Disruptive Innovations in Electronic Transportation Management Systems

This paper provides an overview of selected disruptive innovations (Blockchain, Internet of Things and Big Data) in electronic transportation management systems in general, and their possible impact in maritime transport. The theoretical background is provided, including transportation, electronic transportation management systems and selected disruptive technologies. The impact, major challenges and success factors in implementing disruptive innovations in maritime transport are pointed out and elaborated. Finally, authors provide the discussion and the future perspective of selected disruptive innovations, with an emphasis on maritime transport

Integrated auditing system for maritime risk management (lASMAR)

There has been an increasing recent work in the assessment of risk in the maritime transportation systems. Maritime transportation of goods (solid or liquid) has been since ancient times the main way of interrelation between nations and people and has given relatively substantial development in economic and financial growth. Risk is inherent in the marine transportation systems due to highly unpredictable multi functional operation in which uncertainties are very difficult to be optimized. The presence of uncertainty in maritime activities is well recognized and two types of uncertainty considered for ship operations, aleatory uncertainty, which represents the randomness of the system itself including conditions and working factors, and epistemic uncertainty, which represents the lack of knowledge about the system including human factors. This paper explores the challenges of a decision making risk modelling tool for Specific Activity Risk Management as well as for Corporate Risk Management and develops a systematic way for quantification and valuation of risk levels through a ranking and an auditing method of shipping activities and implemented SQEOH management systems core elements respectively. The paper concludes to the proposal of an Integrated Risk Management System (IRMS) plan based on a) auditing of a weighted matrix of 20 Critical Core Elements (CCE) for Corporate Risk Management (CRM) which will identify weak risk level areas and enhance effectively and cost efficiently control options of Maritime Management for reducing level of risk at all stages, and b) by risk correlation and ranking of the shipping activities as a Specific Activity (SAR) risk assessment with associated causes categories and risk index level so as an integrated auditing and ranking system is created for maritime risk management (lAS MAR). The main merit of this work is the development of a risk management plan in a systematic way based on identified shipping activities with associated causes and hazards and core elements of implemented management system standards for quality (ISO 9001), safety of crew (ISM, OHSAS 18001) and ship (ISM), environmental protection (ISO 14001) and occupational health (OHSAS 18001) in order to model the correlated uncertainties for the assessment of Corporate risk (CRM) and Specific Activity risk (SIR) in a hierarchical, sequential and iterative process which will improve results of risk priorities and risk based decision making process (RBOM) in relation to consequences for severity level to Property, Human life and Environment. Possibility and actuality of cause correlation with risk indexes improves the quality characteristics of risk assessment and provide an alternative reliable interpretation of traditional determination of likelihood or frequency index by taking causes parameters in to consideration in order to be able to compare and evaluate them to select the best alternative. The developed system is a tool that assists ship managers (decision makers) in managing their risks of maritime activities systematically in real world and reduces their potential losses for specific activities or in corporate management level or combined. Its use by Ship managers, operators and employees will improve considerably "risk awareness and safety culture" and will develop sufficient knowledge and understanding of how to create an inventory of Shipping activities could lead to an incident in terms of perceived risk, to identify associated hazards (HAZIO) and finally to evaluate and manage the risks and prioritize the risk control options (RCO) in order avoid /eliminate/ mitigate consequences and to predict causes categories which are important mainly contributing to accidents in marine transportation systems resulting severe environmental damage and large-scale loss of life. This new culture introduced promotes in general the duty of care in safety, quality, environmental, occupational health and safety issues to ship and shore personnel. IASMAR was developed as a method of decision modelling that would be compatible with maritime implemented and activity, task and goal oriented management system for which specific critical activity and corporate risk management integrated and provide a feasible and effective decision making process timely supported for improving cost saving, adopting new requirements and handling successfully liabilities for crew and ship's property. It is also a self assessment plan based on core elements affecting risk awareness and management implementation in combination with corporate experience and performance levels for problem solving of preventive or mitigating plans and providing a risk based decision modelling in action and in real world for demonstrating continuous improvement in implemented management systems. IASMAR is a plan, which quantifies and predicts the area and causation chain of an undesired event resulting from loss control or oversights and omissions within the management system. The correlation between the determined risk success score, the risk reduction level and the possibility of an event clearly defines the use in prediction of incidents and consequently the risk reduction. Various stakeholders are interested for that and its benefits such as Ship-owners, Charterers, Insurance companies, Financial organisations, P+I clubs, Port authorities, Flag states and suppliers. The lASMAR project-rating index developed under the guidance and within the forthcoming implementation of Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) and possibility theory

