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In Europe, at the end of the 20th century, the growth of marinas followed the rapid development of recreational marine activities. This trend has now slowed and today the creation of new marinas or the extension of existing marinas is less common, mainly due to the enforcement of protective environmental regulations. As the port sector is facing some major sustainability challenges, like tackling the pollution generated from port activities, the "green port", or "green marina", concept has now become a requirement. Both types of nautical ports, public ports and private marinas, share the same responsibility to achieve management standards. The term "green port" in practice describes the responsible behavior of all stakeholders in the port's business, with a focus on the long-term vision towards the sustainable and climate-friendly development of the port's infrastructure. This paper aims to confirm the adequacy of multi-criteria analysis (MCA) for the evaluation and introduction of energy efficient mobility options in nautical ports. Within the paper, a multi-criteria based model for energy-efficient mobility selection is presented. This model is tested on two Croatian private marinas and obtained results indicating the most suitable action for both. The output of the model showed that by far the best energy-efficient solution was the installation of electric charging stations (ECS) for cars. The presented model can assist decision-makers in port authorities and marina administrations in planning and finding the best scenario for the development of energy efficient systems and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mediterranean Sea has been consolidated as the second most important destination region in cruise shipping. This paper investigates the dynamics of the contemporary cruise port network in Southern Europe from the perspective of its centrality. To conduct the research, we applied the technique of social network analysis (SNA) to a set of 20 ports. The set of ports forms a network; therefore, we use the SNA to build this network based on nodes (ports) and to analyze the connections between each other. Several network and node metrics are calculated, such as outgoing and incoming centrality degree, betweenness centrality, and hub index. The goals of this research are (1) to explain the dynamics of the cruise port network for contemporary cruise calls in Southern Europe in terms of the centrality of the ports and the connections between ports, and (2) to obtain a series of graphs with the inter-port relationships of the sample of ports analyzed. Important conclusions are revealed: the cruise traffic registered in a port has an impact on several ports in terms of the number of different ports to which it connects and the intensity of the connection between pairs of ports; the role of betweenness centrality is associated with ports of the same destination region and, in some cases, with ports situated in another destination region; and four ports have been identified as hub ports. The results obtained may help itinerary planners identify alternative ports in the configuration of new itineraries to deal with the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic for cruise shipping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The particular location of port infrastructure holds characteristics that determine the activity of the port, both with respect to traffic and with respect to implementing competitive strategies; and the efficiency and efficacy of infrastructure depend on the governance systems that regulate the ports. Likewise, the development of port activity echoes in the regional economy as well, hence governance becomes integral to maximizing the impact of ports on their region's economic development. However, the activity of a port transcends the domestic/regional frontiers, as long as the port intends to take part in a global supply chain. Achieving this aim poses a challenge on the authorities that govern port activity, and this challenge needs to be seized when it comes to adjusting the governance to external and internal goals. In the specific case of the analysed ports, the prevailing governance model is known as Landlord, which differs noticeably from port to port. These differences make it possible to distinguish the orientation of European ports from that of the analysed Latin American ports, showing a dissimilar adjustment of the conception of governance that followed objectives that were not simultaneous. The paper draws forth a questioning of the uniqueness of the denomination Landlord and its legitimacy given the new challenges. Furthermore, the paper opens the way to understanding the need to adapt governance to changes, given the examined experiences. The analysis covers the following cases: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite efforts to maintain supply chains unaltered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, statistics published after the second quarter (Q2) of 2020 have confirmed a drop in maritime traffic in European ports. Furthermore, the evolution of the pandemic indicates that stabilisation of traffic at levels prior to the Q1 of 2020 may take years. Port authorities in Europe, in an overall context of landlord port governance, are already being challenged, due to the need to ensure the provision of port technical services (mooring, pilotage and towage). In addition, the cost adaptability of these services to the current situation could be confronted by the European legal framework that demands transparency and proportionality in port rates in order to provide an effective cost of services. This paper analyses the impacts of Covid-19 on European ports, first by quantifying traffic drop after Q2 of 2020 and then calculating its effects on the cost of port technical services, in a general context of lack of flexibility in the cost structures of private providers. Due to this ongoing situation, a rise in rates, allowed by the port authorities, could mean that the prices of port services are not aligned with effective costs, along with loss of competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In accelerating the integration of the European Union (EU) and achieving more equal modal split, short sea shipping (SSS) has become an increasingly important component in European transport planning. Despite the active promotion by the EU, however, questions have been raised on whether SSS can realistically compete with unimodal road transport as it is required to overcome considerable hurdles, notably efficiency and cohesiveness between different parts of the multimodal transportation chain. This paper attempts to address this issue by undertaking an economic feasibility analysis investigating the potential competitiveness of SSS in the Baltic Region. The generalized costs of different SSS options will be simulated and the potential of different options in maximizing SSS competitiveness will be visualized through applying geographical information system. It is anticipated that this paper can provide an invaluable insight to the