Transport Operations - Shipping - Essay Example

Transport Operations (Shipping) Introduction Short sea shipping or coast trade indicates the process of freight movement along the sea. This movement of freight does not cross the boundaries of a continent or an ocean. In contrast, deep sea shipping involves a maritime activity that crosses oceans. Transport of freight by short sea shipping got world wide popularity and it has become the European Union’s forefront of the transport policy. Multimodal transport convention was designed as an alternative to the unimodal transport system and it refers to the transfer of goods under a single contract but involves in at least two different methods of transport. At the same time, intermodal transport refers to a system of transport where by more than one mode of transport is used to move the same loading unit in an integrated way. This paper will critically analyse how short sea shipping may influence multimodal and intermodal transport planning. Issues in multimodal and intermodal transport Multimodal transport contains a chain of process and steps such as multiple storage and handling stages which require a thorough control. Hence, this mode of transport will not be effective if various phases of the transport are not controlled properly. As Devia (2008) points out, the main difficulty associated with the carriage of goods is that there is no international regime in force regarding various modes of transport. As a result of this lack of uniformity in regulation, the determination of the law depends on a specific transport process when different modes of transport are deployed. As Sturley (2007) reminds, there may arise some problems in the transport of goods between countries located at different continent if the goods in transit are damaged. In such cases, it is very difficult to identify the places or stages where the damages occurred so that the liability of the carrier varies in relation to the court where he is sued. The absence of a unified law for the multimodal transport of goods caused the emergence of some regional, sub regional and national regulations, which in turn caused great difficulties for the international transport of goods. Similarly, intermodal transport systems face different types of threats from terrorists. From different experiences, it has been observed that railroad freight is extremely vulnerable to terrorist attacks. In addition, issues associated with modular service offerings, transport chain coordination, and network technologies impinge on the scope of intermodal transport systems. In short, it is necessary to establish well planned multimodal and intermodal transport systems in order to spread business markets across the globe. Short sea shipping Short sea shipping reflects the transfer of bulk cargoes, containers and passengers around the coastal area. Some short sea ships are small enough to transport on inland waterways. Generally, sizes of short sea ship vessels range from 1000dwt (tones deadweight) to 15000dwt whereas its drafts range from approximately 3m to 6m. Cargoes mainly include grain, steel, stone, fertilisers, minerals, oil products, and passengers. In Europe, the short sea transport constitutes around 40% of all freight movement. On the other hand, US cannot effectively take advantages of short sea shipping although there has been some development in this area. “Alleviation of congestion, decrease of air pollution, and overall cost savings to the shipper and a government” are the potential advantages of short sea shipping (Metropolitan waterfront, n.d.). Movement of freight by ship is more cost effective than road transport and is less vulnerable to theft and damage. Rotterdam, the largest European port, is the main hub of short sea shipping in Europe. As cited by Clift (2009), Rotterdam rules or United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea is the set of rules which define the legal and political structure for the sea based transportation of goods. The new UN convention ‘Rotterdam Rules’ were signed on 23rd September 2009 in Rotterdam, Netherlands with the official support of sixteen countries. Operational and economical characteristics of shipping Shipping can either be a physical movement of goods and cargo by land, air, and sea or can be a transfer of objects by ship. The development of a more balanced modal split in transport is one of the notable operational characteristics of short sea shipping. This concept also assists nations to reduce the transport impacts on environment, ensure greater transport cohesion, and finally to promote a sustainable transport system (Short sea shipping in Europe). The short sea shipping has been identified as a potential alternative to inland transport. The short sea shipping market mainly practices two techniques: unimodal transport and multimodal transport. It seems that short sea shipping has low returns as a result of intra modal as well as inland transport competition. This issue is offset by different multimodal techniques that enable effective management of container fleets, reduce voyages with empty containers, and facilitate repositioning. Majority of short sea shipping operators are ‘niche’ carriers who still have a traditional business approach. The short sea shipping vessels have only affordable construction and operating costs. Another fascinating feature of short sea shipping is that it uses a free of cost infrastructure, the sea. This mode of transport can be easily adjusted to fluctuations in traffic and it is energy-efficient as compared to rail or road transport. In addition, this concept effectively contributes to the turnover of the insurance, freight forwarding, and brokerage sectors. However, the short sea shipping requires the service of highly skilled personnel and hence this concept is being developed as a logistic business. Impact of short sea shipping on multimodal and intermodal transport planning As discussed earlier, the short sea shipping is mainly carried out by two techniques namely unimodal and multimodal transport. Hence, effective policies in short sea shipping may influence multimodal transport planning to a large extent. The absence of a unified law for the multimodal transport of goods creates far reaching issues in multimodal transport sector. The Multimodal Transport Operator (MTO) is the carrier of the contract and the responsibility of cargo or goods reaches his shoulders as soon as he takes the possession of goods and until the goods are being delivered (Ralph, 1995, p. 3). According to the uniform liability rules, the MTO is liable for the goods of the shipper and hence, he has to pay compensation to the shipper if the goods in transit are damaged at any stage of the transport. Sometimes, the shipper’s goods may get damaged due to the negligence of the sub carrier. Due to the lack of legal uniformity, an MTO would not get the whole compensation amount from the sub carriers; and it would lead the MTO to huge losses. As in the case of multimodal transport, continuous trade growth threats the scope of intermodal