The two main value propositions in international container transport are ‘port-to-port’ services and ‘door-to-door’ services. In port-to-port services, buyers ‘just’ purchase maritime transport from a shipping line. Door-to-door services comprise the total transport chain and include land-based transport. Carriers as well as forwarders offer these door-to-door services. In this pape…
This paper describes in detail the award process of the concession for a large container terminal in the port of Rotterdam. This process can be termed competitive bidding, and differs from a tender because of the frequent interaction between the Port of Rotterdam Authority and the candidates. The competitive bidding process is a potentially attractive form in which to grant concessions, if ther…
The 2008 credit crunch and the subsequent economic crisis ended a period that lasted over two decades wherein international seaports around the globe experienced double-digit volume increases. This chapter provides an analysis of the structural effects that the crisis has on seaports, focusing mostly on developments in Europe. It does so via an examination of (a) the crisis implication for each…
This paper deals with path dependence in seaport governance. A central notion in this respect is lock-in. Economic geographers have recently started to reconsider the deterministic perspective on lock-in and developed the concept of institutional plasticity. Such plasticity is the result of actions of actors to purposefully ‘recombine and convert or reinterpret institutions for their new obje…
This paper analyses the competitiveness of the Lower Mississippi seaport from a cluster perspective, discussing the importance of local governance and collective action regimes for the competitiveness of the cluster. The case study of the Lower Mississippi port cluster shows that collective action regimes are relatively poorly developed in this cluster, compared with the seaport cluster of Rott…
This chapter describes the governance structures of the port authorities of the major Dutch seaports. This description is based on a framework to assess the fit between the environment, governance model, strategy and capabilities of the port authority. Changes in the port environment have triggered changes in the governance model and strategy of seaports. For the three major Dutch seaports, reg…
Shipping lines generally offer their clients two main value propositions: portto-port and door-to-door transport. In addition, some shipping lines offer a third value proposition in the form of transport up to inland terminals (ILTs). This third value proposition combines maritime and inland transport and is offered to two types of customers: shippers and forwarders. These two customer groups h…
In this paperwe argue that much of the literature on port governance takes the embeddedness of the port authority in the public sector as a given, whereas we argue that port development is intrinsically commercial and it is thus appropriate to regard a port authority as a port development company. In line with this, we provide a critique of the term ‘port authority’. Next, we describe the c…
This paper deals with port competition and port selection for cargo to/from Austria. Austria is located centrally in Europe and seaports in at least five countries are used for imports and exports. Changes of market shares over time of different ports serving Austria are analysed. Switching of cargo between ports does take place, but friction prevents instantaneous switching. Consequently, it t…
In this paper we analyse the intermodal connectivity in Europe. The empirical analysis is to our knowledge the first empirical analysis of intermodal connections, and is based on a comprehensive database of intermodal connections in Europe. The paper focuses on rail and barge services, as they are the backbone of intermodal freight transport chains. The empirical analysis reveals that rail and …
In this chapter, an analysis is made of conflicting interests in seaports. Such conflicting interests are relevant since various stakeholders influence port development and have different goals. Based on an overview of the interests of different stakeholders, five conflicts of interests that are relevant in most seaports are identified. Each of these is briefly discussed and the concept …