Efficiency analysis of container ports and terminals

In the past two decades the steady growth of seaborne trade has resulted in the increase of container ships, container ports and their terminals. The structure of the shipping market is, moreover, continuously evolving. On the carrier side, shipping companies form consortia and alliances; on the port side, global terminal operators and dedicated container terminals are emerging. The aim of this research is to evaluate the efficiency of container ports and terminals and to study how to improve the scale efficiency of any particular port/terminal. In particular we study how certain factors influence the efficiency of container ports and terminals. Regional container ports and global container terminals are examined based on the econometrics benchmarking method Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). Two datasets are used, a panel dataset for 32 container ports in the North Mediterranean Sea over a nine-year period, and a cross-sectional dataset for 165 container terminals worldwide. Net-effect and gross-effect SFA models are applied to both datasets. Technical, scale and overall efficiencies of individual ports/terminals are evaluated. Operation and investment strategies are examined for selected ports and terminals. The majority of the container ports and terminals in our North Mediterranean Sea samples are found to be technically inefficient: 90% of container ports have their technical efficiency lower than 0.80; 95% of container terminals have their technical efficiency lower than 0.80. The research concludes that trading volume plays a key role in the efficiency of a container port. The annual percentage increase in port output is slower than what the technological improvement allows. Container terminals are proven to be more productive than multiple purpose terminals. Global terminal operators were not proven to out-perform local terminal operators as was expected. It was also found that the container terminal operation industry is over-scaled. The research findings here can potentially affect decisions made by carriers, terminal operators and policy makers, as it provides an overview of efficiencies for all container ports/terminals in the two datasets and also examines in detail the sources of inefficiency for individual ports

Container terminals in river ports

This paper deals with some problems concerning development concepts and equipment of container terminals in river ports, especially for Serbian ports located on river Danube. Paper discusses comparative data concerning transshipment and flow of containers in selected relevant European ports. The research focuses on the development of Serbian container terminals as parts of logistic systems and gives the basic concepts that should be the basis for river ports terminals in future. Results of simulation model of terminal are presented for two developed concepts terminals. The paper presents the analysis of technical parameters of quayside container crane suitable for Serbian river terminals as a principal subsystem in the whole terminal system, and also gives the proposal for crane’s structure, kinematics of reeving, lifting capacity and some preliminary control tests

Container terminals in river ports

This paper deals with some problems concerning development concepts and equipment of container terminals in river ports, especially for Serbian ports located on river Danube. Paper discusses comparative data concerning transshipment and flow of containers in selected relevant European ports. The research focuses on the development of Serbian container terminals as parts of logistic systems and gives the basic concepts that should be the basis for river ports terminals in future. Results of simulation model of terminal are presented for two developed concepts terminals. The paper presents the analysis of technical parameters of quayside container crane suitable for Serbian river terminals as a principal subsystem in the whole terminal system, and also gives the proposal for crane’s structure, kinematics of reeving, lifting capacity and some preliminary control tests

Malmquist Productivity Index for Container Terminal

The current decade sees significant growth in worldwide seaborne container transportation and with it an essential need for optimization of its productivity.  Container ports and their terminals are required to remain competitive and able to handle the anticipated growth as there are huge challenges to increase its productivity, to reduce the spatial pressure and terminal congestion. The paper aims to analyse and measure the productivity of major container ports in Peninsular Malaysia. A non-parametric technique is employed to analyse and measure Malmquist productivity in estimating the utmost productive container terminals. The malmquist productivity results replicate the actual container ports productivity in line with resources within container terminals and obtained throughput. It is prove that current container terminals expansion by port operators in line with future demand. Keywords: Container terminal, DEA, Malmquist Productivity Inde

Off-peak truck deliveries at container terminals: the 'Good Night' program in Israel

Purpose – Avoiding truck congestion and peaks in landside activity is one of the challenges to container terminal managers. The spreading of truck arrivals at terminals can be facilitated by widening the opening hours of terminals at the landside. Israel’s Ministry of Transport has instituted the “Good Night Program”, involving monetary incentives for importers and exporters who deliver containers to ports at night. Design/methodology/approach – This paper aims to quantitatively examine the market utility resulting from shifting traffic from daytime to nighttime, and analyzes customer considerations regarding nighttime transportation. Findings – The external utility found in the traffic-economics model is quite similar to the economic incentive given to customers. Therefore, a significant increase of the incentive is not feasible. Originality/value – Furthermore, it seems that an incentive method by itself is not effective enough, and does not motivate customers to act and find creative solutions to the obstacles they face. To achieve a considerable change in nighttime transport to Israeli ports, more effective methods should be examined

