• Journal of Korean Port Research
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.51-59
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• 1996

The management of liner shipping company is an extremely complex activities, especially if a company aims to simultaneously optimize the cost and service of the company's operations in a competitive environment. This paper investigates the control process of containers in a typical container liner shipping and proposes day by day operational model for empty container control in the maritime container transportation system. We proposed a linear programming model for empty container control in container liner shipping and the computational results show utilities of the model.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.177-184
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• 2014

Recently, brand equity is paid much attention in various industries. However, container liner shipping companies are still unfamiliar with this concept, and also the brand equity model has not been tested yet in shipping context. This study, therefore, aims to measure the relative importance of brand equity factors of container liner shipping companies by employing AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process). This study concludes that perceived quality, in particular cost-related service quality, is the most influential factor of brand equity, while weak support is found for brand association. In addition to this, group comparisons were conducted between shipping companies, freight forwarders and academics. The results will be useful as they firstly define brand equity and its role in shipping context, highlighting the significance of brand management to container liner shipping firms. This evaluation is not an end in itself, but will eventually be utilised as a tool to build competitive advantage which cannot be easily imitated by competitors.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.99-106
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• 2016

Purpose - The antecedent to the relationship between the effect of the characteristics of strategic alliances and the performance of container liner shipping companies has been investigated in this study as container liner shipping companies' strategic alliances. It affects positively and negatively home, partner, and the third parties' performance in container liner shipping companies. Extensive literature reviews on shipper's strategic alliances reveal that strategic alliances in financial and non-financial performance of container liner shipping companies show the performance such as economic effects, business performance, global supply chain management performance, customer satisfaction, and forward integration and backward integration performance. The purpose of this study is to test empirically that the relationship between the characteristics of strategic alliances and financial and non-financial performance in container liner shipping companies. Structured equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis were used to test the hypothesis using AMOS statistics program. Most previous researches focused on the relationship between the characteristics of strategic alliances and alliance types. There are few empirical studies that focus on business performance data because it is difficult to collect data in container liner shipping companies. However, this research measures financial and non-financial performance differently compared with the previous researches focusing on the characteristics of strategic alliances and alliance types measurements. Research design, data, and methodology - The conceptual model for the study is based on the studies of Lim (2010), Chen & Zhen (2009), and Wang & Meng (2014). The model is built around the factors of characteristics of strategic alliances and business performance. Cost, marketing, and service factors are regarded as proxy for the characteristics of strategic alliances. The financial and non-financial performance are regarded as proxy for the performance of strategic alliances. Based on the analysis of one hundred cases such as forwarder, shipper, and liner shipping companies, this study uses structural equation modeling to verify the effects of the characteristics of strategic alliances on business performance. Conclusions - This study provides container liner shipping companies to get some policy and practical implications in terms of the characteristics of strategic alliances and business performance. First, the cost factor for alliances characteristics has a positively significant influence on the financial and non-financial performance of strategic alliances. The cost factor relationship between high and low performance group does not have a significant difference on the performance of strategic alliances. Second, the marketing factor of alliances characteristics has a positively significant influence on the financial and non-financial performance of strategic alliances. The high performance group's marketing factor has a great non-financial performance than low performance group, but the low performance group's marketing factor has a grater financial performance than high performance group factor does. Third, the service factor of alliances characteristics has a negative influence on the non-financial performance of strategic alliances. The high performance group's service factor has a great non-financial performance than low performance group. Based on the findings from this study, related implications and future avenues deserve to be discussed.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.19
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• pp.96-118
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• 2003

Government tries to revise the article 25 in Korea Maritime Transport Act which describes subject of coastal carriage for exported-imported container cargoes. The subject of coastal carriage will be replaced coastal carrier by ocean liner carrier according to the revised article 25. By adopting the revised article, coastal shipping industry will be deteriorated in terms of returns on investment, sales and etc. Even though the revision is inevitable to harmonize the flow of exported-imported container cargo movement, coastal shipping industry should be developed and restructured to get competitive power and to set up an efficient international logistics system. To enhance competitive power of coastal shipping companies successfully, government must realize the importance of coastal shipping, and aid the industry through various methods such as arrangement of law and regulation, indirected financial assistance, decrease of tax rate, etc.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.73-96
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• 2014

Competitiveness of container ports has been traditionally evaluated by capability of individual ports to provide services to customers or their service quality. However, since container ports are connected by container shipping networks to varying degrees, the status of the ports in liner shipping service networks also determines competitiveness of the ports. Sometimes same ports may play different roles in different forms of shipping networks. Shipping network connections that formulate in container ports therefore have more significant impact on their performance than service capabilities they have. This study aims to explore how the shipping and port network has been structured and changed in the past and to examine the network characteristics of ports using Social Network Analysis(SNA). In this SNA study, nodes in the network are the ports-of-call of the liner shipping services and links in the network are connections realized by vessel movements, such that the liner shipping networks determine the port networks. This study, therefore, investigates the liner shipping networks and through its results demonstrates the network characteristics of the ports that are represented by the four centrality indices. This provides port authorities and terminal operating companies with managerial implications to enhance competitiveness from customers' perspectives.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.79-100
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• 2023