development of EU's multimodal transport planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 17th century, international trade has increased as a result of the development in the navigation skills. Recently, maritime transport, compared to other modes, is used more than 70% worldwide by shippers and ports, and it also has become essential in international trade. Most researchers focused only on port development, in topics like ensuring depth of water, port competition and port governance, but have left some topics undone, such as environment, ecosystem and balanced development. Therefore, this study provides insight to the academic world in port research using SNA (Social Network Analysis). The result of the SNA study shows that Baltic Sea ports researchers have focused on “Shipping”, “Marine ecosystem”and “Pollution”. The implications of this study are: first, the environment has become a main issue in the research field; second, the results suggest focusing on the main keywords from the keyword network. This study has some limitations such as excluding domestic journals and focusing in the recent 10 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural geotraffic flows act as one of the most important factors directly affecting redirections of the world transportation routes. In terms of door-to-door multimodal transport chain, several routes from Far East toward European destinations exist, with Northern European route acting as prevailing one. The proposed paper elaborates possibilities of redirection of the traffic flow by directing cargoes to an alternative route through the Adriatic Sea. The aim is to justify realisation of mentioned possibility in terms of land transportation segment analysis, i.e. by analysing cargo transportation from ports to final destinations in Central Europe, placed in natural gravitational hinterland of ports of Northern Adriatic Port Association (NAPA). Geo-traffic and logistics' analyses of NAPA ports are presented in the paper. Container traffic and its trend as compared with Northern European ports are analysed. The development plans of inland connections are presented in function of justification of the traffic flow redirection. A model for the selection and evaluation of the optimal container transport route by using the multiple criteria analysis (MCA) has been introduced and developed. The model was applied for the selection of the representative service connecting Far East (origin) and the central Europe (destination) by detailed analysis of the land transportation segment. The PROMETHEE method was used for the model testing and evaluation. Summarised results are presented and discussed tending to confirmation of the traffic flow redirection justification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report a comparative investigation of port performance between Western Europe and Eastern Asia and develop a strategy to improve their port performance accordingly. Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive literature review is conducted in order to identify factors for port performance evaluation. A large-scale questionnaire survey is employed in two port regions for comparative analysis. Findings – Descriptive techniques and t-tests indicate that port performances in the case port regions are different from each other in some factors and that they share some common features in certain other factors. The findings reveal that the most critical differences between the case ports are government support, proximity, speed of cargo handling, safety and port technical infrastructure in descending order. The Western European ports need to improve on government support, reduce port charges, diversify port ownership and improve port connectivity, while the Eastern Asian ports need to improve customs services, expand hinterlands, enhance logistics demand, encourage intermodalism and set up "dry ports". Research limitations/implications – This study was restricted to two port regions in China and the UK and data used in this research were mainly generated from questionnaire surveys, responses to which are, to some extent, subjective. Practical implications – Ports must provide services that meet and exceed customers' expectations to be competitive. This research yields practical insights for port managers to improve port performance as quantifying factors allows them to prioritize and compare the factor performance. The results of the empirical study can also assist port stakeholders to formulate their operational strategy for port performance improvement. Originality/value – The paper contributes to knowledge by addressing a gap in empirical research concerning performance comparison between Western European and Eastern Asian ports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inspection of foreign-flagged ships in a state's ports and anchorages for the purpose of monitoring compliance with international standards, known as 'port state control', has become necessary due to ineffective control by flag states over their vessels. Measures of effectiveness of port state control invariably focus upon the quantitative outcomes of inspections, deficiencies and detentions. This paper focuses on how effectively port state control is being delivered in the Asia-Pacific region on a qualitative basis and, in particular, it considers whether the strategic objective of the Asia-Pacific port state control regime, the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Asia-Pacific Region (Tokyo MOU), is being achieved. The starting point is to recall the concept of port state control and its development from a unilateral reactive measure by coastal states to a multilateral proactive control mechanism supported by international law. The structure, membership and capability of the Tokyo MOU is examined, including the flag state record of member authorities. Port state control performance of the Tokyo MOU is analysed using published statistics with comparative analysis undertaken of the European port state control regime - the Paris MOU. The paper identifies issues and challenges for member authorities of the Tokyo MOU in meeting its objectives. The components of the Tokyo MOU's strategic objectives are then examined to determine whether they are being achieved. A number of recommendations are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intense co-operation as well as severe competition are two characteristics of the current sea-port cargo-handling sector. This paper contributes to remedying the lack of understanding of the effects that such strategies may have on operating conditions in the sector. It analyses the geographical strategies pursued by the major operators up to 2006, as well as the functional directions in which co-operation is sought. It appears that most domestic ventures for the majority of container-handling operators are non-co-operative ones, except for PSA and HPH. Abroad, all of the cargo-handling operators except DPA/CSXWT have more co-operative than non-co-operative ventures. As to nationality of acquired subsidiaries, it is observed that most co-operative ventures have two nationalities