INCREASING VESSEL SIZE: SHOREWARD COSTS SEAWARD SAVINGS?

The report examines some of the typical costs of port development and compares them with the potential freight rate savings to be expected from using the bigger bulk ships over different voyage lengths. The conclusion seems to be that, given present port facilities, there are limits to the economics of scale of the bigger bulk carriers. In the iron ore trades, for example, "it can become a false economy to use vessels of greater than 225,000 dwt., even on the long routes where freight savings are maximized, while a corresponding size in the crude oil trade is 340,000 dwt." An increasingly critical factor, as larger vessels are introduced, says the report, is slow cargo throughput and one promising solution to this is the use of multiuser berths or transhipment terminals.

• Corporate Authors:

  Westinform Service

  ,    
• Publication Date: 1976

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bulk cargo handling; Bulk cargo terminals; Bulk carriers; Dry bulk carriers; Economic analysis; Oils; VLCC ports
• Old TRIS Terms: Bulk oil transport
• Subject Areas: Economics; Marine Transportation; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00131862
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Westinform Service
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 14 1976 12:00AM