Trajectory of research on maritime transportation in the era of digitization

Abstract

PurposeThe literature on Maritime Transportation (MT) is experiencing a transition phase where the focus of the research is repositioning. It registered steep growth in recent years with its beginning articles on the concepts of cost minimization to the current focus on achieving sustainable operational effectiveness using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Thus, this becomes a right time to investigate the trajectory of research on MT.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed study aims to explore the potential of data analytics techniques such as data mining and network analytics to reflect the trajectory of research in the maritime supply chain over time. This study identifies the eight main dimensions of the research published under maritime paradigm through network analytics. The in-depth review of these dimensions rendered us to segregate them further into sub-dimensions for the ease of understanding and interpretability. Further, the text mining is employed to extract thematic evolution of the research.FindingsThe evolved themes are completely exclusive from the conventional MT research with artificial intelligence, digital storage, waste management and biofuels emerging as contemporary themes. It is found that although there are a sufficient amount of literature on sustainable port practices but their policy implications are still underexplored. The inter-dimension research is needed to achieve the motive of economic efficiency and environmental sustainability simultaneously.Originality/valueThe study has contributed on the methodology side of conducting literature reviews. The dimensions, sub-dimensions and themes are obtained using data analytics tools and techniques. This omits the possibility of personal bias and thus making the results verifiable.

Benchmarking of Singapore maritime cluster: the role of cluster facilitators

“…The MPA has taken up this role seriously by working with other governmental agencies and stakeholders to ensure an integrated development approach for the maritime cluster policy. As noted by Fornahl and Hassink (2017), cluster policy is comprised of all efforts of government to develop and support clusters in a particular location (Shankar et al , 2021). Within this role, the study also found that the MPA as an organisation has also transformed itself from operating as a governmental entity responsible for industry regulations into operating in an industry development role.…”

A systematic literature review of technological developments and challenges for inland waterways freight transport in intermodal supply chain management

“…Digitalisation and automation further integrate IWT into the seamless modern industrial logistic chain. Academic scholars are already looking into intelligent IWT Zhu et al, 2021;Shankur et al, 2021), automated and unmanned vessels (Verberght and Van Hassel, 2019;Meersman et al, 2020;Krause et al, 2022). Peeters et al (2020) believe that automation of inland infrastructures and fleets can enhance the competitiveness of the transport mode; hence, they launched an investigation into the feasibility of current and future unmanned inland vessels.…”

Port logistic issues and challenges in the Industry 4.0 era for emerging economies: an India perspective

“…(1) Unavailability of mobile harbor cranes Studies the application of optimal control to Industry 4.0, supply chain, and scheduling in production Studies the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on various sectors Shankar et al (2021) Studies the trajectory of research on maritime transportation in the digital era bargaining powers, mismatch of opinion leads to frequent strikes, labor unrest which eventually increases the handling cost at ports and leads to port congestions. Gate-in processes at ports are one of the major reasons for port congestion.…”