involved. In terms of functional direction of operations, the major container-handling companies, except APM Terminals, start up most of their co-operative ventures with non-cargo-handling partners. Furthermore, it can be observed that HPH, APM Terminals, P&O Ports and DPA/CSXWT have started up, acquired or merged with more limited companies in cargo-handling than in non-cargo-handling activities. Most of the non-horizontal partners in cargo-handling ventures appear to be industrial or investment companies. PSA's, Eurogate's and DPA's non-cargo-handling ventures predominantly are in logistics. Combining geography and functional direction graphically shows that the major operators have had very diverging strategies. The two extremes are Eurogate, with a network which is solely focused on Europe, and P&O Ports, covering all continents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The market environment in which ports operate has changed dramatically, and this continuous process of change raises questions on the role of port authorities. This paper discusses the impact of some structural changes in international trade, transport and shipping on strategic and operational issues in the framework of port management. The central hypothesis put forward is that a successful port (authority), like a successful actor, must be prepared to constantly adopt new roles in order to cope with the changing market environment. The content and strategic scope of these new roles are highlighted, especially with regard to the European container port system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence and data analytics capabilities have enabled the introduction of automation, such as robotics and Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), across different sectors of the production spectrum which successively has profound implications for operational efficiency and productivity. However, the environmental sustainability implications of such innovations have not been yet extensively addressed in the extant literature. This study evaluates the use of AGVs in container terminals by investigating the environmental sustainability gains that arise from the adoption of artificial intelligence and automation for shoreside operations at freight ports. Through a comprehensive literature review, we reveal this research gap across the use of artificial intelligence and decision support systems, as well as optimisation models. A real-world container terminal is used, as a case study in a simulation environment, on Europe's fastest-growing container port (Piraeus), to quantify the environmental benefits related to routing scenarios via different types of AGVs. Our study contributes to the cross-section of operations management and artificial intelligence literature by articulating design principles to inform effective digital technology interventions at non-automated port terminals, both at operational and management levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise of global trade, maritime transportation networks have become an indispensable element of logistics networks. Approximately 80% of the global trade volume is transported by sea with the maritime logistics network fueling global economic integration. Due to the uncertainty of the transportation process and the impact of accidents, the reliability analysis of the logistics network is a topic of immense interest. In this paper, we propose an original and novel model to quantitatively analyze the vulnerability of the maritime logistics network by considering the importance of each port in the network. Three centrality measures that consider different topology information of the network are used in this paper to identify the importance of ports. Different information about the network is considered through the joint entropy and the multiscale factor q to evaluate the vulnerability of the logistics network. The Asia–Europe maritime transportation network serves as a real-world example to demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of our proposed model. The experimental results suggest that the performance of the maritime network is closely related to the heterogeneity of the connectivity pattern and the process of decentralization can reduce the vulnerability of the maritime network. • A novel model is proposed to evaluate the vulnerability of maritime transportation networks. • This proposed method considers different topology information simultaneously. • The joint entropy is applied to consider different information with a multiscale factor. • Asia–Europe maritime network is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of this proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In changing times the design and build of ships has altered and the needs of the professional sailor must be adapted to meet the requirements of these modern times. The practical seaman must adapt alongside a developing hi-tech industry and be able to improve when the need arises. The increasing of the capacity of commercial ships produced a depth boundary of many ports and harbors. Constanta harbor along with the two satellite harbors, Midia and Mangalia, is at the crossroads of trade routes linking landlocked country markets of Central and Eastern Europe in the Transcaucasus region, Central Asia and the Far East. The security and safety of navigation in the western Black Sea is in the care of civil and military departments with clearly defined prerogatives. Romanian Naval Authority through Constanta Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) supervises the coordination and control of navigation in roadstead and maritime docks by providing navigation guidance with seven lighthouses, one radio-marker, three entrance lights, three flashers and four fog signals. This paper aims to present how the safety and security in maritime navigation on the Romanian borders and new improvements is currently assured by using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). Thus, such a device could be used to monitor the seabed, to determine the hydro-acoustic diver fingerprint, underwater vehicles and surface vessels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses European port regulation, focusing primarily on the effectiveness of concession agreements in the port sector. Current heterogeneity in EU port regulation is widely recognised as having an impact on the competitiveness of ports. Moreover, Port Authorities have to take into account a wide range of goals in order to manage the interactions with private operators responsible for port activities. Thus, some trade-offs emerge, as in some cases a revenue stream or a strategic objective for the Port Authority may imply a cost for the concessionaire. This paper discusses how concession agreements can contribute to regulating these trade-offs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Adıyaman Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitisü Dergisi is the property of Adiyaman University, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitusu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Highlights • A study of more than 