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International audience; A port system is a system of two or more ports, located in proximity within a given area. In literature, various geographical and functional scales have been identified ranging from complete coastlines to the notions of a ‘range’ and a ‘multi-port gateway region’. Not only does the spatial scale create confusion on the true functional delineation of port systems, but it also complicates a clear understanding of the relational mechanisms at stake within these port systems. This paper revisits existing approaches to and empirical delineations of port systems. Maritime network analysis techniques are deployed to understand hierarchies and interdependencies among nodes of container port systems and sub-systems in North Europe and Northeast Asia. The results provide additional insights on how ports interact from a maritime services’ perspectives and demonstrate whether or not ports which are traditionally considered as belonging to the same port system can in reality be considered forming a fully integrated port system.

Climate change has produced new challenges for port infrastructures, requiring the planning of long-term mitigation measures and adaptation actions. In order to be able to orient projects, it is necessary to read ports as complex systems and to understand the dependencies and flows between their parts, and the interaction with city and with environment. Among project actions, the inclusion of green areas provides both mitigation and adaptation benefits.

Introduction: A structured Strategic Planning process has been developed in the Spanish Port System since 1990s. One of the first elements of this process is the formulation of the mission statement of each Port Authority. Aim: An in-depth review of the mission statements of the Spanish Port Authorities is carried out in this research, and mission statements are assessed from a theoretical point of view. The goal of the study is to discuss how mission statements of these entities are aligned with the international standards. Methods: Mission statements are captured from public sources. Two criteria are used for the assessment: its content (analyzing if the mission statement reflects nine key elements usually considered internationally), and its length (number of words). As the first component is qualitative, a Delphi method was used in the assessment of this element. Results: The mission statements of these Port Authorities reflect more frequently than the benchmark omparison made by over 50 companies seven of the nine key elements. The only two fields in which Spanish Port Authorities show a negative gap are those related to "technology” and “concern of employees”. In terms of length, the average of 32 words is shorter than the 50-100 words recommended by some authors. Conclusions: The Strategic Planning in the Spanish Port Authorities is a long and well -structured process. Port Authorities are essentially market-oriented public organisms and their mission statements seems to be properly formulated following business practices in terms of their content.

International audience; China’s global shipping connectivity had been somewhat overlooked as the bulk of related studies predominantly focused on the throughput volume of its own port cities. This article tackles such lacunae by providing a relational perspective based on the extraction of vessel movement archives from the Lloyd’s List corpus. Two complementary analyses are proposed: long-term dynamics with all ships included (1890–2008) and medium-term dynamics focusing on container flows (1978–2016). Each analysis examines China’s maritime connectivity in various ways and on different spatial scales, from the global to the local, in terms of concentration, vulnerability, and expansion. The main results underline the influence of technological, economic, and political factors on the changing distribution of connectivity internally and externally. In particular, China has managed to reduce its dependence upon external transit hubs, to increase the internal connectivity of its own port system, and to strengthen its dominance towards an increasing number of foreign nodes and trade partners through the maritime network.

This work presents the general characteristics of the port system. It defines sets and functions describing the structure and work of the port. Moreover, it characterizes foundations of the massive handling theory. It provides basic literature information about selected processes and models of the massive handling theory. On the example of a transportation company serving the loading on ships in the port of Szczecin, it shows the loading method. The material loading onto ships was the sodium water glass. There are observation results of operation times comprising the data available to determine parameters of the massive handling theory. Operations covered in the analysis include: the arrival of the ship at the port’s road, waiting for enter the port, passing through the fairway, waiting for loading, loading, determination of the cargo’s weight, preparation of documents and waiting for leaving the port. It presents critical remarks about possibilities of using the data obtained to describe loading cargo on a ship with the use of elements of the massive handling theory.

Adjacent ports played a significant role in the evolution of the port system. In our study, we selected five pairs (i.e., Dalian-Yingkou, Qingdao-Yantai, Shanghai-Ningbo, Xiamen-Quanzhou, and Shenzhen-Guangzhou) of the most important adjacent ports in China to reveal the recent trend of China unique port system development; how and why will port system development be de-concentrated; and integrate the conceptual modal into in-depth analysis. The major findings are as follows: (1) There is functional differentiation in adjacent ports. To some big ports' sustainability, they focus on foreign trade while other small ports, in order to achieve sustainable development, they focus on domestic trade; (2) First-mover advantage and dislocation competition is a mechanism of China ports functional differentiation; (3) Shanghai and Ningbo are unique in that both ports are similarly focused on foreign trade because they both have deep-water harbors, excellent geographical location, export-oriented hinterland economy, and close foreign investment relationships.

Special Issue: "The Changing Landscapes of Transport and Logistics in China"; International audience; Coal plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of China. Yet, the spatial mismatch between production centers (inland Northwest) and consumption centers (coastal region) within China fostered the emergence of dedicated coal transport corridors with limited alternatives. Serious problems of energy shortage and power rationing have already affected southeastern China. At the same time, enormous interregional coal transfers face a lack of transport capacity along the transport system. Based on first-hand statistics, a disaggregated analysis of coal distribution patterns since the late 1970s provides novel evidences about the local effects of macroscopic trends, such as the shift from dominant exports to dominant imports in terms of changing traffic concentration levels and distribution patterns among routes and ports. The spatial evolution of coal distribution is also discussed in terms of related industry linkages and local influences, coal trade policies and market pricing, port system evolution, and transport network planning. The paper also discusses possible improvements of the current situation through enhancing multimodal transport based on a review of current policies.

Objective The purpose of this study was to compare clinical and surgical outcomes between laparo-endoscopic single-site (LESS) surgery and traditional multiport laparoscopic (TML) surgery for treatment of adnexal tumors. Methods Medical records were reviewed for patients undergoing surgery for benign adnexal tumors between January 2008 and April 2012 at our institution. All procedures were performed by the same surgeon. Clinical and surgical outcomes for patients undergoing LESS surgery using Glove port were compared with those patients undergoing TML surgery. Results A review of 129 patient cases undergoing LESS surgery using Glove port and 100 patient cases undergoing TML surgery revealed no significant differences in the baseline characteristics of the two groups. The median operative time was shorter in the LESS group using Glove port at 44 minutes (range, 19-126 minutes) than the TML group at 49 minutes (range, 20-196 minutes) (P=0.0007). There were no significant differences between in the duration of postoperative hospital stay, change in hemoglobin levels, pain score or the rate of complications between the LESS and TML groups. Conclusion LESS surgery showed comparable clinical and surgical outcomes to TML surgery, and required less operative time. Future prospective trials are warranted to further define the benefits of LESS surgery for adnexal tumor treatment.