This study develops an analytical framework to examine the leverage [defined as ‘capacity to influence’] that countries develop over others through international investments of their State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in ports and maritime logistics. Seaports serving international trade are pivotal connections between national economies and the world, and critical nodes in global logistics networks. Influence in a foreign port is a potential source of geopolitical leverage. SOEs have long been active in ports, shipping, and logistics, and attention to their impact has increased due to the accelerated involvement of SOEs, in particular Chinese ones, in ports worldwide. The study details the roles of internationally active SOEs in three relevant activities: shipping, terminal operations, and port management and development and constructs a framework for assessing the conditions under which SOE activities in a host country create leverage for the home country of the SOE. It then applies this analytical framework in a case study of the presence of a Chinese SOE (COSCO) in Piraeus, Greece. The case study concludes that COSCO's activities in Piraeus do give China leverage over Greece. The findings call for further assessments of whether, and if so, how home countries of SOEs develop and exercise leverage to achieve their geopolitical objectives.

The present study examines the critical sociological and economic characteristics and the aspirations of students belonging to Generation Z, commonly called Gen Zers, who aim to become seafarers by enrolling in the Merchant Marine Academies (MMAs) of a traditional maritime nation, Greece. Benefiting from generational studies and the literature on marine education and training (MET), our study empirically explores the sociological background, motivations, and approach to seafaring among Generation Z students who choose to pursue a career at sea. The research is based on an analysis of a database containing 2,833 survey responses from first-year Gen Z students enrolled in Greek MMAs collected during the first months of the three latest academic years (2020–2023). The findings reveal that Gen Zers make calculated career decisions, placing greater importance on factors such as professional stability and security and career development opportunities, with family tradition playing a less significant role than in the past. Given their reliance on the digital world, Gen Zers consider internet access to be a critical factor in selecting an employer. The large number of female students is also a defining characteristic of Gen Zers, creating prospects for increasing the participation of women in the traditionally male-dominated profession of merchant marine officers.

This study examines stakeholders' attitudes toward container terminal automation, aiming to place terminal automation as an innovation trajectory in the broader context of stakeholder relations management. Detailing first how the stakeholder environment plays a crucial role in shaping the path toward adopting innovation, the analysis focuses on key stakeholders, including governments, port management entities, dockworkers, local communities, ocean carriers, and supply chain actors, such as logistics service providers. Employing a survey-based approach, the descriptive statistical results capture these attitudes as perceived by terminal operators who have implemented automation. Furthermore, statistical analysis techniques are used to investigate the potential relationships between the factors driving automation and stakeholder views, the shifting of stakeholder attitudes over time, and their regional variations. The findings show that terminal operators view port authorities, ocean carriers, and the government as their primary supporters for automated operations, although this is not a priori the case. Dockworkers express the greatest opposition, particularly in Europe and the U.S., where dockworker unions are well organized and have a stronger voice in the debate over automation than in Pacific Asia. Communities are positive when automation is conceived as a way to address externalities associated with terminal operations. The research provides valuable insights into the challenges and strategies for fostering innovation in port operations. Furthermore, this study positions terminal automation as an innovation pathway within the broader framework of stakeholder relationship management, offering a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics that shape its adoption.

This study identifies and analyzes the relative importance of the multi-faceted factors that drive the decision to automate container terminals and the realized benefits, thus establishing how accurately terminal operators predicted the benefits of automation. The empirical analysis relies on a survey-based approach and the input of senior representatives of terminal operating entities in charge of the fully and semi-automated container terminals. The analysis of the findings, using statistical tools (i.e., descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis), reveals that most of the benefits assumed by an individual terminal operator materialized once the automated terminal was in operation. It also concludes that expectations often exceed benefits and vice versa. A stepwise regression analysis enables the search of causal relationships between drivers and realized benefits with key characteristics of automated container terminals, such as their organizational features, technical dimensions, and the maritime and urban markets they serve.This article is a revised and expanded version of a paper Container Terminal Automation: Assessment of Drivers and Benefits presented at the International Association of Maritime Economists Annual Conference, Busan, Korea, 2022.

