Sustainability and MaritimeG in Management 31 LogisticsG Number 2 June 2015 pp. 191-193 ɿ GSafety G Shipping G ɿ Volume
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Maritime Safety ManagementG Selected Papers from The 7th International Conference of Asian Shipping and Logistics (ICASL 2014) October 30–November 1, 2014G
G GiTae YEO*
The theme of the 2014 conference was maritime safety management. Sub-issues included the safety and security of maritime shipping–related issues, sea transport and transportation technology–related issues, and recent trends and future perspectives for shipping–related issues. The conference was jointly organized by Korea University Maritime Law Research Center and the Korean Association of Shipping and Logistics, Inc. The following special issue is devoted to the best papers selected from the ICASL 2014 in Seoul, Korea. After a review process, five papers were accepted for inclusion in this special issue. They represent a well-balanced mix of the topics suggested by the conference's theme. An overview of these five papers follows. The authors E. Buluta and S. Yoshida have contributed a paper entitled Existence of relation between the marine accidents and freight rates of dry bulk carriers. While literature predominantly focuses on the correlation of fleet size to marine accidents (MAs), this paper deals with the correlation of freight market rates, which is typically regarded as uncorrelated with MAs. Using the Granger-cause test, freight rate is regarded as having significant relation for research hypothesis. The authors point out that in a freight rate downturn period such as an economic recession, ship owners
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG G Copyright གྷ 2015, The Korean Association of Shipping and Logistics, Inc. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights Reserved. Peer review under responsibility of the Korean Association of Shipping and Logistics, Inc. *Professor, Graduate School of Logistics, Incheon National University, Korea. Address: 119 AcademyRo, SongDo-Dong, Yeonsu-Gu, Incheon, 406-772, Korea. E-mail:
[email protected]
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tend to cut down expenses related to on-ship safety, which negatively affects the number of MAs. The impacts of implementation of the effective maritime security management model (EMSMM) on organizational performance of shipping companies is presented by E. Sadovaya and V. V. Thai. Maritime security has become an important issue, and companies need to decide how to manage it effectively. The authors tested their research hypotheses using the Structural Equation Modelling method. This paper contributes to the understanding of how shipping companies can effectively manage security. In the paper The relative efficiency of container terminals in small and medium-sized ports in China by Z. Y. Ding, G. S. Jo, Y. Wang, and G. T. Yeo, data envelopment analysis, the Malmquist productivity index, and Tobit regression are used for evaluating operational and productivity efficiency change in 21 coastal small and medium port container terminals in China. The authors argued that small- and medium-sized ports play an important role in economic development, alleviate pressure on waterway transportation, and aid the development of port cities. Research results can contribute to the improvement of port management and the enhancement of port safety. The paper Hub status and throughput of container ports by Y. A. Park and F. Medda develops a hub index for container ports in order to define the hub status of container ports. Normally, the importance of container ports increases because they have functions such as providing shippers diverse services, handling cargo and vessels more swiftly, and leading technological innovation. In addition, one of the essential roles of container ports is connecting the transport networks. In the last paper of the special issue, Examining container port resources and environments to enhance competitiveness by H. S. Cho and Y. Gai, the authors aim to analyse the competitiveness of container ports. Structural equation modelling is used to test various hypotheses and find out the casual relations among tangible and intangible variables such as container port competitiveness, traffic volume, quality of infrastructure,
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linear shipping connectivity, operating efficiency, and institutional influence. Overall, this collection of papers addresses maritime safety management through determining the relationship between marine accidents and freight rates, examining the impact of the EMSMM on organizational performance, evaluating operational and productivity efficiency changes, developing a hub index for container ports, and analysing the competitiveness of container ports. The papers represented in this issue will give informative and constructive stimulation to their understanding of and inspiration to continually improve contemporary maritime safety management.
Acknowledgements As the guest editor of ICASL 2014, I thank the scientific committee, the local organizers, the authors, and the reviewers involved in the editorial process of this special issue for their great support. I also thank the managing editor, H. S. Cho, and the entire team for the excellent support they have provided.
Acknowledgements to Reviewers Woo-Chul AHN
Stephen CAHOON
Hyuk-Soo CHO
Tae-Won CHUNG
Young-Seok HA
Jong-Khil HAN
Jong-Soon KOO
Jae-Hyun LEE
Adolf K.Y. NG
Hong-Kyun PARK
Jung-Soo SEO
Vinh V. THAI
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