Evangelos Sambracos

Dispatching of small containers via coastal freight liners: The case of the Aegean Sea

Abstract This work investigates the introduction of small containers, an important new technology, in an effort to reengineer coastal freight shipping in the Aegean Sea in Greece. Infrastructure problems of island ports are documented and the advantages of introducing small containers are discussed. The problem, hereby referred to as Coastal Freight Shipping Problem (CFSP), is dealt with under two dimensions. At first, strategic planning is analyzed by appropriately introducing an LP formulation for the determination of vessel traffic under known supply and demand constraints where total fuel costs and port dues are minimized. Subsequently, the operational dimension of the problem is analyzed by introducing a vehicle routing problem (VRP) formulation corresponding to periodic needs for transportation using small containers. For the planning case, a pilot network of 13 ports (including a depot port) and 25 sea links were taken into consideration. The problem was represented by a constrained formulation of current vessel routes and a more relaxed one utilizing the full network. Results show that current shipping practices of determining freight shipping routes according to passenger traffic demands are not optimal and at least 5.1% cost savings may be realized by redesigning island links while sensitivity analysis shows that total cost decreases with increasing vessel capacity. The utilization of a VRP formulation for the operational needs of a ship fleet allows exploration of problems of higher dimensions with respect to fleet size, demands sites and loads and gives a more comprehensive account with respect to cost and fleet efficiency and utilization.

Sea-going labour and Greek owned fleet: a major aspect of fleet competitiveness

This analysis aims to examine the current picture of maritime manpower in the Greek registered and owned fleet, as it has been formed during the post-war years. This objective entails the analysis of the current supply and demand for seafarers, the estimation of any shortfalls and their confrontation. Moreover, this study further investigates the contributory factors of the present employment trends, which simultaneously constitute special problems of the sea manpower of the Greek owned fleet and attempt some recommendations. In the context of the above mentioned objective, this analysis emphasizes issues such as recruitment, marine education and wastage. Furthermore, special consideration is given to the significance of labour costs for the development of the Greek owned fleet, particularly to subjects such as the various ways of reducing manning costs and their repercussions on the employment of Greek seamen. Finally, this analysis examines the trends of the state shipping policy concerning labour issues and proceeds to some recommendations.

Competitiveness between short sea shipping and road freight transport in mainland port connections; the case of two Greek ports

While road freight transport is essential to any modern economy, short sea shipping (SSS) offers a competitive alternative mode of freight transport in terms of private and social costs, when applied in the connection of mainland ports. This mainly stems from the fact that within the context of the latter costs, accidents and environmental impacts in many road links constitute undesirable externalities with which road freight transport is heavily burdened. This paper compares the aforementioned economics of road and sea transport with reference to the connection of the port of Patra (the main western freight gate of Greece) with West Attica (the biggest Greek industrial centre), aiming at providing a viable solution towards the promotion of SSS in the transport chain between mainland ports.

MARKET ANALYSIS AND PRICING POLICIES FOR SEA CANALS: THE CASE OF THE GREEK CORINTH CANAL

This paper develops a pricing policy for sea canals gained from the experience of a research programme on the Corinth Canal in Greece. The methodology followed is based on the dual role of the canal, as a private management company, operating in a competitive maritime market and as an instrument for the development and application of transport policy by the national authorities. The elaborated pricing strategy uses as inputs the canals users profile as well as its competitors characteristics, that were determined through a survey conducted in the Corinth Canal market. The paper concludes with a policy that satisfies the goal of profit maximization and promotion of sustainable mobility at a national and international level.

Decision-making process in shipping finance: A stochastic approach

Abstract Shipping markets irregularity due to high-level volatility of freight rates and asset prices increases the risk of banks’ invalid financial strategy. Risk is further increased due to the heterogeneous shipping market, despite the regulations set by the Basel Convention. Consistent with the above, the present work contributes to the existing methodological aspects of bank’s financial strategy on shipping finance by enhancing the role of the credibility theory, which balances the individual bank policy with the market as a whole. This has been primarily forwarded on by the analysis of the operational environment’s internal factors of an individual bank combined with the whole shipping banks’ loans portfolio by estimating the credibility factor to the decision of the bank to either increase or decrease financing in the relevant market. The important factors extracted from the principal components analysis are linked with interest income on loan and operating profit accounts. The final model predicts that the optimal decision is positive driven by both the aforementioned dependent variables, while the interest income on loan variable has more influence compared with that of the operating profit variable. In the absence of the influence of the dependent variables, the bank’s decision strategy matches the market’s strategy by 77% that decreases as the dependent variables increase their influence.

Shipping Market Financing: Special Features and the Impact of Basel III

Shipping sector constitutes a sector with special characteristics that considerably differentiate it from the other sub-sectors of international transport. The maximisation of benefits for each one of the special market characteristics form a highly dynamic environment, with high risk of loss of invested capital. Within this framework, commercial banks, being the main source of financing shipping market, which is characterised by high capital and operating costs, have to take into account various variables in order to minimise the risk and maximise the return. The last is of particular importance considering the recent regulatory framework for banks applied by the Basel III, which has been elaborated on the grounds of inappropriateness of Basel II.

The Effect of Freight Transport Time Changes on the Performance of Manufacturing Companies

Freight Transport Time (FTT) is an important resource for manufacturing companies, firstly as a cost driver of logistics processes and secondly as a key factor of customer satisfaction. Yet, there is a lot of controversy between researchers regarding the strength of the link between changes in transport time and business performance and the methods used to measure this effect. In this context, the aim of this paper is to estimate the effect that changes in freight transport time have on the economic performance of transport consuming manufacturing companies. With the use of System Dynamics Modelling a simulation model is built identifying the role of FTT in the internal supply chain of a Make to Stock manufacturer. Changes in FTT are introduced in the system affecting the production materials inventory replenishment time and the delivery to consumer time. Simulation results suggest that the effect of FTT changes depend highly on the structure of the company’s decision making process. Through the development and simulation of several scenarios it is evident that information feedback about changes in FTT if interpreted and processed by different decision rules and strategies can lead to different results allowing companies to fruitfully - or not - reap the benefits of improved FTT.

Investment Evaluation of a Suburban Coastal Transport System

This paper aims at determining the optimum viable solution of an investment on a suburban coastal shipping system in the area of Athens. More specifically the development of a sea transport system, alternative to the existing road one, that connects Piraeus with the southern suburban coastal area of Athens is examined. The best viable solution of such an undertaking is considered to be the one, which under the existing constraints maximises the total profit that derives from this investment. The variables used for the formation of the constraints are the number of vessels used, the routing and the price of the services. The article focuses on the financing alternatives of the project and their impact on its economic efficiency and concludes with the best viable scenarios and optimum solution.