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to analyze the market power of the Korea Container Shipping Market (Intra Asia, Korea-Europe, and Korea-U.S.) to verify the existence of collusion empirically, and to answer whether the joint actions of liner market participants in Korea have formed market dominance for each route. Precisely, it will be verified through the Lerner index as to whether the regional market of Asia is a monopoly, oligopoly, or perfect competition. Design/methodology - This study used a Lerner index adjusted with elasticity presented in the New Imperial Organization (NEIO) studies. NEIO refers to a series of empirical studies that estimate parameters to judge market power from industrial data. This study uses B-L empirical models by Bresnahan (1982) and Lau (1982). In addition, NEIO research data statistically contain self-regression and stability problems as price and time series data. A dynamic model following Steen and Salvanes' Error Correction Model was used to solve this problem. Findings - The empirical results are as follows. First, λ, representing market power, is nearly zero in all three markets. Second, the Korean shipping market shows low demand elasticity on average. Nevertheless, the markup is low, a characteristic that is difficult to see in other industries. Third, the Korean shipping market generally remains close to perfect competition from 2014 to 2022, but extreme market power appears in a specific period, such as COVID-19. Fourth, there was no market power in the Intra Asia market from 2008 to 2014. Originality/value - Doubts about perfect competition in the liner market continued, but there were few empirical cases. This paper confirmed that the Korea liner market is a perfect competition market. This paper is the first to implement dynamics using ECM and recursive regression to demonstrate market power in the Korean liner market by dividing the shipping market into Deep Sea and Intra Asia separately. It is also the first to prove the most controversial problems in the current shipping industry numerically and academically.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.139-166
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• 2001

Globalization and regionalization are major trends in the international economic system. The severe competition among countries has signalled the need for a new international trade system as prescribed by the WTO, which regulates international trade practices. Additionally, expanding the activities and role of the Pan-Yellow Sea area in the world has a very important function in terms of regional cooperation and logistics environment. In this paper, the trading conditions and shipping transport problems of the Pan-Yellow Sea area (North-East Asia) were investigated. Shipping transport conditions in the Pan-Yellow Sea area, particularly Korea-China routes, were surveyed as well. A new Incheon-China container liner route was suggested as a partial remedy to some of the shipping transport problems of the Pan-Yellow Sea Area (North-East Asia). The Incheon-China Container Liner route is more efficient than Pusan and Pyungtaek Ports or the car ferry route to China in terms of transport time and expense. The transport burden indicator which includes the time and expense of transport, can be a useful tool in comparing these routes. Accordign to the transport burden indicator, the Incheon-China Container Liner route is more efficient than the Pusan, Pyungtaek, or car ferry routes. To establish a successful liner route between the ports of Inchon and China, there is a need to prepare three measures that contain short-term medium-term and long-term strategies. Furthermore, these measures should be prepared and adopted in phases, in accordance with considerations of future conditions for shipping and logistics in the Pan-Yellow Sea area.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.297-306
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• 2003

As the competition in the liner shipping industry is becoming fiercer, the shipping company is trying to find the way to keep the best competitive position by reducing the cost level as low as possible and offering the best quality of service to their customer. In order to achieve this goal, the selection of port and terminal that have the best quality of service and cost effective structure is essential for the shipping line, where they can only have a chance to save the money. In this context, the paper compares three European container terminals in order to understand the factors that have to be considered in the decision making process for the selection of terminal. And its advantages and disadvantages of each type of container terminal operation system were analyzed from the liner shipping company's point of view in terms of cost, time, flexibility, stability, hinterland connection, geographical position and terminal productivity. It is obvious that the cost factors are very important for liner shipping company to select their terminal. However, there might be even more important factors than the cost factors, such as quality of port and terminal service, mutual trust, and possibility of future development.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.92-100
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• 2009

Today international trade through maritime transportation is significantly increasing. Due to this increase, shipping companies are faced with problems concerning the repositioning of empty containers from import dominant ports. The liner shipping service network has been provided to transport containers which load customers' freights. Container ships are moved on the liner shipping service network by observing the predetermined route and transportation time. This research deals with the empty containers distribution problem considering the container ship route. A mathematical model based on the mixed integer program has been introduced in this study. The objective is to minimize the total relevant costs of empty containers such as handling, leasing, and inventory holding, etc. Due to the complexity of the problem, a genetic algorithm has been suggested to solve large sized problems within a reasonable time. Numerical experiments have been conducted to show the efficiency of the genetic algorithm.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.801-806
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• 2005

The world of container shipping and container terminal business is changing and container ports need to know what the changes are in order to plan how to respond. In particular, the container transport industry has noticed two major developments such as globalization and consolidation. The purpose of this paper is to review the current trend towards globalization and consolidation of container liner shipping and container terminal business. It also investigates the impact of these market developments on container ports and presents its implications for port development, management and operation, and port competition policy. According to the discussion of this paper a greater exercise of market power of container terminal operators will have negative impacts on international trade and national economy, especially port users, including container lines, exporters and importers. An empirical evidence on the exercise of market power is required to develop competition rules on market dominance at a national and international level. This paper suggests 'port coopetition' as a solution for smaller and regional container terminal operators to survive in a competitive business environment.