Feasibility of commercial cargo shipping along the Northern Sea Route

At least over the past two centuries, the Northern Sea Route (NSR), a link connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans through Russian Arctic territorial waters, has attracted seafarers willing to test its potential for delivering shorter and faster voyages. Traditionally maritime activity along the NSR has been constrained by a harsh climate, including perennial ice-cover and sub-zero temperatures. In recent decades, climate change has entailed improving climate conditions for shipping in the form of receding Arctic Sea ice-cover. This has turned the focus towards the Arctic region as a whole, mostly linked to its abundant reserves of natural resources. In many respects, climate change has reactivated interest in the NSR as a route for accessing natural resource riches and transcontinental shipping shortcuts between Europe and Asia. Despite the significant multi-level attention focused on the NSR, an understanding of its feasibility is far from being conclusive, which has resulted in varying conclusions in the media and extant literature. This research aims to produce a holistic, fact-based and unbiased view on the feasibility of commercial cargo shipping along the NSR from the point-of-view of ship owners. The main research question investigates under what conditions commercial cargo shipping along the NSR could become feasible. It is divided into three separate research sub-questions, which focus on: i) economic viability; ii) infrastructure and related services; and iii) market potential. The system-like characteristics of the phenomenon in question entail the positioning of the thesis in the categories of critical realism and pragmatism, with the emphasis on the former. The research approach has elements of constructive and system orientations, while the logic of inquiry relies on abductive reasoning with descriptive, normative and pragmatic features. The thesis consists of five separate articles and the concluding summary, which contains new empirical data. The summary concludes with the findings of the appended papers and provides an overall synthesis with reference to the main research question and the more specific sub-questions. This research employs quantitative research methods, including trend and capacity analysis as well as cost calculation and system dynamics modeling. Moreover, the widely used PESTEL framework is used in the concluding summary to describe the relevant external factors related to the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal preconditions affecting commercial cargo shipping along the NSR. The subject of thesis is bound to the real world, which entails that the relevant research parameters are directly obtainable on a practical level. Accordingly, theprimary research data comprises fleet and cost information from maritime consultancies, the data are then enhanced through the opinions of practitioners and those who have studied its potential. The thesis contributes on three levels: managerial, theoretical and policy-making. On the managerial level, it contributes by providing normative tools, i.e. cost calculation and simulation models for ship owners in order to assess feasibility in a holistic manner. These tools provide guidance for the decision-making of ship owners and pertain to ship investment and management. A more pragmatic input is to participate in the general Arctic discussion, which tends to be based on unrealistic perceptions and misconceptions. This is valuable not only for business but also a wider audience. The thesis also contributes on a theoretical level in terms of providing a typology for the Arctic shipping cost categorization and the generic profiles of the NSR ships. In addition, it provides a substantial contribution to the ongoing Arctic policy-making discussion in terms of the adoption of national strategies. The conclusion of the thesis is that commercial cargo shipping along the NSR could be feasible under the right circumstances in the short-term, relating to particular shipping sectors in a favorable market and climate conditions. In particular, destinational traffic, i.e. traffic to or from the Russian Arctic along the NSR, most often associated with bulk shipping, may prove economically viable. However, the size of the market potential is limited, especially when taking into account the scant maritime infrastructure and dependency on macroeconomic drivers. From the ship owner’s decision-making point-of-view, the contemporary shipping economies in bulk shipping may be viewed as seizing market opportunities without a long-term commitment. On the other hand, more prominent involvement in shipping along the NSR would also require a number of fleet design considerations. In the long-term, the development of the NSR involves a high degree of uncertainty as its feasibility depends on a number of external factors relating mainly to climate, political and market issues.Kauppamerenkulun toimintaedellytykset Pohjoisreitillä Viime vuosisatojen aikana Pohjoisreitti, eli Atlantin ja Tyynen valtameren yhdistävä merireitti Venäjän arktisten merialueiden halki, on houkutellut merenkulkijoita testaamaan sen soveltuvuutta lyhempiin ja nopeampiin purjehduksiin. Ankara ilmasto – muun muassa erittäin alhaiset lämpötilat ja ympärivuotinen jääpeite – on kuitenkin merkittävästi rajoittanut perinteistä merenkulkua tällä reitillä. Viimeisten