Containerisation in the Baltic Sea region: development, characteristics and contemporary organisation

The main focus of the paper is on the container system development in the Baltic Sea Region studying cotemporary changes and organisation, as well as explaining the main driving forces of this situation. The Baltic Sea is a transport corridor between Eastern and Western Europe. Over the last decade maritime transport in the Baltic Sea area has changed significantly. The disintegration of the Soviet Union forced Russia to start developing its own Baltic ports and terminals and to find new routes to export its oil and gas. The Baltic ports have welcomed a remarkable growth, especially in oil transportation and containerised flows. The geographical configuration of the region naturally places it away from major global shipping lines. This situation is accentuated by the organisation of maritime regular lines, centred in Northern European ports. For this reason, the regional container network is mainly made up of feeder services

Energy Efficiency of Container Cargo Flow in Largest East Adriatic Ports

Modern cargo flow nowadays requires proper analysis in order to optimize the costs and environment impact. To properly assess the ports at eastern Adriatic region transport energy efficiency and emissions were analysed, including both sea and land transport. For the sea transport Otrant gate was chosen as an entry point in Adriatic Sea. The analysed ports are Trieste, Koper and Rijeka as well-established container terminals and ports of Zadar and Ploče as terminals which in future may provide significant service. For the land transport, using both truck and train, Budapest was chosen as a final destination due to its location further in land at similar distance from all selected ports. As a cargo unit one 10 tonne TEU unit was used. The purpose of this analysis was to determine required energy to transport that one unit and emissions which such transport produce, not a volume or speed of transport. All the calculations were made using EcoTransIT calculator. The results showed that north Adriatic ports have one of the best positions in terms of efficiency of land transport, however southern Croatian ports have to develop transport infrastructure, mainly railroad, to be considered as a notable stakeholder

Modelling the performance of port terminals using microsimulation

[EN] Globalization has caused an increase in cargo volumes in ports, which is starting to produce congestion in some of the main ports, delays in the whole supply chain, higher costs, retention in the vicinity of ports, and more pollution. All of these issues highlight the need to improve current container terminals by searching for enhanced management models. The terminal operating system (TOS) is the operational control system used in container terminals. An improvement of TOS with better functionalities, and their optimization, would increase the efficiency of the terminal. In a previous study, the authors identified and weighted TOS functionalities using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. The aim of this paper is to analyse by simulation how the improvement of the most influential TOS functionalities affects the operational and the environmental performance of a container terminal. Two new TOSs (TOS 2 and TOS 3) were compared with the TOS (TOS 1) currently used at Intersagunto terminal (Spain) by microsimulation using FlexTerm. Results show that modifications to the TOS can improve certain operational aspects, such as the number of containers handled, the occupation of the storage yard, and the dwell times; however, there were not significant improvements in energy consumption and carbon footprint. Further developments should address this issue by modifying other TOS functionalities in order to obtain both operational and environmental improvements at the terminal. This paper is addressed to managers of container terminals, TOS designers, researchers in the field of ports and terminals, and port authorities.This study was co-funded by Instituto Valenciano de Competitividad (IVACE) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under project reference IMIDCA/2017/32.Hervás-Peralta, M.; Rozic, T.; Poveda-Reyes, S.; Santarremigia, FE.; Pastor-Ferrando, J.; Molero, GD. (2020). Modelling the performance of port terminals using microsimulation. European Transport / Trasporti Europei. (76):1-11. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/165840S1117

Customer Satisfaction in the Field of Comprehensive Service of Refrigerated Containers in Seaports

The article analyzes the issues concerning customer satisfaction survey with the complexity of handling refrigerated containers at the seaports' container terminals. It aims to determine the criteria to evaluate the port comprehensive service and to examine the opinion of chosen seaports terminals on customer satisfaction with the complexity of handling refrigerated containers. Evaluation criteria of comprehensive service of refrigerated containers in seaports were identified and examined. The analysis of ports opinions on customer satisfaction with the service of refrigerated containers was based on surveys, which covered 5 container terminals located in the Polish cities of Gdansk, Gdynia and Szczecin. The research revealed that according to the ports, complex service primarily affects the high-level customer satisfaction and shorter service time, while implementation of this service regards a good level of customer service and price