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Technology and Innovation in Sustainable Shipping and Ports Management in Post Pandemic Era

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Transportation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 13365

Special Issue Editor

Collaborative Innovation Center for Transport Studies, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Interests: macroeconomic management; port economic management; port coordinated development and green growth; modern logistics and green supply chain management; supply chain (shipping) finance; corporate performance management; corporate business model innovation; corporate social responsibility

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Maritime activities have been developed in recent years, which has reduced transport costs greatly. Meanwhile, automatic control technologies have involved in port operations much more than last decades. The competitiveness among ports has made hinterlands more overlapped. Thus, maritime transport has become a more practical and sustainable alternative options to original road transport. On the other hand, maritime transportation and port operation result in several environmental impacts, including water pollution, air pollution, carbon footprint, waster, noise pollution, and the reducing of ocean eco diversity.

This Special Issue focuses on concepts, technologies, and policies to improve the port performance and the waterborne transport. Meanwhile, reducing the environmental footprint of maritime transport operations and to protect the marine environment shall also be discussed in the SI. Topics include, but are not strictly limited to, the following:

  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Port Economic Management;
  • Measures to reduce the environmental footprint of sea transport and port operations;
  • Sustainable maritime transport;
  • Low-emission vessel;
  • Green port operations;
  • Port competitiveness and regionalization;
  • Macroeconomic management;
  • Modern Logistics and Green Supply Chain Management.

I am looking forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Haibo Kuang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • port management
  • maritime transport
  • green freight
  • maritime pollution

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 1406 KiB  
Article
Study on the Interaction between Green Competitiveness of Coastal Ports and Hinterland Economy
by Haibo Kuang, Jiayu Zhu and Zhizhen Bai
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1364; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15021364 - 11 Jan 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1578
Abstract
Accelerating the construction of green ports and promoting the green transformation of the economy and society are important trends in port and regional development today. This research explores the interaction between the green competitiveness of coastal ports and the hinterland economy from 2007 [...] Read more.
Accelerating the construction of green ports and promoting the green transformation of the economy and society are important trends in port and regional development today. This research explores the interaction between the green competitiveness of coastal ports and the hinterland economy from 2007 to 2019 by taking the 10 largest coastal ports in China as the research object and combining the Super-SBM Model with the panel data model. The results show that the green competitiveness of coastal ports is fluctuating, and the green competitiveness of Qingdao and Shanghai ports is stronger in the production frontier surface. Compared with the size of ports, the level of port technology is an important factor to improve the green competitiveness of ports. In terms of interaction, the total economic volume of the hinterland, the proportion of the added value of the tertiary industry, and the waterway transportation between the port and the hinterland have a significant positive impact on the green competitiveness of the port, and the improvement of the green competitiveness of the port and the waterway transportation between the port and the hinterland effectively drive the economic development of the hinterland. This study provides an important basis for the rational use of the port–hinterland interaction and promotes the coordinated and healthy development of both. Full article
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22 pages, 2708 KiB  
Article
Managing Ship’s Ballast Water: A Feasibility Assessment of Mobile Port-Based Treatment
by Ademola Ishola and Christos A. Kontovas
Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 14824; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142214824 - 10 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 991
Abstract
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC), which requires vessels to manage their ballast water according to specific standards. While most vessels have to install a management system onboard, in some cases, a mobile solution, for example [...] Read more.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC), which requires vessels to manage their ballast water according to specific standards. While most vessels have to install a management system onboard, in some cases, a mobile solution, for example a system fitted in a container, might be a more viable solution. These mobile systems are an excellent solution as a contingency measure as well, that is when onboard systems malfunction. Research on the topic is rather scant. To that extent, this paper proposes a Bayesian network-based framework to model and assess the feasibility of mobile ballast water treatment solutions. The results based on input from experts indicate that mobile systems are a highly feasible solution. The operational and logistical feasibility of the system are the most important parameters and are areas where the manufacturers and service providers should pay more attention. With compliance deadlines approaching, malfunctions of installed systems increasing and the technology for port-based solutions becoming more mature, there will be increased focus on port-based systems. Our results can, therefore, provide valuable insights to regulators, ship and port operations and we hope that they can spark further academic research on this area. Full article
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20 pages, 1600 KiB  
Article
The Importance of Emerging Technologies to the Increasing of Corporate Sustainability in Shipping Companies
by Natalia Wagner and Bogusz Wiśnicki
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12475; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su141912475 - 30 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1789
Abstract
Corporate sustainability is understood as the integration of economic, environmental, and social considerations into the company’s mission. In the shipping market, it allows for a wide spectrum of integration of corporate management areas: shipowners’ financial condition, environmental protection, work safety, seafarers’ health, and [...] Read more.
Corporate sustainability is understood as the integration of economic, environmental, and social considerations into the company’s mission. In the shipping market, it allows for a wide spectrum of integration of corporate management areas: shipowners’ financial condition, environmental protection, work safety, seafarers’ health, and stable cooperation with shippers. The aim of this paper is to create a deeper understanding of how and which emerging technologies accelerate sustainability strategy of shipping companies. Three research perspectives have been adopted. The first one is aimed to examine shipowners’ approach to emerging technologies as a tool to improve their corporate sustainability performance. The second perspective gives a view of trends in the development of emerging technologies in shipping and how they related to sustainability. Taking the third perspective, we examine how effective, in the opinion of future seafarers, the use of emerging technologies is in improving corporate sustainability of shipping companies. The research methods for each of the perspectives are, respectively, a sustainability reports and ships’ registry data analysis, a patent analysis, and a questionnaire survey analysis. The results prove that shipowners use not only certain management practices, but also new technologies to enhance corporate sustainability. The transition to sustainable shipping will continue for many years to come and all shipping companies will have to become part of it. Full article
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26 pages, 2428 KiB  
Article
A Framework for Adopting a Sustainable Smart Sea Port Index
by Alaa Othman, Sara El-gazzar and Matjaz Knez
Sustainability 2022, 14(8), 4551; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14084551 - 11 Apr 2022
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5553
Abstract
The new business environment, and the new era of digital transformation put pressure on the global supply chain and accordingly on ports to cope with such changes; these require ports to be smarter and adapt to the new technological approaches. Smart ports SP [...] Read more.
The new business environment, and the new era of digital transformation put pressure on the global supply chain and accordingly on ports to cope with such changes; these require ports to be smarter and adapt to the new technological approaches. Smart ports SP express the prevailing trend for the transformation strategies. Although many previous studies discuss smart ports requirements there is no integrated vision provided before to capture different comprehensive elements of smart port and show its impact on sustainably. Therefore, this research aims at developing an integrated smart port index SPI, capturing different elements of SP and linking them to port sustainability performance. The research conducted a systematic literature review to identify all pillars that are required for the smart port adaptation and showed its impact on sustainability with a full-text reading stage that resulted in 48 articles. The paper indicated that few studies of the SPI have been proposed before to improve SP activity in different domains: operations, environment, energy, safety, and security; however, there is a need to address the several key issues related to port operations, and to consider human resources factor as part of the smart port requirement, particularly an integrated index that captures different pillars in SP elements and shows its effect on sustainable performance. The study reveals that SP initiatives around the world have different integration levels. According to this, the smart port index can be considered as the first integrated index linked to sustainability and including human resources; however, there are some limitations that could be an open issue to future researchers and practitioners to foster new practical research initiatives that can rely on this index to adapt the smart port practices in different ports, taking into consideration the human resources aspect and testing their impact on port sustainability. Full article
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Review

