Details:

Corporate Creators:
United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Subject/TRT Terms:
[+]
Asia Computer Models Containerships Dynamic Models Forecasting Liner Shipping Pacific Ports Ships By Size Ship Sizes
Resource Type:
Research Paper
Geographical Coverage:
Oceania ; Asia
Oceania ; Asia Less -
Corporate Publisher:
United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Abstract:
It has become increasingly clear that there are no insurmountable technical barriers to the future increase in size of containerships. The limits to growth, if there are any, will be market-determined. Nevertheless, there is a significant divergence of views amongst competent and experienced analysts as to how large containerships will grow, and how rapid the increase in size is likely to be over the next decade, and the issue of container ship size has become one of the most hotly debated topics in the container shipping world at the present time. Some analysts take the view that the search for economies of scale is inexorable, and will continue to drive vessel sizes up, despite the challenges in terminal handling. The need to maximize the utilization of these large vessel will in turn drive a radical reduction on the number of port calls on major routes, and feed the development of global megaports served by fully integrated global networks. Other analysts point out that the gains from each increment in size grow smaller as vessels grow larger, and argue that we have already reached or surpassed the point at which additional feedering and inventory costs would outweigh any further savings in slot costs on main line vessels. The study seeks to add some light in this issue, and on its implications for the Asian/Pacific region. The Maritime Policy Planning Models (MPPM) suite provides a tool that can be used to analyze the plausibility of these competing hypotheses. The interactive nature of the models allows the analyst to modify the shipping system of the future to reflect alternative futures. However, the cargo assignment procedures, which mirror the observed choices made by shipping system users, can provide feedback on whether the proposed services are in fact likely to attract the cargo volumes required to make them sustainable. Figures, tables, 83 p.
Format:
PDF
Collection(s):
US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:3a50a2b923c762b26ad7992dec2454cd2cc8595f6e6da0210c8548c0f7d4a8c9
Download URL:
https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/16000/dot_16000_DS1.pdf
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