Introduction
Short sea shipping (SSS) involves the freight and passenger mobility using waterborne transport options at a limited range and without crossing an ocean. Being a direct competitor to land-based transport modes, it uses ports and inland waterways to complement traditional transportation systems to increase capacity, improve flexibility, and achieve sustainable mobility. The importance of SSS has been growing all over the world for the past 15 years. In the EU, SSS has gained a prominent role in EU transport policy, attracting incentives and becoming pivotal for many countries and economies. This book provides a thorough understanding of SSS and its interrelations with environmental, economic, social, and political factors.
SSS is essentially a specialized area of maritime transport and as such it is driven by various social, environmental, operational, and financial factors, while affecting a diverse array of economic sectors and industries. This perspective is consistent with the dynamic and complex nature of the contemporary business environment which poses unprecedented challenges to short sea operators. It is not sufficient to merely investigate the distinctive characteristics and practices of this sector, but it is imperative to adopt a broader view and assess the underlying policies and trends within this spectrum.
The socio-economic environment of the transport sector has undergone massive structural changes in the past decades. Notably, the formation of a single European market, and the ensuing trade growth, has created the conditions for a more active engagement of sea transport in intra-European trade. SSS is widely recognized as more environmental friendly and more efficient than road transport. In this context, SSS has been promoted as a viable alternative through a series of initiatives that aim to increase its market share. The same effort, though not equally organized, is ongoing in other parts of the world, such as North Asia, the US, and Caribbean.
SSS lacks a formal and universally accepted definition. Yet, several attempts have been made to set its boundaries and come up with a definition that accurately reflects its nature. The definition provided by the European Commission (EC) is: âThe movement of cargo and passengers by sea between ports situated in geographical Europe or between those ports situated in non-European countries having a coastline on the enclosed seas bordering Europeâ. Marlow et al.1 describe SSS as âseaborne flows of all kinds of freight performed by vessels of any flag, from EU Member States to whichever destination within the territory embracing Europe, the Mediterranean and Black Sea non-European countriesâ. Papadimitriou2 defines it as âa maritime transport service that excludes deep sea crossing; SSS embraces national cabotage services maritime connections between mainland and the islands, sea-river transport performed by coastal vesselsâ. Paixao and Marlow3 view SSS as âa complex maritime transport service delivered by different channel intermediaries and performed by five shipsâ types capable of carrying unitized and non-unitized cargo, within well-defined geographical boundariesâ. Other authors argue that SSS cannot be classified.4 According to Stopford5 âSSS is normally a maritime transport within a region, essentially serving port-to-port feeder traffic which can be in competition with land transportâ.
Road transport has for long served and is still being acknowledged as the main mode for moving goods between ports and hinterland origins and destinations, mainly due to the increased accessibility, flexibility, and reliability it offers. Following the continuous growth of international trade and in line with major developments that were undertaken in the port sector, because of disruptive market and industry changes (e.g. globalization and containerization), road transport also experienced fast and significant growth for being able to accommodate rapidly increasing freight volumes. The operational and infrastructure developments that were undertaken in the road transport sector however were often disproportionate to the ones undertaken in other transport modes, with the latter accounting only for a small part in the modal share. Consequently, and considering the pace at which freight volumes grew, road transport started to impose significant negative externalities with roadway networks experiencing high levels of congestion and being characterized of raising safety and environmental concerns.
The better realization and deeper understanding of the severe socio-economic and environmental impact road transport operations are being coupled with, forced policymakers, at different institutional levels (e.g. local, national, and regional) to act accordingly and introduce a series of targeted policy frameworks, strategies, and measures for supporting the wider development and exploitation of other transport modes (i.e. rail, SSS, and inland waterways), contributing in that way towards relieving the already heavily congested roadway networks thus realizing considerable improvements in terms of air quality, road safety, and such.
Taking into consideration the physical characteristics of the worldâs main trade regions as well as the priorities set by relevant government bodies and the funds (both public and private) allocated to infrastructure projects, rail, SSS, and inland waterways have been developed to a different extent presenting various growth possibilities and dynamics. The long coastline and the large number of ports characterizing the European continent, for example, fully justify SSS presenting the second strongest performance (in terms of tonne-km) regarding intra-European trade, following road transport (Pastori 2015). This proves not to be the case in North America where the predominance of rail and road transport for serving long and short-distance hinterland destinations, respectively, considerably limits the growth potential of the SSS market (Rodrigue 2017). Improved, but far behind the European performance, seems to be the SSS sector in Asia. Following the development of mega hub ports in China, new SSS services have been introduced and integrated into door-to-door intermodal logistics chains serving mainly China, Korea, and Japan (Carlini 2012). In other large countries such as Australia and Brazil the SSS sector also represents a considerable market share.
The content of the present book is unfolded around the perception of SSS as the activity of moving cargo by sea, without crossing ocean. The term âcoastal shippingâ is more limited in scope and will be referring to purely domestic seaborne trades.
The first chapter of the book introduces the concept of short-range maritime transport that is colloquially referred to as SSS; this introduction includes its challenges, impact, and potential, as well as setting the tone and scene for the in-depth analysis that will follow in the succeeding chapters.
Global trade follows a distinct growth pattern, yet simultaneously the predominance of the East is fading, as the modern consumerâs requirements are formulated as shifting towards regional, specialized, and virginal commodities. This may pose a threat to the growth rate of deep sea shipping and established hub-and-spoke networks, as door to door and just in time within existing transportation networks may not be enough to accommodate consumer demand. This might entail the transformation of the major transportation networks into mo...