PortStudies
PortStudies
PortStudies
Seaports in a tense geopolitical environment: key agents or sitting ducks?
In an increasingly uncertain world, seaports are no longer just logistical hubs facilitating global trade—they are becoming geopolitical focal points, caught between strategic interests, economic dependencies, and global power struggles. The geo-economic and geopolitical landscape has a major impact on seaports, which have limited control over these external factors. Geopolitical objectives and policies also have a significant impact on the strategies and operational decisions of port users. Meanwhile, the developments over the past...
PortStudies
A systemic analysis of container terminal layouts
PortEconomics member Jean-Paul Rodrigue latest portstudy provides a systemic analysis of the layout characteristics of a geodatabase comprised of a large sample of 331 global container terminals. Despite the propensity towards terminal standardization that can be expected from containerization, container terminals demonstrate a substantial diversity in measurable attributes such as perimeter, terminal surface, yard surface, and berth length. This is mainly attributed to site characteristics constraining terminal design and operations with...
PortStudies
Sustainability, externalities, and ocean grabbing: addressing challenges in maritime transport
Due to the strategic role of the maritime sector in the world economy, attention should be paid to the changing context in which its activity is carried out. Global shocks, such as COVID-19, or those more specific, such as Brexit, the recent armed conflicts in Ukraine or the Middle East, the growing insecurity in the Red Sea, or extreme natural phenomena resulting from climate change, add to new trends related to the transition towards environmental concerns, the technological revolution, financial swings, trade wars, changes in consumer...
PortStudies
The impact of port service quality on customer satisfaction: the case of clearing and forwarding agents in Kuwait Shuwaikh Port
The latest portstudy of PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom with Ahmed Alsalfiti (University of Antwerp), published in the Maritime Business Review, identifies the factors influencing the satisfaction of clearing and forwarding (C&F) agents in Shuwaikh Port, Kuwait, based on port service quality (PSQ). The research is based on the ROPMIS model to study PSQ. This research adds value to PSQ studies and the need to explore this concept further in the context of Kuwait Shuwaikh port. Data were collected from 49 C&F agents...
PortStudies
GREPORT2024: Report on Greek Ports
PortEconomics membes George Vaggelas and Thanos Pallis have published the 2024 edition of the Report on Greek Ports-GREPORT 2024. The 5th edition of the report that is publised since 2016 every two years contains data and analysis of the Greek port system. In the several sections of the report, the reader will find analysis on➡️ Cargo throughput and passenger/cruise traffic evolution - with details of short and long term trends.➡️ Investments, per port and aggregate trends➡️ Financial Analysis of the 13 Ports Operating as...
PortStudies
Influencer marketing in B2B services: the container shipping industry
In his latest port study published in Maritime Economics & Logistics, co-director of PortEconomics Theo Notteboom, along with Sedat Baştuğ, Fevzi Bitiktaş, Ercan Akan, and Funda A. Yercan, explores how container shipping companies effectively manage influencer marketing within the B2B sector. Studying the cases of Maersk and MSC, the research highlights the significance of internal influencers sourced from within the workforce, contrasting this approach with the reliance on external influencers from the global market. Trust emerges...
PortStudies
Hierarchy and mobility of Latin America and Caribbean container ports
Research on port hierarchies within a maritime region is crucial for comprehending the dynamics of seaborne trade and the broader trends within the maritime sector and related supply chains. In their latest port study, PortEconomics members Eliana Barleta and Thanos Pallis investigate the evolution of the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) container ports and regional sub-systems from 2000 to 2022, analyzing traffic dynamics, shifts in port throughput rankings, and market concentration trends in and among the different coastal...
PortStudies
Social license to operate: determining social acceptance among local port community stakeholders
In the study titled Social License to Operate: Factors Determining Social Acceptance Among Local Port Community Stakeholders, PortEconomics member Michaël Dooms, along with Bruno Moeremans, explore the increasingly crucial issue of social acceptance of port activities. While vital to economic development, ports often face opposition from local communities due to their environmental and social impacts. This paper presents a hypothesized model that links community perceptions of port impacts, including economic, environmental, and social...
PortStudies