650 accidents in European ports has been conducted. • Decrease in the number of port accidents in Europe in the last century. • More training is required to reduce accidents due to human factor (27.3%). • Accidents originate in typical port operations: transport and transfer (73%). • European accidents have less severe consequences on population than worlwide ones. Abstract This paper has studied more than 650 accidents occurred in European ports. The main characteristic of all these accidents is that they involve chemical substances with their consequent risk for society and environment. Accidents occurred in European ports from 1919 until present have been analyzed in detail to understand better their main characteristics and typology. Most of the accidents have occurred in the last decades, being France (29.9%) the country with the higher percentage of accidents followed by UK (25.8%). The most common type of substance involved in the accidents is oil or related products (56.8%) and in most of the accidents a release of material occurred (61.0%), being the latter the type of accident that has increased the most in the last years. The main origin of the accidents is transport (41.7%) and transfer (31.5%), both typical port operations. Impact is the most common cause of accidents in ports (45.1%). Concerning the consequences on population, European accidents seem to have less severe consequences on population than accidents in ports worldwide. The number of accidents increased during the 20th century but it can be observed that there has been a clear reduction in the new century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a process of managing human activities in the marine and coastal environment in order to achieve sustainable development goals. Amendments regarding marine spatial planning within the Polish marine areas introduced to Polish law in 2015 constitute grounds for drawing up maritime spatial plans for marine areas. This paper presents a few general comments on the marine spatial planning in Poland in the context of implementation of the Directive establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning (MSP Directive) in Europe. The MSP Directive plays an important role in the development of marine spatial planning by promoting MSP instruments. Marine spatial plans are the basic instruments of marine spatial planning. The MSP Directive requires all coastal Member States of the European Union to prepare cross-sectoral maritime spatial plans by 2021. Development of the first maritime spatial plan for Polish marine areas was started in 2013. The MSP legal basis are included in the Marine Areas of the Republic of Poland and Maritime Administration Act of 1991 amended in 2015, which defines the legal situation of the marine areas of the Republic of Poland, the coastal area, the sea ports and harbours, and the rules for the use of these areas, as well as the maritime administration authorities and their competences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ducruet C., Koster H. R. A. and Van der Beek D. J. Commodity variety and seaport performance, Regional Studies. Seaports are key locations within value chains and production networks. Port policies of national and local governments seek higher rents through strategies of specialization or diversification. Elaborating on longstanding research about urban and regional development, this paper proposes an empirical investigation of the interplay between traffic variety and port performance. The analysis of traffic data per commodity for 330 European ports highlights the influence of multiple factors such as location, function, and local context, together with the specificity of some commodities regarding port evolution. The demonstrated importance of territorial factors provides a good complement to the existing literature mostly focused on global networks and economic players. [image omitted] Ducruet C., Koster H. R. A. et Van der Beek D. J. L'eventail des produits et la performance des ports maritimes, Regional Studies. Les ports maritimes sont des emplacements cle au sein des chaines de valeur et des reseaux de production. Les politiques des administrations nationale et locale envers les ports visent l'obtention des loyers plus eleves par moyen des strategies de specialisation et de diversification. Tout en developpant les recherches de longue date sur l'amenagement du territoire, cet article propose une etude empirique de l'interaction entre l'eventail du trafic et la performance des ports. L'analyse des donnees sur le trafic suivant le produit pour 330 ports europeens souligne l'influence de plusieurs facteurs, tels l'emplacement, la fonction et le contexte local, conjointement avec la specificite de certains produits quant au developpement des ports. L'importance deja evoquee de certains facteurs territoriaux complete bien la documentation actuelle qui porte largement sur les reseaux mondialises et les agents economiques. Produit Diversite Europe Port Specialisation Trafic Ducruet C., Koster H. R. A. und Van der Beek D. J. Gutervarietat und Leistung von Meereshafen, Regional Studies. Meereshafen sind wichtige Standorte innerhalb von Wertschopfungsketten und Produktionsnetzwerken. Die Regierungen auf nationaler und lokaler Ebene versuchen durch Strategien der Spezialisierung oder Diversifizierung ihre Pachteinnahmen aus Hafen zu steigern. Aufbauend auf langjahrigen Forschungen uber Stadt- und Regionalentwicklung wird in diesem Beitrag eine empirische Untersuchung der Wechselwirkungen zwischen Verkehrsvarietat und Hafenleistung vorgeschlagen. Bei einer Analyse der nach Gutern aufgeschlusselten Verkehrsdaten von 330 europaischen Hafen wird der Einfluss verschiedener Faktoren wie Standort, Funktion und lokaler Kontext deutlich, begleitet von der spezifischen Funktion einiger Guter fur die Entwicklung des Hafens. Die nachgewiesene Bedeutung territorialer Faktoren bietet eine gute Erganzung zur vorhandenen Literatur, die sich grosstenteils auf globale Netzwerke und wirtschaftliche Akteure konzentriert. Guter Diversifizierung Europa Hafen Spezialisierung Verkehr Ducruet C., Koster H. R. A. y Van der Beek D. J. Variedad de mercancias y rendimiento de los puertos maritimos, Regional Studies. Los puertos maritimos son lugares clave dentro de las cadenas de valores y las redes de produccion. Las politicas portuarias de gobiernos nacionales y locales quieren rentas mas altas a traves de estrategias de especializacion o diversificacion. Con ayuda de un amplio trabajo sobre desarrollo urbano y regional, en este articulo proponemos una investigacion empirica de la interaccion entre variedad de trafico y desempeno portuario. En el analisis de datos de trafico por mercancias para 330 puertos europeos se destaca la influencia de factores multiples, tales como el lugar, la funcion y el contexto local, junto con la especificidad de algunas mercancias con respecto a la evolucion del puerto. La importancia demostrada de los factores territoriales representa un buen complemento a la literatura existente que presta atencion principalmente a las redes globales y los protagonistas economicos. Mercancia