Research on port hierarchies within a maritime region is crucial for comprehending the dynamics of seaborne trade and the broader trends within the maritime sector and related supply chains. This study investigates the evolution of the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) container ports and regional sub-systems from 2000 to 2022, analyzing traffic dynamics, shifts in port throughput rankings, and market concentration trends in and among the different coastal regions. Conceptually, this analysis benefits from the notion of evolutionary phases, revealing the stages of a port system's development. Methodologically, 49 LAC ports of international interest are categorized into different coastal regions and tiers based on throughput sizes. Various metrics, including the Gini coefficient, Lorenz curve, Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), and Kendall Tau (tau), assess port hierarchy and related mobility since 2000. The observed shifts in the hierarchy and market structures, coupled with the fluctuating positions of critical ports, underscore the transition that LAC container ports dynamics experienced in the 21st century. Following a particularly dynamic and volatile evolution observed in the 2000s, the financial crisis of 2008/09 was a critical juncture leading to the transition of the LAC port dynamics from the 'emerging' to the 'maturity' phase. On the contrary, the pandemic (2019) has not affected the pre-existing hierarchy or the moderate market concentration that was already in progress. The LAC region comprises port sub-systems (coastal ranges) subjected to different tendencies towards (de)concentration, yet mobility in port rankings within each sub-system decreases. The study also reveals the coexistence of this transition with a structural transformation of port governance structures, i.e., granting of concessions of operations to third parties. In 20 of these ports and the above-average mobility of ports are operated by Global Terminal Operators (GTOs), and calls for further research on the (non) causality of these phenomena.

Thirty years ago, Colombia abolished the State monopoly of port governance. This reform was aligned with the widespread ‘first global wave’ of port reforms yet marked by several variations. The most striking ones are the absence of a classic Port Authority - i.e., a single entity managing, developing, and regulating one or more ports at either local, regional, or national level - and the consequent institutional fragmentation. A plurality of institutions has been responsible for specific aspects of port governance. This historical progression allows for a reflection on the present model and examining a broader issue in port governance: what are the implications of institutional fragmentation? This study compares the standing of public and private actors vis-a-vis port governance (their understanding of the rules of the game), their long-term strategic visions, and the potential intra-sectoral divisions. It also evaluates whether the low capacities of port managing entities have led to a structure-strategy mismatch that undermines improvements in the respective ports. The empirical research involved a two-stage online survey with the participation of relevant public and private actors, detailing perceptions of the current setting and future expectations of the distribution of port governance responsibilities. Three groups of port governance activities are under examination: (a) port policy formation, (b) management of concessions, and (c) market and price regulation. Social network analysis (SNA) was applied to contrast public and private sector perceptions. It reveals differences and commonalities in stakeholders' perspectives on the current Colombian port governance model and its desired future structures. Integrating these insights with the ‘matching framework’ approach of port governance allows for conceptualising the consequences of port governance fragmentation.

PurposeContainer liner shipping companies started expanding their business by investing in container port terminals in the late 1990s. This market entry results in an extensive presence of vertically integrated liners and terminals. This study aims to explore the competition effects of this vertical integration trend based on a regional (European) analysis. In particular, it extracts lessons from the European Commission (EC) cases on the competition effects of vertical integration. The critical analysis of the cases examined at the institutional level intends to reach conclusions on whether liner–terminal vertical integration harmed or advanced competition in the relevant markets and/or the extent that there is a need to revise the current policy practices.Design/methodology/approachThis study critically assesses the EC’s decisional practices in port container terminal vertical mergers in the last 25 years (1997–2021). Based on a literature review comparing maritime and competition economists' perspectives, it reviews the types of mergers examined, the methodology followed for relevant market definition and calculation of market shares and the estimated competition effects. The Hamburg–Le Havre area is the port range used as a case study for comparing the decisional practice with actual market developments. These container ports serve the greatest consuming market of final and intermediate goods in Europe and are gateways to Central and Eastern Europe.FindingsThe assessment identifies a need for expanding the investigation as a precondition for reaching conclusions on both the anti- and pro-competitive effects. First, only a limited number of transactions have been notified to the EC. Second, the empirical research identified a gap in this process, as there were no decisions (phase I) on vertical mergers between 2008 and 2016. Third, the exante assessment has not applied a phase II in-depth analysis to any case due to the absence of competition concerns. Finally, due to the absence of complaints, there is a lack of any ex post assessment of the effects of vertical integration.Research limitations/implicationsThis assessment is important for understanding the current and emerging features of intra-port and inter-port competition and the potential effects that the continuation and expansion of liner companies' vertical integration strategies will have along maritime supply chains. It also contributes to the broader discussion on liner companies' strategies, such as the research and policy-making efforts around the globe to understand the impact of both vertical and horizontal integration.Practical implicationsThese discussions are critical for a diversity of businesses that use liner shipping services or provide facilities and services to container shipping lines or ports. They are important for the interests of customers and consumers as they could inform any needed re-visiting of competition policy to protect from the dominance of any market developments that would lead to conditions limiting competition. Expanding analysis on the competition effects of non-notified mergers would help a better understanding of market changes.Social implicationsEnhancing competition and limiting monopolies is valuable from a consumer's perspective. This is more so in the case of maritime trade that serves the needs of societies. The study contributes by generating a better understanding of how decision-makers have worked towards that direction and what realignments are worthy.Originality/valueThere are no previous comprehensive reviews and analyses of the ways that policy-makers at the regional level have addressed the competition effects of vertical integration strategies of liner shipping companies when enhancing competition is valuable from a consumer perspective. Comparing maritime economists and competition, the study, via its literature review, also offers a comparison of maritime and competition perspectives on these competition effects, allowing positioning of how effective decisional-making practices have been.

