Study on China-EU container shipping network in the context of Northern Sea Route

The emerging Northern Sea Route (NSR) represents change to the existing liner network for China-EU container shipping. It is necessary to re-examine the container network in this context and assist liner companies in decision-making. This paper assesses the potential of the NSR based on designing a multi-port multi-trip liner service by establishing a two-stage optimization model. Based on the estimated data of NSR shipping, ship routing schemes on both the NSR and conventional routes are proposed. It is determined that container service along the NSR is largely influenced by ice-breaking charge, seasonality, and cargo volume, which makes NSR more likely to act as a supplementary line of the liner network in the short or medium term. The results also indicate that use of NSR may drive the redeployment of shipping network and hub ports in the long term. This study's conclusions may prove useful for strategic planning by liner companies, port authorities, and governments to assess the operation of liner service via the NSR.     

Measuring the perceived container leasing prices in liner shipping network design with empty container repositioning

This paper aims to measure the perceived container leasing prices at different ports by presenting a two-stage optimization method. In stage I, we propose a practical liner shipping network design problem with empty container repositioning. The proposed problem further considers the use of foldable containers and allows the mutual substitution between empty containers to decrease the number of empty containers to be repositioned. In stage II, the inverse optimization technique is used to determine the perceived container leasing prices at different ports, based on the solution obtained in stage I. Based on a set of candidate liner shipping service routes, a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model is built for the proposed problem in stage I. The nonlinear terms are linearized by introducing the auxiliary variables. Numerical experiments based on a realistic Asia-Europe-Oceania liner shipping network are carried out to account for the effectiveness of our two-stage optimization method.     

Simultaneous optimization of schedule coordination and cargo allocation for liner container shipping networks

A liner container shipping carrier usually collects immediately-delivered goods that are produced by manufacturers in world factories, and transports the products to worldwide market destination by offering weekly shipping service. In practice, the carrier has to consider extra demurrage cost of containerized cargos incurred from waiting for weekly shipping service at ports. In this paper, we develop a mathematic programming model to maximize the carrier’s profitability by simultaneously optimizing the ship route scheduling and interrelated cargo allocation scheme. The nonlinear optimization model is transformed into an equivalent mixed-integer linear program, and its applicability is demonstrated by a case study.     

Dynamics of liner shipping network and port connectivity in supply chain systems: analysis on East Asia

The study of ports in supply chain systems is an emerging area of importance which has drawn more attention from researchers in recent years. This paper presents a new perspective in this research area by examining the calling patterns of container shipping services in order to understand the dynamics of port connectivity and inter-port relationships in the supply chains. Empirical evidence is drawn from four major ports in East Asia, namely Shanghai, Busan, Kaohsiung and Ningbo. The study identifies the shipping capacity, trade routes and geographical regions connected to the ports, shipping lines involved, and the extensity and intensity of inter-port relationships among the four container ports from liner shipping network’s perspective. The findings show that most of the shipping capacity employed on the major east–west trade routes became non-exclusive and involved calls at two or more of the four ports. Port planners, terminal operators and carriers could capitalise on opportunities through exploitation of complementary relationships that exist among the selected ports, such as offering a package for shipping lines to call at a portfolio of terminals owned by the same terminal operator. Policy and research implications as well as recommendations are discussed for various stakeholders concerned with port planning and regional development.     

Liner shipping cargo allocation with service levels and speed optimization

The cargo allocation problem is a key strategic problem that determines the profitability of a liner shipping network. We present a novel mixed-integer programming model for this problem that introduces service levels for transit time requirements and optimizes the vessel speed on each leg of a service. These extensions to the cargo allocation problem greatly increase its realism and value for carriers. We evaluate our model on realistic data from the LINER-LIB and perform a sensitivity analysis of transit times versus bunker costs. Furthermore, we show how carriers can use our model to make data driven decisions in their operations.     

Combined fleet deployment and inventory management in roll-on/roll-off shipping

In maritime transportation of automobiles, roll-on/roll-off (ro–ro) shipping companies operate liner shipping services across major trade routes. Large ro–ro shipping companies are well placed to offer end-to-end integrated logistics services to auto manufacturers engaged in international trade of vehicles. Therefore, we present a new mixed integer programming model for fleet deployment including inventory management at the ports along each trade route. Due to the complexity of the problem, a rolling horizon heuristic (RHH) is proposed. The RHH solves the problem by iteratively solving sub-problems with shorter planning horizon. Computational results based on real instances are presented.     