Diversidad Europa Puerto Especializacion Trafico [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The European container port system features a unique blend of different port types and sizes combined with a vast economic hinterland. This paper provides an update of the detailed container traffic analysis developed by by extending it to the period 1985–2008 and to 78 container ports. The paper also aims at identifying key trends and issues underlying recent developments in the European container port system. These trends include the formation of multi-port gateway regions, changes in the hinterland orientation of ports and port regionalization processes. While the local hinterland remains the backbone of ports’ traffic positions, a growing demand for routing flexibility fuels competition for distant hinterlands between multi-port gateway regions. The prevailing assumption that containerisation would lead to further port concentration is not a confirmed fact in Europe: the European port system and most of its multi-port gateway regions witness a gradual cargo deconcentration process. Still, the container handling market remains far more concentrated than other cargo handling segments in the European port system, as there are strong market-related factors supporting a relatively high cargo concentration level in the container sector. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Seaport services have been developing year on year, playing an increasingly important role in the economy and the transportation markets of each country. This increases interest in measuring their performance. This paper evaluates the performance of a set of European seaports by means of robust non-parametric approaches. Using order-m and bootstrap procedures, the major problems of traditional data envelopment analysis and free disposal hull methods - concerning noise, presence of outliers and the 'curse of dimensionality' - are overcome. With this study considerable levels of inefficiency were found in the European seaports sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Collected Papers of the Faculty of Law in Split / Zbornik Radova Pravnog Fakulteta u Splitu is the property of Split Faculty of Law and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper focuses on the response of port authorities to the changing market environment in which they operate. It documents the changes taking place in the relationships between port authorities and terminal management companies and considers the strategic issues faced by these groups and other port interests. In particular, it investigates the potential conflicts of interest for a port authority in matters related to the level of competition amongst terminals within a port and the amount of competition amongst ports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest research continues to show that the ballast water issue is very complex, which makes it very challenging to manage. In 2004, the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) was adopted to globally harmonize action against the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens via ships’ ballast water and related sediments. Analyses of the BWM Convention requirements, conducted through different research projects mainly aiming to provide support for the implementation of the BWM Convention, have shown that there are different steps countries need to take and that there are still some open issues which need to be solved. This paper presents some of the main issues identified and the core theoretical and applied measures required to solve these issues, with the aim to support more efficient and coordinated implementation of the BWM Convention requirements in EU seas. The approaches recommended here for the EU may be universally interesting for similar application in other areas of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the 2016 environmental benchmark performance of the port sector, based on a wide representation of EcoPorts members. This is the fifth time that this study has been conducted as an initiative of the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO). The data and results are derived from the Self-Diagnosis Method (SDM), a concise checklist against which port managers can self-assess the environmental management of their port in relation to the performance of the EcoPorts membership. The SDM tool was developed in the framework of the ECOPORTS project (2002–2005) and it is managed by ESPO. A total number of 91 ports from 20 different European Maritime States contributed to this evaluation. The main results are that air quality remains as the top environmental priority of the respondent ports, followed by energy consumption and noise. In terms of environmental management, the study confirms that key components are commonly implemented in the majority of European ports. 94% of contributing ports have a designated environmental manager, 92% own an environmental policy and 82% implement an environmental monitoring program. Waste is identified as the most monitored issue in ports (80%), followed by energy consumption (73%) and water quality (70%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at presenting cruise tourism in Slovenia. Slovenia has a small coastal strip (46 km), which is the reason why there are only a limited number of ports. The only passenger terminal for large cruise ships is located in the Port of Koper. Cruise tourism started in Slovenia in 2015. Since the beginning, the number of cruise ships has grown substantially. The aim of the study is to investigate the impacts of cruise tourism in the city of Koper, as perceived by local tourism stakeholders. The results have shown that there is still a strong support to develop this sector of tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent public and governmental concerns regarding increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have drawn the attention to environmental issues in port sector literature. Since eco-efficiency improvements play a crucial role in stimulating clean production in this sector, this paper provides a comparative analysis of the eco-efficiency of twenty-four leading container ports in Europe. The exploration of the most prominent determinants of eco-efficiency and the analysis of the heterogeneity of port behaviours represent additional objectives. Further considerations derive from the assumptions on the selection of indicators that can be involved in the comparative analysis and from the involvement of GHGs in the theoretical model. Data from a sample of 52,697 active firms are considered in this empirical work. The model involves a two-step procedure: the slacks-based measure (SBM) and the response-based procedure for detecting unit segments in partial least squares (REBUS-PLS). The empirical results confirm that significant correlations emerge between the indicators considered and eco-efficiency. The findings validate that unobserved heterogeneity in the port data exists, and that REBUS-PLS allows the predictive capacity of the model to be optimised for European ports. From a policy point of view, the conclusion could