This paper analyses published research in port economics, policy and management (port studies) based on examining all relevant academic journal papers published from 2009 to 2020. The systematic review of all 1227 papers relies on quantitative and qualitative bibliometric tools to reveal the structures of the research community (i.e., authors’ country of affiliation, number of authors involved, and international collaboration rates) and the themes and content of port research (i.e., research approaches, units of analysis, ports and commodities examined, levels of research localisation, port markets commonly (not) studied). It also presents a taxonomy of port studies based on a content classification of the themes and sub-themes examined. The paper concludes with a citation analysis that reveals the coherence of port research. The analysis is enriched by comparing the findings with similar studies focusing on the 1997–2008 timeframe. This unique monitoring of a period that expands over a quarter of a century offers a valuable tool for better understanding the research landscape and deciding directions for future research. From a theoretical perspective, the study provides evidence of the rapid transformation of port economics, policy and management into a mature research field.

A long-lasting reform period of the Greek port system has already resulted in the privatization of the country’s two major seaports, Piraeus and Thessaloniki, while the shareholding sales and concessions for the remaining ten ports operating as Societe Anonymes owned by the State are either initiated or planned. The Greek port governance scheme is subject to further structural changes. The chapter discusses port (d)evolution in Greece, analysing key port data and the core features of the current port system. It does so focusing on the financial aspect of Greek ports, in the light of the ongoing transformation process. In particular it examines the financial tools available for Greek ports, discussing the impact of the recent economic crisis on port throughput and port investment financing options as well as the role of the private sector in port investments and governance in Greece.

This study focuses on the automation of terminal equipment used to handle containers. A dataset was compiled, which includes 63 fully and semi-automated container terminals in operation around the world, their organizational features, technical dimensions, and the maritime and urban markets they serve. The data analysis focuses on where, when, under which conditions, and to what extent container terminals were automated, and who is responsible for implementing terminal automation. Only 3% of the world’s container terminals were found to be either fully or semi-automated. A survey-based analysis of global terminal operators identifies how they implement their automation and the time necessary for terminal operators to start realizing a return on their investment. The results systematically map global automated terminal characteristics. Acknowledging that not all container terminals are candidates for automation of terminal equipment, this paper contributes to extant literature by presenting a systematic review of all global automated terminals in order to substantiate or refute any perceptions that might exist on their characteristics, for example, in terms of minimum cargo volumes needed for automation. The findings can provide some guidance to market actors considering investments in automation and public and private port authority decision makers that might also commit resources to automation.

This study examines the concept of transparency as practiced (or not) in ports. It explores the availability of information to the general public and port stakeholders through the ports’ most public face—its website, studying public ports in North America, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean. This exploratory research centred on identifying the parameters that would be useful for the general public to have sufficient information to monitor, review and in many cases, participate in the decision-making processes carried out by the port authority, irrespective of whether or not laws mandate such disclosure. Fifty-one items were identified for the examination of each port’s website, focusing primarily on four major categories: decision-making governance, port communications and accessibility, transparency in reporting and in port operational activities. Using nine items as proxies for the 51, the research reveals uneven levels of port transparency both regionally and by governance model. The study reveals a need for increasing and differentiating the existing levels and standards of transparency in the governance of the port industry, and for greater consistency between ports within and across regions. The study concludes with a research agenda for future research.