Global trends in maritime and port economics: the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Cullinane, Kevin; Haralambides, Hercules

doi:10.1057/s41278-021-00196-5

Cited by 62 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The criteria determined in this study to rank the problems causing empty container shortages during the COVID-19 period are compatible with those reported in the literature [ 32 , 35 , 42 ]. Moreover, the criteria and alternatives created by considering the literature and the opinions of experts and sectorial broadcasting organizations represent the problem and solution methods that were examined within the scope of the study [ 26 , 33 , 41 , 46 , 80 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…This solution is considered the best by experts and is also the most preferred solution in the maritime sector [ 51 , 81 ]. This is because the method contributes significantly to reducing storage costs, which are viewed as a substantial financial burden for BCOs, and to eliminating the unavailability problem of free space on container ships [ 26 , 35 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The environment of uncertainty caused by container shortages has forced companies to deal with unforeseen financial losses [ 35 ]. As container shortages result in the available-to-promise products being kept in warehouses for long periods [ 83 ], BCOs operating in different sectors, such as retail, food, manufacturing, and industry, have started to purchase containers [ 84 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During this period, it was announced that among three key shipping alliances, there were 126 blank sailings on the Trans-Pacific trade route and 94 on the Asia-Europe route [ 34 ]. In the period leading to October 2020, there were 515 blank sailings [ 35 ]. In the Suez Canal, one of the most important transit routes on the Far Eastern Europe route, the number of transits in May decreased by 32% to reach an all-time low [ 36 ].…”

Section: Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…During this period, the precautionary strategies applied by the maritime companies were not accepted by the BCO, and complaints were made to many different commissions, such as the FMC (Federal Maritime Commission). A majority of the complaints involved the decreased number of sailings (navigations), blank sailing advertisements, low level of schedule reliability, container rollover, additional costs, and container shortage [ 35 ].…”

Section: Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigation of empty container shortage based on SWARA-ARAS methods in the COVID-19 era

Toygar

Yıldırım

İnegöl

2022

Eur. Transp. Res. Rev.

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A shortage of empty containers has become a global crisis with more devastating effects than during previous periods when combined with various problems arising from the COVID-19, such as an increase in an imbalance of global trade between supply and demand, a decrease in the workforce, and restrictions by countries or regional quarantine practices. The absence of empty containers in regions where they are needed slows down industrial activities and locks the global supply networks, necessitating the use of alternative methods that are inefficient. Although this shortage causes many disruptions in global trade, solutions to the issue have not been studied in detail. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the issues caused by the shortage of empty containers and to rank the appropriate solutions. Four main criteria and sixteen subcategories used to define the issues, as well as a multi criteria decision model comprising five criteria for the solutions, were proposed based on information from the literature, sectorial publications, and expert opinions. The issues’ weighted order of importance in our proposed model was calculated using the SWARA (Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis) method; solutions were ranked using the ARAS (Additive Ratio Assessment) method. The results of the study revealed that the issues were ranked in importance as cost increases, uncertainty in the supply chain, volume loss, and increases in blank sailing announcements. Appropriate solutions were ranked as booking guarantee applications and information communication technologies, using shipper-owned containers, inducement calls, and E2E (end to end) delivery services.

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