THE DRY PORT CONCEPT- MOVING SEAPORT ACTIVITIES INLAND?

The shipping companies strive towards economies-of-scale for the maritime part of their transport chain and that derives a demand for efficiency, capacity and short lead time in the transit through the seaports and further transport to the seaports hinterland. To stimulate the development of those seamless intermodal transport chains the concept of dry ports is established. The purpose of this paper is to describe the concept and to analyze the same through comparison of physical flows and administrative activities at the seaport terminal from time perspective in the transport system with and without a dry port. The data for the analysis is obtained through literature review and interviews with relevant actors of the transport system. The conclusions indicates that implementation of a dry port in the seaport’s hinterland enables the seaport to increase its terminal capacity and therefore manage the problem of lack of space; however the benefits also derive from the modal shift - road to rail. The paper provides better understanding of the concept of dry ports through its benefits