Liner ship fleet deployment with container transshipment operations

This paper proposes a liner ship fleet deployment (LSFD) problem with container transshipment operations. The proposed problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming model which allows container transshipment operations at any port, any number of times, without explicitly defining the container transshipment variables. Experiments on the Asia-Europe-Oceania shipping network of a global liner shipping company show that more than one third (17-22 ports) of the total of 46 ports have transshipment throughputs. Computational studies based on randomly generated large-scale shipping networks demonstrate that the proposed model can be solved efficiently by CPLEX.     

Cruise ship passenger spending patterns in Pacific island ports

The cruise business has recorded a solid growth rate in the past 20 years, with this development being driven by corporate mergers and takeovers, the launching of mega‐ships, the opening up of new destinations and the growing propensity of people who choose to cruise. This study measures the expenditure patterns of cruise ship passengers in seven Pacific island ports of call. Some of these ports receive up to 32 cruise ship visits per year and their economies are partly reliant on them. It is important, therefore, for service suppliers, retailers and handicraft producers to know what appeals to cruise passengers so that they can continue to produce the products in demand profitably. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Liner shipping hub network design in a competitive environment

A mixed integer programming formulation is proposed for hub-and-spoke network design in a competitive environment. It addresses the competition between a newcomer liner service provider and an existing dominating operator, both operating on hub-and-spoke networks. The newcomer company maximizes its market share—which depends on the service time and transportation cost—by locating a predefined number of hubs at candidate ports and designing its network. While general-purpose solvers do not solve instances of even small size, an accelerated Lagrangian method combined with a primal heuristic obtains promising bounds. Our computational experiments on real instances of practical size indicate superiority of our approach.     

A novel modeling approach for the fleet deployment problem within a short-term planning horizon

This paper is concerned with model development for a short-term fleet deployment problem of liner shipping operations. We first present a mixed integer nonlinear programming model in which the optimal vessel speeds for different vessel types on different routes are interpreted as their realistic optimal travel times. We then linearize the proposed nonlinear model and obtain a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model that can be efficiently solved by a standard mixed integer programming solver such as CPLEX. The MILP model determines the optimal route service frequency pattern and take into account the time window constraints of shipping services. Finally, we report our numerical results and performance of CPLEX on randomly generated instances.     

Risk management in liner ship fleet deployment: A joint chance constrained programming model

This paper provides a tangible methodology to deal with the liner ship fleet deployment problem aiming at minimizing the total cost while maintaining a service level under uncertain container demand. The problem is first formulated as a joint chance constrained programming model, and the sample average approximation method and mixed-integer programming are used to deal with it. Finally, a numerical example of a liner shipping network is carried out to verify the applicability of the proposed model and solution algorithm. It is found that the service level has significant effect on the total cost.     

A comparison of service quality at major container ports: implications for Korean ports

This paper presents a comparative evaluation of service quality factors at 15 major container ports in the world. From previous studies and from personal interviews and questionnaires directed to containership operators and logistics managers, the important service quality factors are identified and comparisons among container ports are made. Duncan test analyses suggest that service quality at Northeast Asian ports lags behind that of well-developed major ports elsewhere. The implications of this survey for Korean port development are considered.     

Global change, local pain: intermodal seaport terminals and their service areas

The creation of global shipping alliances and the trend to post-Panamax container ships have put pressure on seaports to respond in such a way as to guarantee the continued success of intermodal terminals. This paper points out the globalisation that is taking place in container shipping and how ports are responding. Emphasis is put on terminal improvements in the form of post-Panamax cranes and on the nature of competition in the service areas of ports. Halifax and Vancouver are used as examples of ports trying to adapt in the new age of containerisation.     

Ports in multi-level maritime networks: evidence from the Atlantic (1996–2006)

While maritime transport ensures about 90% of world trade volumes, it has not yet attracted as much attention as other transport systems from a graph perspective. As a result, the relative situation and the evolution of seaports within maritime networks are not well understood. This paper wishes verifying to what extent the hub-and-spoke strategies of ports and ocean carriers have modified the structure of a maritime network, based on the Atlantic case. We apply graph measures and clustering methods on liner movements in 1996 and 2006. The methodology also underlines which ports are increasing their position by carriers’ circulation patterns on various scales. This research demonstrates that the polarization of the Atlantic network by few dominant ports occurs in parallel with the increased spatial integration of this area by shipping lines.     

