Calls for papers

 

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics

 

Special Issue on: "Liner Shipping and Terminal Operations"

Guest Editors:
Dr. Okan Duru, Texas A&M University, USA
Prof. Chin-Shan Lu,The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China
Prof. Michele Acciaro, Kühne Logistics University, Germany

The global liner shipping industry has been built on a sophisticated network of containerised cargo traffic with scheduled services around the world. In comparison to other shipping segments and to other modes of transport, the liner sector has been growing rapidly and has shown a significant degree of innovation in new systems and equipment to reduce costs and externalities (e.g. carbon footprint, noise). The growth of the industry has been characterised by a gradual increase in the size of ocean-going containerships, mostly as a consequence of scale economies and the impact of megacarriers on the global transport systems and has been the subject of extensive academic and industry debates. The sector has also traditionally been characterised by an unusual competition regime that has evolved in the last decade to rely on alliances and new institutional players. The changes in the sector organisation, combined with the introduction of new technologies, are likely to have considerable impact on developing countries and new markets, the geography of transport and on the development in other transport modes, among others. While the traditional bulk shipping business can be said to have reached maturity to some degree, liner shipping is still developing, innovating and redesigning itself.

The development of the liner-shipping sector is strongly connected to the hinterland side of container transport, including container terminals, freight forwarding business and supply-chain management in general. Major carriers have also expanded in the logistics and terminal operation businesses to optimise the entire cargo flow and gain cost-leadership and strengthen their market position. In addition to its traditional business and customer profile, liner shipping spills over the general cargo market and attracts new customers with its low-cost, unitised and speed service advantages.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the Conference of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME 2016, Hamburg) , but we also strongly encourage authors unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Subject Coverage
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Liner shipping alliances
• Liner shipping networks: design and optimisation
• Mega-ships, ULCSs and scale economics
• Liner shipping finance and risks
• Pricing in liner shipping
• Sustainability in liner shipping
• Marketing in port and liner shipping business
• Container terminal competition and cooperation
• Container port efficiency, effectiveness and productivity
• Container terminal management
• Container port competition
• Container port congestion and mitigation strategies
• Green port management
• Panama canal expansion and its influence on liner shipping and port
• Intermodality and hinterland development

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper has been completely re-written and if appropriate written permissions have been obtained from any copyright holders of the original paper).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process.

All papers must be submitted online. To submit a paper, please read our Submitting articles page.

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 30 November, 2016