offer useful insights to support policy measures targeted at the improvement of clean production. • The paper provides a comparative analysis of the eco-efficiency of twenty-four EU ports. • The paper attempts to explore the most prominent determinants of eco-efficiency. • The research considers a two-step procedure: the SBM and the rREBUS-PLS. • REBUS-PLS is suitable for investigating unobserved heterogeneity in the port data. • An approach based on the NUTS2 levels and NACE codes is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ports Rijeka, Koper, Trieste, Venice and Ravenna are ports of the North Adriatic multiport gateway region (NA). They have a good geographical location and modem container terminals, but this multiport gateway region has been facing lower rates of container throughput than the rest of the multiport gateway regions in Europe. The paper aims at providing an overview of the dynamics of competition among the NA ports - Koper, Trieste, Venice, Ravenna, Rijeka - and at analysing the throughput in this ports in the last twenty years. Based on these numbers, a simple but efficient model to forecast the possibility of growth or fall of traffic in the next year has been found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to some recent figures, the European cruise industry continues to increase its share of the global cruise market with 25.2 million passengers visiting a European port in 2010; 5.2 million passengers joined their cruise in Europe in the same year with the industry generating €35.2 billion of goods and services and providing almost 307,000 jobs. However, far beyond the "macro" figures, it is imperative to gain a better understanding of the relationship between these macro-data and specific city-related cases. The article points out that cities (as cruise destinations but also as efficient services bases for the ships) are becoming more important in cruise marketing and that the economic link between the cruising world and cities (with their local communities) is something which is at the least in part governable and should be the object of an active strategy on the part of the cities. These conclusions are confirmed by the results of an EU project ("Cruise Traffic and Urban Regeneration" -- CTUR), recently developed within the "EU-URBACT Program" framework and focused on the relationship between "cruises" and "cities". The project, leaded, as a "lead Expert", by the author, provided guidelines to support harbour-cities to fully exploit the economic and social development opportunities offered by cruise traffic. Mainly through case studies and examples referred to the CTUR Project, the paper both focuses the "local economic impact of cruise traffic" and summarizes guidelines aimed at optimizing the harbour-cities strategic approach to the cruise business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bringing in neo-institutional perspectives, this paper investigates the recent corporatisation process of three seaports in Asia and Europe. We focus on whether the newly established seaport governance structures follow a path largely affected by the local/national institutional frameworks and the political traditions in place. Findings confirm that path-dependent decisions largely preserve the institutional characteristics of local/national systems, resulting in implementation asymmetries when different countries seek generic governance solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The emergence of inland ports took place in several regions around the world, notably where the growth of inland freight distribution required a massification of flows. Yet, there is no definitive consensus about how such inland facilities should be labeled, with terms such as dry ports being advocated. It is suggested in the paper that the term inland port is a more appropriate construct since it considers terminal activities as well as the crucial logistics activities taking place in co-location or in proximity of inland terminals. This perspective requires the investigation of how transport and supply chain functions and the various actors involved in their setting and operations are taking shape in inland ports. Case studies pertaining to European and North American inland ports are presented. Although inland ports are planned, set and operated by a wide variety of actors, ranging from public to private interests, transport and supply chain functions tend to label them as satellite terminals, load centers or transmodal centers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper addresses the design of container liner shipping networks taking into consideration container management issues including empty container repositioning. We examine two typical service networks with different ship sizes: multi-port calling by conventional ship size and hub-and-spoke by mega-ship. The entire solution process is performed in two phases: the service network design and container distribution. A wide variety of numerical experiments are conducted for the Asia–Europe and Asia–North America trade lanes. In most scenarios the multi-port calling is superior in terms of total cost, while the hub-and-spoke is more advantageous in the European trade for a costly shipping company. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In Europe, ports are confronted with a closer integration in the maritime and shipping industries. The co-operation agreements can take several forms such as alliances and mergers among shipping lines, conferences, involvement of shipping companies in terminal management, and extending interests in inland transport of shipping companies. In this paper we give a brief overview of these different types of agreement and we examine the consequences of this evolution of the market structures in which ports and shipping companies have to operate. More specifically, attention goes to the competitive position of the port in this new environment. It is clear that the role of the port and the port authorities has to be redefined to guarantee that it remains a fully fledged player in this fast evolving integrated market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides an empirical analysis of the challenges that cruise ports in Europe were facing before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 triggered an unprecedented global health and economic crisis with severe, and potentially structural, consequences for the cruise world. In this context, knowledge of the key challenges that cruise ports need to address builds capacities for conceptualising, but also better responding, in the post-COVID-19 conditions to both pre-existing challenges and the ones produced by the pandemic. The study examines the former group of challenges. It does so analysing a survey answered by 155 cruise ports in 34 countries in the two European markets (North Europe and the Med) just before the pandemic outbreak. The survey identifies the significance of different types of challenges (operational, strategic, societal, environmental), and the hierarchy of challenges referring to the relationships between ports and cruise lines. Detailing which