This paper explores the current feature of the service provision in the shipping industry and contributes to a more thorough understanding of the industry. A questionnaire was developed to examine the performance of service providers assessed by international shippers in the UK and South Korea. We find that British shippers are more likely to be satisfied with the diversified service provision …
This paper explores the current feature of the service provision in the shipping industry and contributes to a more thorough understanding of the industry. A questionnaire was developed to examine the performance of service providers assessed by international shippers in the UK and South Korea. We find that British shippers are more likely to be satisfied with the diversified service provision …
This paper addresses empty container reposition planning by plainly considering safety stock management and geographical regions. This plan could avoid drawback in practice which collects mass empty containers at a port then repositions most empty containers at a time. Empty containers occupy slots on vessel and the liner shipping company loses chance to yield freight revenue. The problem is dr…
The research focuses on the impact of the shipping strategy to decrease the commercial speed of container vessels, in order to reduce the bunker costs, on current service patterns. In this regard, the study also hypothesizes potential development trends in the near future. The reduction of the commercial speed, commonly referred to as “slow steaming,” has been introduced to mitigate the neg…
This chapter reviews and analyses the contemporary development of liner shipping, port development and competition. It begins with a comprehensive review on the latest developmental trends of liner shipping and business strategies, as well as their impacts on port development and competition. Then, it discusses the responses of ports, past, present and (likely) future, in addressing these new d…
This chapter discusses the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the context of the container liner shipping industry. It looks at the current practice of CSR in this industry and outlines the framework, the reasons and the drivers for companies to adopt and implement a CSR strategy. These include, among others, the increasing commitment to fostering CSR in the private sector …
Container ports provide the primary interface where physical exchange between buyers and sellers of containerised shipping capacity can be consolidated and realised. Consequently, ports that are able to complement and add value to the objectives of shipping lines and shippers will become focal points for containerised cargo flows. To evaluate container port competition, the authors propose a pr…
This chapter reviews and analyses the contemporary development of liner shipping, port development and competition. It begins with a comprehensive review on the latest developmental trends of liner shipping and business strategies, as well as their impacts on port development and competition. Then, it discusses the responses of ports, past, present and (likely) future, in addressing these new d…
As a consequence of the delivery of large container ships and of the drop in demand since 2008, companies are struggling with low freight rates. In addition, newly delivered container ships have been deployed on the main east–west trades, whereas medium-sized vessels have been pushed to smaller sectors through a phenomenon known as the cascading effect. This article investigates how this effe…
A cross section panel model is applied to estimate the effect that the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) has on container freight rates for a sample of six major container liner shipping routes during 2009 to 2011. The estimated coefficient of HHI is non-positive and statistically insignificant, indicating that higher concentration level does not lead to high price and the container liner shippi…
Oliver Wyman (formerly Mercer Management Consulting) is pleased to unveil our redesigned Transport & Logistics journal. In this issue, we have focused on topics that are particularly relevant to the current adverse economic climate, with a view to offering some perspective for both providers and users of transportation and logistics services.
This paper presents an application of centralized data envelopment analysis (CDEA) to analyse the performance of a number of container terminals supervised by one liner shipping company. It provides a systematic and centralized perspective of resource reallocation based on one company’s perspective. The numerical results show that two of the ve dedicated terminals are, by and large, efcient…
Global containership liners design their transportation service as hub- and spoke networks to improve the access to local transportation markets and to reduce operational costs by using short-sea connections for low-volume transportation lanes. These connections from the hub ports to the regional ports constitute the feeder network that is serviced by small- or medium-sized feeder containership…
The purpose of this paper is to assist ocean container carriers in their service quality improvement strategies to ensure breakthrough performance in India.
This study analyzes capacity expansion and ship choice decisions. Theoretically, we derive the probability of capacity expansion as a function of market and companyattributes and characterize the impacts of these factors on expansion decisions.Empirically, we analyze ship investment and ship choice behaviour using binary choice and nested logit models based on ship investment data from major li…
The cost for bunker fuel represents a major part of the daily running costs of liner shipping vessels. The vessels, sailing on a fixed roundtrip of ports, can lift bunker at these ports, having differing and fluctuating prices. The stock of bunker on a vessel is subject to a number of operational constraints such as capacity limits, reserve requirements and sulphur content. Contracts are of…
Empty container repositioning is an important issue in the liner shipping industry. Generally stated, two groups of mathematical models have been proposed to tackle this issue. The first group aims to derive time-dependent origin-destination matrices that specify the number of empty containers to be repositioned at a decision epoch; the second group aims to develop effective statefeedback contr…
Empty container repositioning is an important issue in the liner shipping industry. Generally stated, two groups of mathematical models have been proposed to tackle this issue. The first group aims to derive time-dependent origin-destination matrices that specify the number of empty containers to be repositioned at a decision epoch; the second group aims to develop effective statefeedback contr…
In the liner shipping industry, controlling switching costs (SCs) is an important strategy for maintaining customer loyalty (CL). This study proposes a research model comprising four constructs and six hypotheses to examine how SCs helps prevent customers from switching their freight loads from one carrier to the other. Moreover, a submodel is also proposed and tested by two sample sets, separa…
In the liner shipping industry, controlling switching costs (SCs) is an important strategy for maintaining customer loyalty (CL). This study proposes a research model comprising four constructs and six hypotheses to examine how SCs helps prevent customers from switching their freight loads from one carrier to the other. Moreover, a submodel is also proposed and tested by two sample sets, separa…
Slow steaming has been implemented by the main liner shipping companies since 2008. The reduction in vessel speed affects fuel consumption and should be reflected within the fuel surcharges paid by shippers. The purpose of this paper is to assess if this was the case for the main outbound European container trades from the port of Antwerp.
The economic crisis in the years between 2008 and 2010 has demonstrated the necessity for substantial adjustments on behalf of container lines. Capacities were shifted quickly to emerging and less affected markets allowing a faster recovery of globally organized companies. This paper illustrates the dynamics in the container shipping market. Alongside the main characteristics of the Top 20 ocea…