 Optimal container ship size: a global cost minimization approachFeng Lian, Jiaru Jin and Zhongzhen Yang Maritime Policy & Management, 2019, vol. 46, issue 7, 802-817 Abstract: Currently, the best container ship size in a service is determined mainly by the liner operator, considering only the economies of scale of ships. Its external diseconomies to the ports and shippers are usually not considered in the decision-making process, which may reduce the overall efficiency and lead to global nonoptimality. This study incorporates the cost to the shipping companies at the main lines, ports, and feeder services, as well as the external costs to shippers and ports in a hub-and-spoke network, and determines the best ship size and the number of weekly services to minimize the overall costs. The external cost to the shippers in the feeder ports is assumed to be proportional to the feeder cost, and a sensitivity analysis is provided. The maximum container ship size is estimated according to different levels of freight demand. A numerical analysis shows that the optimal size should be smaller than the current biggest container ships in service. Date: 2019 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:marpmg:v:46:y:2019:i:7:p:802-817 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/03088839.2019.1630760 Access Statistics for this article Maritime Policy & Management is currently edited by Dr Kevin Li and Heather Leggate McLaughlin More articles in Maritime Policy & Management from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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