issues were (not) shared by the entire cruise port industry, the findings reveal that the pre-pandemic search for sustainable growth of the cruise activities hosted had led to diverging challenges in each of these two cruise markets. They also establish that port governance models do matter when it comes to the variation of the confronted challenges. These results imply that policy initiatives based on a "one size fits all" approach would provide a rather ineffective helping hand in resolving the major of the identified challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By exemplifying the feeder service for the port of Kotka, this study proposed a multi-objective optimization model for feeder network design. Innovative for difference from the single-objective evaluation system, the objective of feeder network design was proposed to include single allocation cost, intra-Europe cargo revenue, equipment balance, sailing cycle, allocation utilization, service route competitiveness, and stability. A three-stage control system was presented, and numerical experiment based on container liner's real life data was conducted to verify the mathematical model and the control system. The numerical experiment revealed that the three-stage control system is effective and practical, and the research ideas had been applicable with satisfactory effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several harbour activities cause negative environmental impacts in the harbours' surrounding areas, namely the degradation of air quality. This paper intends to comprehensively review the status of the air quality measured in harbour areas. The published studies show a limited number of available air quality monitoring data in harbours areas, mostly located in Europe (71%). Measured concentrations of the main air pollutants were compiled and intercompared, for different countries worldwide allowing a large spatial representativeness. The higher NO 2 and PM 10 concentrations were found in Europe - ranging between 12 and 107 μg/m3 and 2–50 μg/m3, respectively, while the higher concentrations of PM 2.5 were found in Asia (25–70 μg/m3). In addition, the lower levels of SO 2 monitored in recent years suggest that current mitigation strategies adopted across Europe were very efficient in promoting the reduction of SO 2 concentrations. Part of the reviewed studies also estimated the contributions from ship emissions to PM concentration through the application of source apportionment methods, with an average of 5–15%. In some specific harbour areas in Asia, ships can contribute up to 7–26% to the local fine particulate matter concentrations. This review confirms that emissions from the maritime transport sector should be considered as a significant source of particulate matter in harbour areas, since this pollutant concentrations are frequently exceeding the established standard legal limit values. Therefore, the results from this review boost the implementation of mitigation measures, aiming to reduce, in particular, particulate matter emissions. Image 1 • Maritime sector emissions are a main source of air pollution over harbour areas. • The highest concentrations of NO 2 and PM 10 are found in European harbours. • Recent mitigation strategies in the European territory have proved their efficiency. • PMF is the most common method for source-apportionment among all case studies. A review was performed focused on air quality over harbour areas, concluding that shipping activities have a significant contribution to PM and NO 2 emissions: the highest concentrations of NO 2 and PM 10 are found in European harbours, ranging between 12 and 107 μg/m3 and 2–50 μg/m3, respectively, while the highest PM 2.5 concentrations were found in Asia, ranging from 25 to 70 μg/m3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes cruise tourism seasonality in Southern Europe, assessing the seasonal concentration levels by means of the Gini index. The additive decomposition of this index is used to evaluate the contribution of each port to the global seasonal concentration in the regions where they are located. It also allows the estimation of marginal relative effects to identify the most propitious ports for reducing seasonality within the Mediterranean regions. The analysis is complemented by estimating the seasonal patterns of each port. Given the significant heterogeneity revealed in the regions analyzed, a bootstrapped bagged clustering is applied to classify the ports into homogeneous groups according to their seasonal patterns. The techniques used form a methodological framework that serves as a control and monitoring tool for measuring seasonal concentration levels in cruise tourism, allowing for policies against seasonality to be tailored for this segment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inland ports in Europe, having undergone transformation for several decades, have become multifunctional economic spaces. Currently, these are not only transport nodes in land-water traditional transport chains but today also supply the locations of intermodal terminals, distribution centers, service and production companies, or technology parks. Multifunctional inland ports also form part of the economic systems of cities and regions, contributing to their development. The aim of this article is to present the best practices in managing inland ports in Europe. In the article, using the results of research on inland waterway transport, it is pointed out what practices in managing inland ports have led, in many cases, to their increased importance in both multi-branch transport systems and the economic development of cities and regions. The study used literature on the subject, specific information on selected European inland ports, and development strategies for selected regions in Europe, including inland waterway transport. On the basis of the above, best practices leading to the long-term development of inland ports and maximizing the added value arising in their areas were determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

