Seaports during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Terminal Operators’ Tactical Responses to Disruptions in Maritime Supply Chains

Abstract

The world-wide crisis caused by the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had a significant impact on the global economy functioning and the sustainable development of supply chains. The changes also affected seaports being the key links of maritime supply chains. The purpose of the research study described in this article was to identify the sources and kinds of disruptions observed in various maritime supply chains as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on the operations of various types of seaport terminals, namely those serving bulk (universal, specialised) and general cargoes (universal, specialised). An additional purpose was to identify the dependencies between the type of terminal and its main function, and the tactical decisions adopted by the particular terminals. The research was carried out using the multiple-case study method. The study covered some selected port terminals functioning in Polish seaports (Gdańsk, Szczecin, Świnoujście), applying direct, semi-structured in-depth interviews. The analysis of the results was carried out using the inductive reasoning method. The research study has shown that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic some maritime supply chains ceased to exist, some of them were operating with decreased cargo volumes, while in other cases the transshipment volumes actually rose during the pandemic. Among terminal operators’ tactical responses to disruptions in maritime supply chains, there were pro-active and adaptive measures. Pro-active (offensive) measures included actions taken by an enterprise in order to engage in new maritime supply chains, and even participating in establishing new maritime chains in response to limitations caused by the pandemic. Adaptive (defensive) measures covered actions taken by the port terminals as a consequence of changes in the existing maritime supply chains, caused by the pandemic in the port’s foreland or hinterland. The research study results revealed that the terminals extent of engagement and tactical decisions related to the pandemic were depended on the type of terminal (universal or specialised) and its main function played within a supply chain.

Maritime resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: impacts and solutions

“…Apart from analyzing COVID-19 from global perspectives, numerous researches focus on gathering data on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the maritime industry (Guerrero et al , 2022; Menhat et al , 2021; Millefiori et al , 2021; Narasimha et al , 2021; Oyenuga, 2021; Saviolakis and Pazarzis, 2021; Shi and Weng, 2021; Tai et al , 2021). To illustrate, Menhat et al (2021) discussed the impact of the pandemic on four areas, namely, shipping, fisheries, maritime tourism and oil and gas sector; Mańkowska et al (2021) analyzed the response of seaport terminal operators concerning COVID-19; and Charłampowicz (2021) explored the service quality of sea transportation during the pandemic period. Furthermore, Wang et al (2021) assessed the ship management efficiency index based on congestion perspectives, which is relevant as the health measures implemented by the government authorities such as safe distancing, quarantines arrangement and travel restrictions would lead to a decrease in productivity at ports and cargo handling operations.…”

The dynamic interaction between COVID-19 and shipping freight rates: a quantile on quantile analysis

“…[ 7 ] have found that the fuel and commodity prices and the financial markets are considered to be the main determinates of the shipping market. Also, Mańkowska et al [ 23 ] have shown that the spread of COVID-19 has differently impacted maritime supply chains. Moreover, some of them are completely closed, while some have the lowest operations and vice versa.…”

A Review of Business Model Transformation in Transportation Business Post Pandemic

“…To discover new opportunities and adapting to service offers, transportation business must change their supply chain strategy. For the cargo ship, it is advised to change their storage period to fit customers' needs and decrease cargo turnover [43].…”