transport also. Increased trade activities and thereby intense market competition has reduced container shipping rates considerably, which resulted in delays in several parts of the intermodal system. Escalating costs associated with gate capacity, rail terminal and haulage, and local and long-haul trucking would impose combined shipping costs on cargo owners. Researchers strongly argue that time lags coupled with an increased cost in deliveries may raise difficulties to intermodal transport system. However, the emergence of short sea shipping concept eliminates the difficulties associated with transport of goods. This innovative concept harmonises administrative as well as documentary procedures across states, provinces, and nations. Moreover, it changes the shipping perceptions from a port-to-port service to door-to-door intermodality. It seems that environmental issues become a major threat to multimodal as well as intermodal transport planning. The short sea shipping may reduce environmental issues to a large extent as this practice produces less carbon dioxide compared to other modes of transport. Hence, multimodal and intermodal transport can be improved by giving more emphasis on sea transport. In short, effective application of short sea shipping concept can overcome different operational barriers related to intermodal and multimodal transport. Consequently, shippers may plan effective strategies to improve these transport systems. Short team shipping is rapidly developing as a non-deep sea complementary segment to road and rail transport. Therefore, its significance in the freight movement market increases because it is found to be the nexus of a seamless intermodal transport system that features effective cargo handling at each node. The short sea shipping uses advanced technologies and facilitates the movement of freight at an affordable cost. Moreover, it can operate without extensive government subsidies. In total, this transport mode would effectively contribute to multimodal and intermodal transport planning. Globalisation has forced industries to improve production processes in order to boost business activities. As a result, transport operations became an integral part of firms’ management functions. Consequently, global transport networks were considered as the basis of logistics. The introduction of short sea shipping strengthens the transport networks and thereby improves the functional efficiency in logistics, which in turn adds to thoughtful multimodal and intermodal transport planning (Short sea shipping in Europe). The emergence of short sea shipping concept gave marketers wider access to transport markets. This situation leads to intense competition within and between modes by giving wider choice of mode to users. Nowadays, shippers run their business operations focusing more on the conditions of access to different modes of transport networks and hence they can effectively optimise their logistics chains. The short sea shipping trend also forces the policy-makers to formulate timely and suitable policies regarding market regulation, implementation of competition rules, co-ordination of different transport modes, and environmental and regional approaches. In addition, as a result of rapid market developments, governments are driven to forecast regulatory trends which are most suitable to ensure sustainable mobility. It is observed that policy-makers consider co-ordination as a key factor in determining the efficacy of government policies. Hence, difficulties associated with lack of unified laws in national and international shipping can be eliminated. The establishment of a unified law system in international shipping would improve the operational efficiency of multimodal and intermodal transport. In other words, an international regime regarding various modes of transport may encourage the shippers to undertake innovations in multimodal and intermodal transport systems. Europe’s geographical as well as economical structure offers potential opportunities to the short sea shipping concept. It has been calculated that the European Union alone possesses 67,000 kilometers of coastline and 25,000 kilometers of navigable gateway (Papadimitriou, 2001). Another fascinating feature of short sea shipping is that it is capable of reaching ‘peripheral’ regions where it is difficult to reach by other mode of transport. This feature mainly benefits Ireland, regions on the Baltic Sea, Norway, the Black Sea, and the Eastern Mediterranean. From this viewpoint, short sea shipping is the best mode of transport for trade in goods between the countries of the Mediterranean basis and between Western and Eastern Europe. Similarly, this innovative concept generates ranges of employment opportunities for European shipyards. For instance, short sea shipping is accounted for approximately 60 percent of French sea-going jobs. A successful short sea shipping programme ensures efficiency in national and international transport network. However, these benefits would derive only if the proposed “short sea shipping program effectively addresses the myriad issues inherent in the transport infrastructure network” (Sanchez & Wilmsmeier, 2005). Conclusion From the above discussion, it is obvious that the short sea shipping is potential enough to meet the interests of modern industries. The most notable feature of this concept is that it is cost effective and environment friendly. It can resolve unemployment issues in Europe to a large extent. Both multimodal and intermodal transport sectors face a series of threats such as absence of unified laws and declining shipping rates. The effective implementation of short sea shipping program would reduce such transport related issues and may aid the shippers to plan effective multimodal and intermodal transport. In total, short sea shipping improves global supply chains and logistics. References Clift, J 2009, ‘United Nations convention on contracts for the international carriage of goods wholly or partly by sea’, United Nations Information Service, Viewed 26 July 2011 Devia, NM 2008, ‘The multimodal transport system in the Andean community: An analysis from a legal perspective’, LL.M Business Corporate And Maritime Law University Erasmus of Rotterdam, pp.1-49. Viewed 26 July 2011 ‘Metropolitan waterfront alliance conference’, n.d, Hope and Alert Flagships for the Future, Viewed 26 July 2011, Papadimitriou, S 2001, ‘Short sea shipping in Europe’, ECMT: European Conference of Ministers of Transport, OECD Publications, pp.1-75, Viewed 26 July 2011, Ralph, DW 1995, Multimodal Transport Carrier Liability and Documentation, Lloyd’s of London Press Ltd, London. Sturley, MF 2007, ‘Sea carriage goes ashore: The relationship between multimodal conventions and domestic unimodal rules’, Modern Law for Global Commerce, pp.1-3, Viewed 26 July 2011 Sanchez, RJ & Wilmsmeier, G 2005, ‘Bridging infrastructural gaps in Central America: Prospects and potential for maritime transport’, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Division, Cepal, pp.1-53, Viewed 26 July 2011, Read More