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16 pages, 663 KiB  
Review
Barriers and Drivers to the Implementation of Onshore Power Supply—A Literature Review
by Jon Williamsson, Nicole Costa, Vendela Santén and Sara Rogerson
Sustainability 2022, 14(10), 6072; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14106072 - 17 May 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2609
Abstract
Onshore power supply (OPS) reduces emissions from vessels docked in port. Historically, the uptake of OPS has been low, and research indicates that potential OPS adopters face multiple complex barriers. Based on a systematic literature review, this paper presents a framework for categorizing [...] Read more.
Onshore power supply (OPS) reduces emissions from vessels docked in port. Historically, the uptake of OPS has been low, and research indicates that potential OPS adopters face multiple complex barriers. Based on a systematic literature review, this paper presents a framework for categorizing barriers and drivers to the implementation of OPS and identifies potential areas for future research. The review indicates that research on barriers to OPS was limited until 2019, when interest increased considerably, coinciding with mounting stakeholder concerns and regulatory pressure. The suggested framework divides barriers and drivers divided into four key categories: (i) technology and operations, (ii) institutional elements, (iii) economic elements, and (iv) stakeholder elements. The framework then superimposes those categories on three main areas of concern: port, transmission, and vessel. Research has identified potential solutions to specific barriers, but the complexity of OPS highlights the need for a collaborative approach to OPS. Additionally, as regulatory pressure is rising, more research is needed on the systemic implications of OPS as well as the potential use of incentives, pricing, and business models to tackle the high cost of implementation. Full article
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