THE IMPACT OF ULTRA LARGE CONTAINER VESSELS TO MAJOR CONTAINER PORTS SERVING THE W.EUROPE-FAR EAST LINER TRADE

From the advent of the containerization era, which transformed the conventional liner cargo vessels to cellular container ships, major changes have resulted as far as it concerns container ships sizes. The continuous will of shipping liner companies for further achievements of economies of scale and cost savings during the years, has led to the introduction of larger vessels. The result of this continuous tendency is the Ultra Large Container Ship being the size of 12,500 TEU. This vessel although not yet in operation is expected to be operational at the end of the decade. The aim of the thesis is to investigate the impact of the ULCV on major container ports serving the W.Europe-Far East liner trade. Chapters Two and Three investigate the initiatives adopted by the selected top container ports of each region being Rotterdam and Hong Kong, along with the port of Amsterdam, so as to offer high service efficiency and economies of scale to the today's larger container ships. The later port is being investigated due to the existence of a new container terminal with an intended berth especially designed for larger container vessels. In Chapter four a conceptual model is developed to define the thesis problem more clearly along with its main variables. Within the conceptual model, the framework of the research and the relationships among several factors that have been identified as important to the problem, are demonstrated. Continuing at Chapter five, the methodology of the research and the hypotheses that are to be investigated, are included. The use of a questionnaire has formed the basic mean for gathering primary data from the port industry, in addition to the secondary data included at the previous chapters. Chapter six includes the analysis of the primary data results, and shows how several major ports intend to respond to the future operation of Ultra Large Container Vessels. In addition the results of the survey are used in order to test the hypotheses stated at chapter five. Finally for the purpose of clarity and clear presentation, the thesis includes an introduction along with a brief summary of the subject and limitations of the enquiry, the proposed methodology, the reasons for the choice of this subject, and the main aims/objectives of the enquiry. Moreover the thesis ends with a conclusion of the overall research and further actions, which are necessary to be undertaken, so as a more adequate examination of the problem to take place