Purpose: Severe disruptions to maritime supply chains, including port closures, congestion and shortages in shipping capacity, have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper’s purpose is to explore flexibility-based countermeasures that enable actors in maritime supply chains to mitigate the effects of disruptions with different characteristics. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with shipping lines, shippers, forwarders and ports. Data on the COVID-19 pandemic's effects and countermeasures were collected and compared with data regarding the 2016–2017 Gothenburg port conflict. Findings: Spatial, capacity, service and temporal flexibility emerged as the primary countermeasures, whilst important characteristics of disruptions were geographical spread, duration, uncertainty, criticality, the element of surprise and intensity. Spatial flexibility was exercised in both disruptions by switching to alternative ports. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring capacity flexibility included first removing and then adding vessels. Shipping lines exercising service flexibility prioritised certain cargo, which made the spot market uncertain and reduced flexibility for forwarders, importers and exporters that changed carriers or traffic modes. Experience with disruptions meant less surprise and better preparation for spatial flexibility. Practical implications: Understanding how actors in maritime supply chains exercise flexibility-based countermeasures amid disruptions with different characteristics can support preparedness for coming disruptions. Originality/value: Comparing flexibility-based measures in a pandemic versus port conflict provides insights into the important characteristics of disruptions and the relevance of mitigation strategies. The resilience of maritime supply chains, although underexamined compared with manufacturing supply chains, is essential for maintaining global supply chain flows.

At the onset of the pandemic in spring 2020, the Swedish shipping sector was first affected by border closures preventing passengers to use RoPax shipping and cruise ferries. There were some blank sailings but in general they kept operating to foster intra-European trade by trucks despite the missing revenues from passengers. Shipping in general was affected by port disrup-tions and complicated crew changes. Eventually, however, it was clear that the most dramatic disruptions on a global scale where experienced in the container segment. General media reported on delayed goods, high freight rates and, however not related to the pandemic, the Ever Given blocking the Suez Canal for a week in March 2021. Currently, there are few reports of supply chains and shipping suffering from disruptions and capacity constraints related to the pandemic. The peak in freight rates was rather replaced by depressed rates and there is a certain risk that some logisticians and supply chain managers regard the pandemic as a once-in-a-lifetime event and just want to get back to a previous be-haviour seeing container shipping as a commodity with indefinite capacity at a reasonable price. Nevertheless, the war in Ukraine, the drought in the Panama Canal and the attacks by the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea create other problems for container shipping. Freight rates increase significantly, but from very low levels. The purpose of the report is to describe and analyse how international container shipping was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and other disruptions. The analysis takes a Swedish perspective on disruptions and tries to go beyond the anecdotal reporting and capture what happened and why. Container shipping is put into a context of economy, consumption, world trade, supply chains and logistics. The pandemic and more current events affecting container shipping market are described together with how shipping lines responded. A series of interviews with Swedish actors revealed how they perceived the disruptions and what countermeasures the actors have applied to mitigate the effects, their organisational learning and how they prepare for future disruptions

Modern intermodal nodes of the future – Requirements on knowledge and development

The purpose of the project was to compile existing knowledge to analyze the function, design, and organization of intermodal nodes, as well as identify gaps for future research within Trafikverket’s research program and serve as a basis for Trafikverket's strategic work. The project uses both literature reviews and empirical studies through workshops with experts. The project has five main results:

1. Criteria are proposed to define sustainable intermodal nodes aimed at promoting economic, social, and environmental goals for authorities, cargo owners, and carriers. The aim is to identify challenges and areas where nodes can improve their sustainability to avoid sub-optimization.

2. A two-dimensional matrix is proposed to categorize intermodal nodes according to their role in society's goods supply, as well as the local economy and environment.

3. Various organizational forms for nodes are described, including terminals and associated logistics areas that can be owned and managed by public, private, or combined entities.

4. A discussion on how technological innovations such as electrification, digitization, and automation can affect intermodal nodes in the future.

5. Opportunities and needs for further work and research in the field are presented

Purpose: There can be many negative effects from a disruption in a central node of companies' supply chains, such as a port conflict that reduces capacity. Strategies for disruption management include flexibility and redundancy. This paper aims to analyse a supply chain disruption from flexibility and capacity perspectives. Design/methodology/approach: A case study was conducted of the supply chain disruption caused by the port conflict in 2016–2017 in Gothenburg, in which the port operated at a reduced capacity. Companies importing and exporting goods, freight forwarders, hauliers, train operators, ports, shipping companies and their agents were interviewed. Findings: Various capacity problems (ports, links, container chassis, empty containers) were encountered due to the port conflict. Flexibility measures such as node, mode and fleet flexibility can be used in response to changes in capacity. Difficulties with applying flexibility are discussed. Research limitations/implications: Although based on a Swedish case, findings are relevant for disruptions or other types of disturbances in ports elsewhere and also in other important nodes in companies' supply chains. Practical implications: Actors influenced by disturbances in a port can increase their understanding of potential capacity problems and flexibility measures. Readiness and timely action are important due to competition regarding capacity. Originality/value: The implications on the transport network surrounding a port, including many actors, are explained, illustrating how capacity problems propagate, but there is some flexibility to manage the problems. 

