Shipping has played a pivotal role as the vector or artery through which this trade is conducted and in which this pattern of inequality has only recently been challenged by the South.
Adopting more sustainable ways of managing the ocean is a global priority: protecting its health will bring benefits to all. Developing countries face specific challenges, as many depend heavily on ocean-based industries and are overly exposed to the consequences of ocean degradation.
Port Development and Competition in East and Southern Africa analyzes the 15 main ports in East and Southern Africa (ESA) to assess whether their proposed capacity enhancements are justified by current and projected demand; whether the current port management approaches sufficiently address not only the maritime capacity needs but also other impediments to port efficiency; and what the expected hierarchy of ports in the region will be in the future. The analysis confirms the need to increase maritime capacity, as the overall container demand in the ports in scope is predicted to begin exceeding total current capacity by between 2025 and 2030, while gaps in terms of dry and liquid bulk handling are expected even sooner. However, in the case of many of the ports, the issue of landside access—the ports’ intermodal connectivity, the ease of international border crossing, and the port-city interface—is more important than the need to improve maritime access and capacity. The analysis finds that there is a need to improve the operating efficiency in all of the ESA ports, as they are currently less than half as productive as the most efficient ports in the matched data set of similar ports across the world, in terms of efficiency in container-handling operations. Similarly, there is a need to improve and formalize stakeholder engagement in many of the ports, to introduce modern management systems, and to strengthen the institutional framework to ensure the most efficient use of the infrastructure and to be able to attract private capital and specialist terminal operators. Finally, given the ports’ geographic location and proximity to main shipping routes, available draft, and the ongoing port-and-hinterland development, the book concludes that Durban and Djibouti are the most likely to emerge as the regional hubs in ESA’s future hub-and-spoke system.
A close analysis of the framework of existing governance and the existing jurisdictional arrangements for shipping and ports reveals that while policy-making is characterized by national considerations through flags, institutional representation at all jurisdictions and the inviolability of the state, the commercial, financial, legal and operational environment of the sector is almost wholly global. This governance mismatch means that in practice the maritime industry can avoid policies which it dislikes by trading nations off against one another, while enjoying the freedoms and benefits of a globalized economy. A Post-modern interpretation of this globalized society prompts suggestions for change in maritime policy-making so that the governance of the sector better matches more closely the environment in which shipping and ports operate. Maritime Governance and Policy-Making is a controversial commentary on the record of policy-making in the maritime sector and assesses whether the reason for continued policy failure rests with the inadequate governance of the sector. Maritime Governance and Policy-Making addresses fundamental questions of governance, jurisdiction and policy and applies them to the maritime sector. This makes it of much more interest to a much wider audience – including students, researchers, government officials, and those with industrial and commercial interests in the shipping and ports areas - and also of more value as it places the specific maritime issues into their wider context. Maritime Governance and Policy-Making addresses fundamental questions of governance, jurisdiction and policy and applies them to the maritime sector. This makes it of much more interest to a much wider audience – including students, researchers, government officials, and those with industrial and commercial interests in the shipping and ports areas - and also of more value as it places the specific maritime issues into their wider context.
Shipping is the world’s oldest sharing economy and is conducted in a self-organizing manner. Shipping is capital, energy, and information intensive, and with the growing impact of digitalization and climate change, there is a need to rethink the management and operations of this critical global industry - assisted in no small way by maritime informatics. Building upon the recently published inaugural book Maritime Informatics by Springer, this book will address some of the most recent practical developments and experiences, particularly from a global perspective. The focus of the book is to address contemporary movements to tackle global concerns and to complement Maritime Informatics.
A variety of viewpoints is offered in this timely analysis of China's economy and the future shape of Beijing's energy consumption. The authors, all noted authorities in the fields of economics, diplomacy, energy, and defense, consider an unprecedented range of influences and factors to avoid the limitations of looking at the subject myopically or with political bias. They conclude that while energy insecurity could eventually lead to an arms race at sea or even a naval conflict that neither side wants, there is ample room for Sino-American energy dialogue and cooperation in the maritime domain.
The Review of Maritime Transport is an UNCTAD flagship publication, published annually since 1968 with 2018 marking the 50 year anniversary. Around 80 per cent of the volume of international trade in goods is carried by sea, and the percentage is even higher for most developing countries. The Review of Maritime Transport provides an analysis of structural and cyclical changes affecting seaborne trade, ports and shipping, as well as an extensive collection of statistical information.