literature Review

This literature review focuses on research related to Port State Control (PSC) inspections carried out on board ships, with a particular focus on areas of interest and data analysis methods adopted during research. The five steps involved in the literature review process include: (1) determining the research questions, (2) gathering works of literature for review, (3) conducting selection and screening based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, (4) analyzing the selected works of literature and ensuring the quality of the data, and (5) reporting the result of the literature review. Based on the comprehensive searches throughout various databases, the most high-impacted databases in sequence were Elsevier, Taylor & Francis Online, (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) MDPI, Springer, and others such as Emerald Insight, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. There were 2,023 articles published between 2018 and 2022 gathered during the initial search process, and the 41 final papers were ultimately selected for in-depth analysis after a selection process. The four main research focuses found from this literature review were (1) the selection of ships for PSC inspection, (2) the New Inspection Regime (NIR), (3) the identification of findings during PSC inspection, and (4) detention of ships under PSC inspection. From the literature review, 37% of the final selected articles focused on vessel selection, 33% noted the findings, 23% focused on vessel detention, and only 7% explored the New Inspection Regime (NIR). From the review, most articles used the Bayesian networks (BN) method for data analysis, followed by traditional analysis, Ideal Solution Similarity Order Priority Technique (TOPSIS), Hierarchical Analytical Process (AHP), Apriori Algorithm, and Gray Relational Analysis (GRA). This result could provide valuable information to professionals in the maritime industry, and this literature review signifies the importance of Port State Control (PSC) inspections in fostering the better development of the global maritime transportation system especially to ensure maritime safety

Flag state performance and the implementation of port state control in the European Union - A mixed methods approach

The implementation and enforcement of international maritime safety standards by Member States has always represented a key objective for both the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the European Commission (EC). In spite of a strong global legal framework for safety at sea, harmonisation has always been a challenge. Two points are relevant here: firstly, the level of implementation and enforcement with international regulations varies significantly among countries; secondly, it is a challenge to determine and/or quantify this level of compliance. Several attempts have been made by the maritime industry, academic studies and policy-makers to develop an appropriate set of criteria and/or measurements to benchmark the performance of Flag States. Currently, the White, Grey and Black list (WGB) list of the Tokyo and Paris Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control are the most widely used indicators. While the list was initially developed solely for targeting purposes, it has been recently criticised in recent academic publications and by the industry for being unsuitable to benchmarking Flag States with a small fleet and to be susceptible to a lack of harmonisation. Moreover, the author argues that, given the way the list has been used, it reduces the overall concept of Flag State Performance (FSP) to an overly simplified detention/inspection ratio. This dissertation begins with an investigation and examination of Flag State Performance by looking into its underlying concept and connected components. The main aim is to contribute to the general knowledge on the performance of complex systems according to policymakers. Subsequently, this dissertation makes an assessment of an inspection’s results as a tool to evaluate the performance, shortcomings and benefits of the complex system under examination. Four research questions have therefore been formulated: (1) What is Flag State Performance? (2) What are the contemporary issues of Port State Control (PSC)? (3) How do discrepancies in the Port State Control regime affect the inspection output? (4) To what extent is Port State Control a suitable instrument to measure Flag State Performance? The dissertation is divided into two main parts. Part I presents the main research questions, the methodological and theoretical discussion, the main findings; and a round-up discussion. Part II contains the four research papers based on data gathered throughout the study