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In the digital era, major shipping lines are developing instant quote and online booking platforms. In one of the first attempts to investigate the post-event effects of this trend, we evaluate how a shipping line's online quote platform impacts its shipper portfolio and the ordered container volume. In order to control for unobserved, time-varying effects that could be correlated with the platform's implementation, we apply the regression discontinuity design (RDD) method to the import trade data from 2016 to 2019 of a top shipping line that released its platform in August 2018. We also adopt global polynomial regression and local liner regression so as to control for the effects of different polynomial time trends. We find the container volume assigned to the shipping line declined slightly after the online platform was launched. The container orders of small shippers increase by 3.97 TEU on average after online platform adoption. The volume of assigned containers from other shippersdeclines. These findings hold fruitful implications for shipping lines. A significant increase in the number of small shippers and their container volumes demonstrate administrative cost saving and risk mitigation for a shipping line. However, it also leads to possible loss of large customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The information-rich vessel movement data provided by the Automatic Identification System (AIS) has gained much popularity over the past decade, during which the employment of satellite-based receivers has enabled wide coverage and improved data quality. The application of AIS data has developed from simply navigation-oriented research to now include trade flow estimation, emission accounting, and vessel performance monitoring. The AIS now provides high frequency, real-time positioning and sailing patterns for almost the whole world's commercial fleet, and therefore, in combination with supplementary databases and analyses, AIS data has arguably kickstarted the era of digitisation in the shipping industry. In this study, we conduct a comprehensive review of the literature regarding AIS applications by dividing it into three development stages, namely, basic application, extended application, and advanced application. Each stage contains two to three application fields, and in total we identified seven application fields, including (1) AIS data mining, (2) navigation safety, (3) ship behaviour analysis, (4) environmental evaluation, (5) trade analysis, (6) ship and port performance, and (7) Arctic shipping. We found that the original application of AIS data to navigation safety has, with the improvement of data accessibility, evolved into diverse applications in various directions. Moreover, we summarised the major methodologies in the literature into four categories, these being (1) data processing and mining, (2) index measurement, (3) causality analysis, and (4) operational research. Undoubtedly, the applications of AIS data will be further expanded in the foreseeable future. This will not only provide a more comprehensive understanding of voyage performance and allow researchers to examine shipping market dynamics from the micro level, but also the abundance of AIS data may also open up the rather opaque aspect of how shipping companies release information to external authorities, including the International Maritime Organization, port states, scientists and researchers. It is expected that more multi-disciplinary AIS studies will emerge in the coming years. We believe that this study will shed further light on the future development of AIS studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study develops a generalized F distribution model with random parameters to estimate the ship property damage cost in maritime traffic accidents with 10 years’ shipping accident data in the Fujian waters. Model results show that sinking and capsizing can incur the largest property damage cost, followed by collisions, contact, grounding and fire/explosion. There is a smaller ship property damage cost when the ship is moored or docked. The poor visibility has the least impact on the increment of ship property damage cost. Results reveal that the bigger property damage cost is associated with maritime accidents occurring in the Straits/sea areas and under the strong wind/wave condition and nighttime periods. It is also found that the lookout failure exhibits a bigger effect than the operation error. These results are helpful for policy makers to make efficient strategies for reducing property damage cost in maritime accidents. The developed model is useful for insurance companies in determining the appropriate ship insurance rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is the selection of paths for the maritime transportation of crude oil. In addition to transportation cost, the nodes in a maritime transportation network are always affected by extreme events. Therefore, connectivity reliability must be considered during path selection. In this paper, uncertainty variables are introduced to describe the connectivity reliability of nodes under the influence of extreme events, and an uncertain bi-objective programming model with connectivity reliability maximization and transportation cost minimization as objectives is established for path selection. China’s maritime transportation network for crude oil imports is used as a case study to validate the model, the effects of variations in the model parameters on path selection, transportation cost and connectivity reliability are discussed in the case study. The research results provide a basis on which for government decision makers to better plan crude oil transportation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trend towards global warming and the rapid decline in the extent of summer Arctic sea ice over recent years has increased the feasibility of international Arctic shipping. In this study we propose a seasonal NSR (North Sea Route)/SCR (Suez Canal Route)-combined shipping service linking Shanghai and Rotterdam, using the Northern Sea Route during the economical navigable window but using the traditional Suez Canal Route at other times. Different from the previous literatures, this paper dynamically considers the sea ice extent in the model, which is more reasonable for the assessment of Arctic container shipping, because fuel consumption is highly related to ship speed, while ship speed is determined by the relative distances of ice-covered and ice-free route stages. A new approach is developed to predict the time points at which the ship enters and exits the ice-covered stage, given that both the ship position and the extent of sea ice are constantly changing. The results show that the NSR/SCR-combined Arctic container service can be more economical than the SCR, given lower NSR tariffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decades, a multilayer transshipment network of bulk shipping has been formed along the Yangtze River so as to support the fast development of Chinese iron and steel industry. Yet with the decrease of iron ore trade in China since 2014, the bulk port system on Yangtze River probably will be subject to change in the future. Under this background, this paper aims to analyze the development potential of Yangtze River bulk ports system with a focus on iron ore transshipment. To realize this objective, we firstly sort out the main transshipment patterns of bulk shipping, and optimize the bulk-shipping network with an optimization model. Several scenarios are then proposed and examined in the model by changing corresponding parameters. Cooperation among ports as one scenario is analyzed by applying core theory in cooperative game. Based on the changes of transshipment plans observed under the various scenarios, we finally ascertain the different development potentials of the system, and provide suggestions to the port operators and local maritime authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As part of a comprehensive regional or global maritime trade modeling framework, it is often necessary to determine the modal share of commodity flow between countries. Typically, this is resolved by either using a constant empirical value (such as the commodity value-weight ratio) or applying statistical models to determine mode choice or share. Whilst the latter method tends to provide a more rational solution, it is constrained by the appropriate choice of trade data classification level during model development. This paper therefore explores the potential impact of trade data aggregation (in terms of trade data classification level) on commodity mode choices derived from discrete choice models. Using international commodity flows between continents, discrete choice models can be developed to compare the modal split between air and sea transport. By considering four different international trade routes and three trade classification levels, the paper shows that detailed commodity trade classification may not necessarily lead to better results. Using the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (or HS System) as an example, it was found that it may be more effective developing models using HS two-digit commodity trade data for the purpose of international freight mode choice studies for the purpose of regional or global maritime trade modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]