• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.1-22
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• 2006

The pilotage tariff system in port operations has received little attention in the academic literature. While studies addressing legal issues-such those concerning liability, marine accidents, and compensation for accidents-and institutional aspects have been prevalent, scant research has been conducted in the form of comparative analysis of pilotage tariff systems and current levels of pilotage charges in major ports. The purpose of this research is to investigate the rate structure of pilotage tariffs of major ports. Specifically, this study explores the current level of pilotage price and regulations by comparing the pilotage systems of six major hub ports in the world: Busan, Kobe, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Singapore and Rotterdam. Results show that Busan Port's pilotage tariff system ranks low (5th) among these six ports. Another finding is that the simplification of Korea's pilotage tariff system will yield productivity and efficiency improvements in this area.