This paper assesses the impact of a major disruptive event at the port of Gothenburg, Scandinavia’s largest container port. Automatic Identification System (AIS) data is analyzed, in combination with official port statistics on container handling in the four main container ports in Sweden, from 2014–2018. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between container volumes handled and calculated performance metrics at the specific times of the intense labour dispute at the port of Gothenburg during the periods Q2 (2016) and Q4 (2016)–Q2 (2017). The paper concludes that the decline in container volumes handled at Gothenburg over the period is specifically due to fewer ships calling at the port following each of the intense periods of the labour dispute. It is also concluded that the effect on competitor ports in the region were significant in terms of both increased volumes of gateway container traffic and the resulting short-term and medium term impacts on both port user profiles and port efficiency levels. © 2021 by the authors. 

The demand for wood biofuel for district heating plants and combined heat and power plants (CHPs) has increased, caused by an increase in both the number and size of CHPs. This places large demands on the logistics system supplying these plants with fuel, with a particular interest in the use of alternative modes of transport such as rail and sea. The aim of this paper is to identify the industry actors’ requirements, constraints, and preferences regarding the wood-biofuel supply chain and to identify the logistical challenges this entails, as well as how this impacts the opportunity for an increased use of alternative transport solutions. A survey was sent to all Swedish CHPs, combined with six interviews with transport companies, terminal operators, and forest companies. The study shows that the industry has a local focus that limits potential logistics and sourcing solutions. It is also challenged by urban sprawl, with expanding residential areas close to the CHPs putting further constraints on the operations. Significant variations in fuel demand, depending on unpredictable outside temperature and seasonal variation, is a further challenge. The low density of the fuel has a negative impact on transport costs and introduces a trade-off between chipping close to the forest to increase density versus more efficient chipping at the CHP. Intermodal transport only used by large plants, driven by a shortage of local fuel. © 2020 The Authors

Road haulage causes undisputed negative environmental impact in terms of CO2-emissions, noise, infrastructure damage, congestion, road accidents and is energy intensive. At longer transport distance (e.g. trans-ocean) maritime transport is preferable as it is more cost efficient. At shorter distances, there are financial, operational, market-related and regulatory issues that make waterway transport less attractive. Meanwhile, as waterway transport is favorable from an environmental perspective, the support for modal shift from road to sea has become an integral part of transport policy both at EU-level and in several countries across Europe. Among the different types of shipping (trans-ocean, short-sea, coastal), inland shipping is of particular importance when it comes to reduce congestion on roads. Ports are most often located in or near large cities, which in particular causes congestion on access roads to ports and the cities, and also in the countries in general. Hence, whereas cost is a barrier that must be overcome, using inland waterway transportation (IWT) is preferable from an environmental perspective, and a modal shift is a highly prioritized issue by governments. In some central European countries, IWT is well developed, while in countries such as Sweden, the share of inland shipping is very low, < 1%, and with no or little container traffic. With well-functioning fairways in inland waterways in Sweden, there is a large potential for increasing its utilization.

This paper analyses strategies to overcome barriers to a modal shift to inland waterway transport (IWT). Barriers identified in research literature have been categorised as regulatory, financial, service quality and market characteristics. Using two cases involving Swedish entrepreneurs initiating IWT, this paper has shown how barriers to the modal shift to IWT can be managed where markets are limited. Modal shift involves multiple actors, and the entrepreneurs interacted with ports, shippers, shipping companies, regulatory actors, forwarders and hauliers, depending on the barrier. Strategies to manage barriers included negotiating, educating stakeholders, securing volumes, conducting a proof-of-concept run and identifying business opportunities for stakeholders. The findings can increase stakeholders’ knowledge of IWT. Policy makers aiming to promote modal shift must understand that fees and legislation act as barriers. 

Although not originally developed for research use, the Automatic Identification System (AIS) enables its data to be used in research. The present paper provides a structured overview of how AIS data is used for various research applications. Ten areas have been identified, spread across maritime, marine and other journals. Many stakeholders beyond the most frequently mentioned – authorities and maritime administrations – can benefit from the research in which AIS data is used. AIS data can be incorporated in various types of modelling approaches and play a small or large role as a source of data. AIS data can also be validated or used to validate research from other data sources. Although a large amount of AIS-based research adds to the literature, there is still a large potential for using AIS data for research by making greater use of the variety in AIS messages, combining AIS with other sources of data, and extending both spatial and temporal perspectives.

When ships approach each other, they should keep a minimum area around them clear of other vessels in order to remain safe. The geometrical shape of this area has been studied since the early 1970s and is defined as the ship domain. The progress in computer capacity since then and the introduction of the Automatic Identification System (AIS) provides the potential to further investigate the size and the governing factors of the domain. This investigation revisits and proposes a method using data based on 600,000 ship encounters at 36 locations. It is concluded that the ship domain has the shape of an ellipse with half axis radii of 0.9 and 0.45 nautical miles. However, there are two factors that greatly affect the ship domain: how large the area is that is used to gather vessel intersections and whether they are constrained by water depth. In contradiction to some previous research, it is found that the ship domain is unrelated to the length of the ship.