vuosikymmenten aikana ilmaston lämpeneminen ja sen myötä ohentunut jääpeite on vähitellen muokannut olosuhteita suotuisammaksi merenkululle. Tämä on osaltaan lisännyt maailmanlaajuista mielenkiintoa arktista aluetta kohtaan muun muassa alueella sijaitsevien runsaiden luonnonvarojen sekä mannertenväliselle merenkululle avautuvien mahdollisuuksien vuoksi. Viimeaikaisesta mielenkiinnosta huolimatta ymmärrys Pohjoisreitin soveltuvuudesta kauppamerenkululle on vielä varsin puutteellinen, mikä käy ilmi tutkimuskirjallisuudessa ja mediassa esitetyistä johtopäätöksistä. Tämä väitöskirjatutkimus pyrkii tuottamaan kokonaisvaltaisen, faktaperusteisen ja puolueettoman kuvan kauppamerenkulun toimintaedellytyksistä Pohjoisreitillä laivanvarustajan näkökulmasta. Tavoitteena on selvittää, millaisten reunaehtojen vallitessa Pohjoisreitillä voisi harjoittaa kannattavaa kauppamerenkulkua. Tavoitteeseen pyritään vastaamalla kolmeen alakysymykseen: i) mikä on reitin taloudellinen kannattavuus, ii) millainen merenkulun infrastruktuuri ja millaiset tukipalvelut reitillä on, sekä iii) mikä on reitin markkinapotentiaali. Tutkimuksen kohteena olevan ilmiön systeemiset ominaispiirteet sijoittavat tämän tutkimuksen tieteenfilosofisessa mielessä kriittisen realismin ja pragmatismin luokkiin, jossa paino on vahvasti ensin mainitussa. Tutkimusotteessa on piirteitä konstruktiivisesta ja systeeminäkökulmista, kun taas tieteellisen päättelyn logiikka pohjautuu abduktiiviseen otteeseen kuvailevine, normatiivisine ja pragmaattisina ominaispiirteineen. Väitöskirja koostuu viidestä erillisestä artikkelista ja johdanto-osasta, joka sisältää myös uutta empiiristä tietoa. Johdanto-osa kokoaa yhteen liitteenä olevien artikkelien tulokset, vastaa pää- ja alatutkimuskysymyksiin sekä esittää tutkimuksen synteesin. Tutkimuksen kvantitatiivisina tutkimusmenetelminä käytetään trendi- ja kapasiteettianalyysiä sekä kustannus- ja systeemidynamiikkamallinnusta. Johdanto-osassa on lisäksi käytetty ns. PESTEL-viitekehystä kuvaamaan niitä poliittisia, taloudellisia, sosiaalisia, teknologisia, ympäristöllisiä ja lainsäädännöllisiä reunaehtoja, jotka vaikuttavat kauppamerenkulun toimintaedellytyksiin Pohjoisreitillä. Tutkimuksen kohteena on reaalimaailman ilmiö: Pohjoisreitin soveltuvuus kauppamerenkulkuun. Näin ollen työn keskeiset tutkimusparametrit sekä empiirinen aineisto perustuvat parhaaseen saatavilla olevaan käytännön tietoon. Pääasiallisen tutkimusaineisto muodostuu alus- ja kustannustiedoista, jotka on saatu maailman johtavilta merenkulun konsulttitoimistoilta. Näitä tietoja on täydennetty soveltuvin osin toimija- ja asiantuntijanäkemyksillä. Työssä on myös erittäin kattava aihepiiriä käsittelevän tutkimuskirjallisuuden katsaus. Kokonaisuutena työn kontribuutio on osallistua yleiseen arktiseen aluetta ja sen potentiaalia koskevaan keskusteluun, ja tuoda tähän keskusteluun faktapohjaisia argumentteja aiempien osin epärealististen odotusten ja käsitysten vastapainoksi. Väitöskirjan kontribuutiot ulottuvat myös liikkeenjohtoon erityisesti varustamotoiminnan osalta, teoreettisesti merenkulkutalouden tutkimukseen sekä arktiseen alueeseen liittyvään poliittiseen päätöksentekoonkin. Liikkeenjohdolle tutkimus tuottaa normatiivisia työkaluja erityisesti laivanvarustajille kustannuslaskenta- ja simulaatiomallien muodossa, jotka mahdollistavat kauppamerenkulun toimintaedellytysten kokonaisvaltaisen arvioinnin mm. alusinvestointien ja operatiivisen toiminnan suunnittelun osalta. Väitöskirjan keskeinen teoreettinen kontribuutio liittyy arktisen merenkulun kustannusluokittelumallin rakentamiseen sekä yleisten kustannus- ja tuottoprofiilien luomiseen Pohjoisreitin aluksista. Lisäksi työ antaa merkittävän panoksen arktisen alueen poliittiseen päätöksentekoon niin kansallisella kuin kansainväliselläkin tasolla. Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksenä on, että Pohjoisreitin kaupallisen merenkulun toimintaedellytykset voivat täyttyä lyhyellä tähtäimellä vain varsin tiukkojen reunaehtojen vallitessa. Näitä ovat mm. suotuisa markkinatilanne, sopivien lastien ja kuljetuskapasiteetin saatavuus sekä suosiolliset ilmasto-olosuhteet reitillä. Näidenkin edellytysten täyttyessä vain hyvin rajallinen osa maailman merenkulusta voi näitä mahdollisuuksia hyödyntää, ja reitin kaupallinen potentiaali erityisesti Euroopan ja Aasian välisessä kauttakulkuliikenteessä tullee olemaan marginaalinen vielä pitkään. Sen sijaan liikenteellä Venäjän omiin arktisiin kohteisiin tai kohteista (ns. määränpääliikenne) on konkreettista potentiaalia erityisesti nestemäisen ja kuivan irtolastin merikuljetuksissa. Tämän markkinan koko on kuitenkin rajattu, mikä johtuu mm. alueen puutteellisesta infrastruktuurista (ml. riittämätön jäänmurtokapasiteetti) ja liikenteen kysynnän riippuvuudesta makroekonomisista tekijöistä. Laivanvarustajan näkökulmasta Pohjoisreitin tämänhetkiset kauppamerenkululliset mahdollisuudet eritoten irtolastien osalta perustuvat opportunistisiin lyhytaikaisiin markkinamahdollisuuksiin tarttumisiin ilman pidempiaikaista sitoutumista. Toisaalta reitin laajamittaisempi hyödyntäminen edellyttää myös alusteknisten näkökohtien entistä tarkempaa huomioimista. Pidemmällä aikajänteellä Pohjoisreitin kauppamerenkululliset toimintaedellytykset sisältävät suuren määrän epävarmuutta, koska ne ovat riippuvaisia useista ulkoisista tekijöistä, joista tärkeimmät ovat ilmaston kehitys sekä poliittiset ja markkinoilla tapahtuvat muutokset.Siirretty Doriast

