Maritime transport plays a vital role in global supply chains. The most recent Review of Maritime United Nations transport Conference on Trade and (UNCTAD) notes that 80 per cent of global merchandise trade by volume are carried by sea and handled by ports worldwide with global seaborne trade reaching over 9 billion tons in 2012 for the first time However, maritime transport is facing major challenges including low freight rates for contaniners and bulk cargoes, soaring bunker fuel prices. and issues of environmental sustainability. Carriers, port operators,freight forwarders and shippers, as the main players in maritime logistics,have taken steps to address these challenges. For example container shipping lines have implemented "slow steaming" to save fuel ("bunker") and absorb excess capacity. They are also forming alliances to add ports to routes while reducing ports of call for alliance members. reducing call frequencies and thereby helping to fill ultra large container carriers (ULCCs) to benefit from scate efficiencies. Port operators have adopted advanced hard and soft technogies to efficiently handle increasingly large loading and unloading requirements. provide effective intermodal connections with expanding port hinterlands. and move toward more sustainable ship and port operations (the "green port" concept) Freight forwarders have endeavored to provide seamless door-to-door intermodal transport services for their customers. These changes in maritime logistics challenge academia to develop supporting models and methods of analysis.
A special issue in the international journal transportation Research Part B on "Shipping. Port and Maritime Logistic" is being organized. The scope of this special issue will include model development and optimization as well as empirical data collection and advanced quantitative analysis within the context of shipping ports and maritime logistics. Typical topics include