River ports represent a special type of urbanized area. They are considered to be an important driver of biological invasion and biotic homogenization on a global scale, but it remains unclear how and to what degree they serve as a pool of alien species. Data for 54 river ports (16 German, 20 Czech, 7 Hungarian, 3 Slovak, and 8 Austrian ports) on two important Central European waterways (the Elbe-Vltava and Danube waterways) were collected over 40 years. In total, 1056 plant species were found. Of these, 433 were alien, representing 41% of the total number of species found in all the studied Elbe, Vltava, and Danube ports. During comparison of floristic data from literary sources significant differences in the percentage of alien species in ports (50%) and cities (38%) were found. The number of alien species was closely related to port size, but the proportion of alien species expressed as a percentage of the total number of species did not depend significantly on port area. The proportion of alien species in both studied waterways decreased with distance from the sea and was highest in the Hungarian ports and lowest in the Czech Republic, Austria and Bavaria. Lower levels of shipping towards inland regions due to decreased river flow are likely the reason for this trend. The dissimilarity in the species composition of alien and native flora between individual river ports increased with increasing inter-port distance. Neophytes presented a stronger distance decay pattern than did either native species or archaeophytes of the Danube inland ports, potentially due to the different cargoes of individual ports, which may affect the introduction of different neophytes from different geographic areas. The results show that river ports in Central Europe should be regarded as a type of industrial area and deserve full attention with regard to the distribution and spread of alien plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a literature review on labour dynamics in European ports. The aim is to provide a detailed and critical appraisal of the recent academic literature on port labour studies, in order to develop a comprehensive mapping of the variety of port labour regimes and conflicts in Europe with the ultimate aim of revealing the changing profile of labour requirements as a consequence of the structural transformations in the overall logistics chain. The review mainly considers the literature published during the period 2000-2017. Since ports have been explored by means of different theoretical approaches, paradigms and perspectives, the study aimed to foster a multidisciplinary approach between some streams and to consolidate them wherever possible. In the first part of the article, the main definitions, ideas and concepts developed in the literature by scholars on seaport research and port studies are reviewed and analysed. The second part discusses the literature on port geography and the third part addresses port labour dynamics in particular. The conclusions draw from the perspective of the maritime-logistics chain to analyse the variety of port labour systems and summarise the literature reviewed, stressing the need for further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More extensive attention has been paid to the heterogeneity of maritime transport network in topological rather than in spatial aspects. However, the importance of links and the roles of neighbors of a node has been ignored if not all. To fill this gap, this article introduced the approach of weighted ego network analysis (WENA) to visualize the spatial heterogeneity of the maritime network at global and local levels. The topological connectivity graph of the global marine network was derived, and its structural properties were analyzed. It is found out that the values of the degree of ports follow power-law distribution, which indicates that the global marine network is scale-free, that is, there are few well-connected ports and a majority of less connected ports. The spatial disparities of the network can be described by a core–periphery pattern. In global, most of the hubs or ports with extremely high values of degree locate in the big-three maritime regions including Far East, North America, and West Europe. Along the peripheral belts of the three regions, there are lots of less connected small ports. A different hierarchical structure of six continents was captured by WENA. It is found that Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa showcase a pyramid-shaped hierarchical structure with a scale-free feature similar to the entire network, while South America and Oceania exhibit the fusiform hierarchy like small-world networks. It is proposed that such spatial inequality and heterogeneity were caused by the geographical environments such as the hub-and-spoke organization, the embedded trade pattern, and the proximity of location. These findings help us to understand the characteristics of the international trade pattern and shed light on the strategies of development for the industry stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The role of commercial harbours as sink and source habitats for non-indigenous species (NIS) and the role of recreational boating for their secondary spread were investigated by analysing the fouling community of five Italian harbours and five marinas in the western Mediterranean Sea. It was first hypothesised that NIS assemblages in the recreational marinas were subsets of those occurring in commercial harbours. However, the data did not consistently support this hypothesis: the NIS pools of some marinas significantly diverged from harbours even belonging to the same coastal stretches, including NIS occurring only in marinas. This study confirms harbours as hotspots for marine NIS, but also reveals that numbers of NIS in some marinas is higher than expected, suggesting that recreational vessels effectively facilitate NIS spread. It is recommended that this vector of NIS introduction is taken into account in the future planning of sustainable development of maritime tourism in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This research study attempts to conceptualize models based on the relationship between characterization factors and port performance. By selecting a universe of the 230 largest European ports in terms of cargo throughput, 43 valid answers were obtained. Factor analysis and K–W (Kruskal–Wallis) tests were carried out taking as a reference the port performance theory. Findings reveal the existence of a relationship between port performance and its characterization factors, delving into the development of conceptualized models that contribute to deepen the knowledge of port competition structure and dynamics within Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the policy and management perspective, this study aims to investigate the port management tools that port/public authorities have at their disposal and then to analyse to what extent the tools are used to enforce or encourage green port development at functional activities of port operations and development. We conduct an exploratory and comparative review based on two axes: on the one hand, the range of tools available to port authorities (pricing, monitoring and measuring, market access control and environmental standard regulation) and on the other hand, the functional activities in ports (shipping traffic, cargo handling and storage operations, intermodal connection, industrial activities, and port expansion). The situations in the leading ports in Asia and Europe, namely Singapore, Shanghai, Antwerp and Rotterdam are studied and compared, whereby the policies' effectiveness is discussed accordingly. Findings show that the ports are particularly mature in exercising environmental standard regulations which reveals that the enforcement approach is more prevalent. The most focused functional activity is shipping traffic which reflects that the ports are driven by the International Maritime Organisation. The respective port authorities in Antwerp and Rotterdam have a higher level of influence on devising green port policy in comparison to the two Asian ports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]