Future Transportation

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with transportation activities account for approximately 20 percent of all carbon dioxide (co2) emissions globally, making the transportation sector a major contributor to the current global warming. This book focuses on the latest advances in technologies aiming at the sustainable future transportation of people and goods. A reduction in burning fossil fuel and technological transitions are the main approaches toward sustainable future transportation. Particular attention is given to automobile technological transitions, bike sharing systems, supply chain digitalization, and transport performance monitoring and optimization, among others

Global and International Logistics

This book contains 10 reviewed papers published as a Special Issue “Global and International Logistics” in the journal Sustainability, edited by Prof. Dr. Ryuichi Shibasaki, Prof. Dr. Daisuke Watanabe, and Dr. Tomoya Kawasaki. The topics of the papers contain the impact of logistics development under the China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI) by using the improved gravity model, strategies against barriers to the BRI from a logistics and supply chain management perspective, the dynamic interaction between international logistics, and cross-border e-commerce trade, the effect of China’s restrictive programs on the international trade of waste products, the empty container repositioning problem of shipping companies with foldable containers, port capacity and connectivity improvement in the hub and feeder network in Indonesia, GHG emission scenarios for the maritime shipping sector using system dynamics, incorporating a shipping and shipbuilding market model, the emission inventory and bunker consumption from a LNG fleet from an automatic identification system database, the factors that can help select between land transport and maritime shipping in long-distance inter-regional cross-border transport, and container transport simulations in Myanmar with the global logistics intermodal network assignment model including both maritime shipping and land transport in the land-based Southeast Asia region. Some papers are related to the 8th International Conference on Transportation and Logistics (T-LOG 2020) which was held online on 6–7 September 2020 hosted by Universitas Internasional Semen Indonesia

An Investigation to Evaluate the Feasibility of an Intermodal Freight Transport System.

The threat of greenhouse gases and the resulting climate change have been causing concern at international levels. This has led towards new sustainable policies towards reducing the anthropogenic effects on the environment and the population through promoting sustainable solutions for the freight industry. The research was prompted by the growing concerns that were no mode-choice tool to select as an alternative to road freight transport. There were growing concerns that a large percentage of transport related negativities, related various costs and pollution costs, losses arising from traffic accidents, delay costs from congestion and abatement costs due to climate impacts of transport, etc., were not being borne by the user. Economists have defined them as external costs. Internalising these external costs has been regarded as an efficient way to share the transport related costs. The aim of this research was to construct a freight mode choice model, based on total transport costs, as a mode choice substitution tool. This model would allow the feasibility of choosing alternative intermodal system to a primarily ‘road system’. The thesis postulates a novel model in computing total freight transport costs incurred during the total transit of goods along three North European transport corridors. The model evaluated the total costs summing the internal, external and time costs for varied mode choices from unimodal and the second level of intermodal transport systems. The research outcomes have shown the influences of total costs on the shipper and the preferred mode choices from the available mode/route options with sustainable transport solutions. The impacts of such alternatives were evaluated in this research. This will allow the embedding of intermodal infrastructures as sustainable and alternative mode choices for the freight industry