Cargo market competition among Asia Pacific's major airports

Globalization and the ensuing changes in the supply chain network have strengthened competition among airports. For this study, we selected 13 primary airports in Asia Pacific, and investigated their competition, airport hierarchy, and competitive potential in cargo markets in terms of demand and supply. Specifically, we examined indicators including flight frequency, route distributions, composition of flag carriers, international trade, and centrality of the selected airports. The results revealed that Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), and Incheon International Airport (ICN) had the greatest competitive advantage of distinct developmental patterns. Compared with TPE and ICN, which are national-carrier-oriented airports, HKG and PVG have been developed efficiently in the network of both national and foreign carriers. Although TPE and ICN perform well in the networks of conventional carriers, PVG is competitive in the network of all-freight carriers, and HKG performs efficiently in both the networks of the conventional and all-freight carriers. Overall, Hong Kong International Airport has been prominent in the Asia–Pacific air-cargo market. Nevertheless, considering the networks of the integrator carriers, Chinese airports have the most potential in this region.     

Path to a multilayered transshipment port system: How the Yangtze River bulk port system has evolved

China's steel output has maintained rapid growth over the past twenty years. Due to this, a large number of iron ore ports/terminals have been built along the Yangtze River, and the Yangtze River bulk port system has experienced a unique development in its structure. This paper aims to understand the evolution of this bulk port system.¹ along the Yangtze River. To achieve this objective, first the development phases of the Yangtze River bulk port system are reviewed, taking the theoretical (container) port evolution model as a benchmark. Then several hypotheses addressing certain features of bulk port system development are proposed, followed by using panel data analysis to test these hypotheses. Based on this discussion and analysis, the major driving forces that are reshaping bulk port development along the Yangtze River are then summarized. It is found that evolution of the Yangtze River bulk port system in general follows the port development models in previous literature. However, the trend toward regionalization and an offshore hub have not appeared. Besides this, iron ore transshipment is moving outward both for sea ports and river ports, and few iron ore transshipment gateway hubs are occurring. Furthermore, the transshipment function of a bulk port plays a significant role in port traffic changes, but this role is affecting sea ports differently to river ports. The container throughput of transshipment sea ports has a significant negative effect on bulk traffic, whereas that of transshipment river ports has a positive effect. Geographical conditions, institutional factors and national policy, industry agglomeration, changes in market supply and demand, and technology updates are major factors driving changes to the port system structure. These factors are observed to function either individually or collectively at different development stages.     

Factors influencing the intentions of passengers regarding full service and low cost carriers: A note

This study investigates discrepancy in factors affecting passengers' intensions regarding using full service and low cost carriers. A conceptual model, that originally focused on the former, is adopted and slightly revised according to the service properties of low cost carriers. To validate the revised model, a questionnaire survey on passengers of Spring Airlines, the first low cost airline in China, was conducted. The results indicate differences in attitudes towards full service and low cost carriers. Service perception is a latent variable with the most significant influence on intentions about using full service carriers, but exhibits less effect on intentions regarding low cost operators. Conversely, service value exerts the greatest effect on intentions for possible low cost passengers.     

Freight train scheduling with elastic demand

A train slot selection model based on multicommodity network flow concepts is developed for determining freight train timetables for scheduling rail services along multiple interconnected routes. The model seeks to minimize operating costs incurred by carriers and delays incurred by shippers while ensuring that the schedules and demand levels are mutually consistent. A column generation-based methodology is proposed for train slot selection to meet frequency requirements. This methodology is embedded in a simulation-based iterative framework, where demand for rail services is re-computed in accordance with the train schedule obtained by solving the freight train scheduling problem.     

Emerging inter-industry partnerships between shipping lines and stevedores: from rivalry to cooperation?

Since late-1960s stevedoring operations assumed a dramatic importance for shipping lines, who have been securing dedicated berths for some decades. Over the last 20 years, the institutional turn in ports drove the overseas expansion of pure stevedoring companies. For quite a long time carriers and stevedores fiercely battled each other both for bargaining contractual arrangements and for securing new concessions in the key port areas. Currently this scenario is slowly changing and some early-forms of partnership are coming out. This paper analyses the different pathways through which carriers satisfy their needs of handling services. Based on 2006 data it empirically demonstrates the growing resort to such forms of cooperation both contractually and via equity ventures.     

Do low cost carriers have different corporate governance models?

In this paper, we investigate whether different business models in the same industry (passenger air transportation) lead to different corporate governance models. We found that low-cost carriers organise their boards differently from full service carriers to achieve lower costs and a faster decision-making process that is required by their business model. We also found that low-cost carriers and full service carriers solve their potential agency cost problems differently and that full service carriers have more board monitoring committees, and low-cost carriers have a closer coincidence of interests between shareholders and executive directors.