Towards a new intermediate hub region in container shipping? Relay and interlining via the Cape route vs. the Suez route

Theo E. Notteboom

Journal of Transport Geography, 2012, vol. 22, issue C, 164-178

Abstract: The Suez Canal plays a pivotal role in today’s global container shipping network, in particularly in accommodating vessels sailing on the important Asia–Europe trade lane. This paper analyses to what extent and for which trade lanes the Cape route could develop into a competitive alternative to the Suez route. The market potential of the Cape route is analysed using a distance analysis, a transit time analysis and a generalized cost analysis for a large set of O/D relations. We compare vessel interlining via the port of Algeciras with interlining via the new port of Ngqura in South Africa. The results show that the Cape route has the potential to serve as an alternative to the Suez route on 11 trade lanes. A scenario and sensitivity analysis reveals that interlining via a hub near the Cape is expected to become more competitive due to a combination of higher Suez Canal transit fees, better vessel economics, higher bunker costs, slow steaming practices and subject to a more competitive terminal pricing strategy of southern African transhipment facilities. The expected emergence of the Cape route should be seen as the embodiment of a promising development of south–south trade volumes between Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and South America.

Keywords: Container shipping; Vessel routing; Competition; Interlining; Suez Canal; Cape (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692312000075

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:22:y:2012:i:c:p:164-178

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2012.01.003

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Transport Geography is currently edited by Frank Witlox

More articles in Journal of Transport Geography from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().