A Determination of the Optical Containership Size Using a Total Shipping Cost Analysis

Traditionally, determination of the optimal containership size is the most important factor for competitiveness of shipping companies in the shipping market. Under this environment, many shipping companies and researchers have studied about it. The objective of this research is to determine the optimal containership size using a total shipping cost in the main trunk lines. Total shipping cost is calculated at the ground of capital costs, vessel operation costs, voyage costs, port charges and miscellaneous costs for `Europe-Far East`, `Far East-North America` and `Europe-Far East-North America` services. Analysis results showed that the 6,500TEU containership is an optimal size on the `Europe-Far East` and `Europe-Far East-North America` services. And the 8,200TEU containership is an optimal size on the `Far East-North America` service. Moreover, if the larger containerships over 8,200TEU class start operation afterward, it would be less competitive in the analyzed 3services.