Hasil untuk "Shipment of goods. Delivery of goods"

Kelly Gerakoudi, Dimitrios Georgoulas, Peter J. Stavroulakis

Abstract Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are investment funds traded on stock exchanges that hold financial assets such as commodities, stocks, bonds, currencies, futures contracts, or debt. ETFs allow shareholders indirect ownership of the underlying assets and entitlement to associated profits, such as interest or dividends. This study investigates the relationship between the trading of a dry-bulk ETF in the maritime sector and its effect on the volatility of dry-bulk spot freight rates. Using GARCH (Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity) models, we analyse asymmetric volatility dynamics across two periods, March 2014 to March 2018 and March 2018 to March 2022, while controlling for global economic factors including West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent oil prices, and the S&P 500 Commodity Index. Our findings reveal a significant positive correlation between the dry-bulk ETF’s presence and increased volatility in dry-bulk spot rates, with notable differences observed between the Capesize and Panamax vessel segments. The introduction of the dry-bulk ETF has materially influenced spot market dynamics, affecting decision-making processes within the sector. This research contributes novel insights into the financialization of the dry-bulk shipping market, providing valuable implications for shipowners, charterers, regulators, and investors. In particular, higher spot-rate volatility can affect chartering strategy and contract selection (spot vs. period), hedging intensity via FFAs/ETFs, and earnings-at-risk and margining liquidity needs. Understanding how ETFs impact market risk is critical for strategic planning and maintaining stability in the maritime freight market.

Marie Cryns, Edwin van Hassel, Thierry Vanelslander

Abstract As a result of the increasing need to accomplish a modal shift from road transportation towards inland waterway transport (IWT) and railway transport (RWT) to reduce congestion and emissions in Europe, many technologies and innovations are being created and implemented to establish more efficient and resilient IWT and RWT and achieve the desired modal shift. This research focuses on the increasing need for improvements in IWT in different parts of the European network to increase the quality of the infrastructure and the overall traffic share. Therefore, technologies and innovations are being created and implemented. This will be causing changes in the ecosystems of the inland waterways. As a result, it is necessary to identify the actual actors and stakeholders of these ecosystems that will be impacted by the direct and indirect impacts of the implementation of the innovations and technologies (e.g. the increasing traffic share on the waterways and the roads) before being able to measure the eventual impacts. To support the research in this paper, a literature review was conducted to indicate the definition of an ecosystem and the value of stakeholder identification and mapping when researching impacts on ecosystems. Next, based on an extensive literature review, a general stakeholder framework was created, and three different stakeholder maps were established by identifying and mapping the different actors and stakeholders of the European IWT ecosystem. This was applied to the three pilot case studies (a French pilot case focusing on the Moselle and Seine, an Italian pilot case focusing on the Po River, and a Polish pilot case focusing on the Odra and Vistula). However, after receiving input from three different pilot cases, it was determined that creating a general stakeholder framework is not possible because of the differences between each case. Consequently, the study reveals that while creating a universal stakeholder framework is impractical due to inherent regional differences, the individual case studies emphasize the unique contractual and collaborative dynamics within each ecosystem. These findings underscore the importance of tailored approaches to stakeholder relationships, with a particular focus on well-coordinated collaboration and the critical role of strong leadership in driving innovation and achieving a modal shift.

Milad Hematian, Jean-François Audy, Mikael Rönnqvist

Abstract This study presents a novel decision support process for a pilot dispatching problem in the St. Lawrence River. It integrates a comprehensive set of time-based performance measures, including working time, waiting time, and skill level differences, to optimize fairness and operational efficiency in pilot dispatching. The proposed process employs a weighted multi-objective model and a goal programming solution method to dynamically rank pilots, continuously updating dispatch plans. A year-long case study in the St. Lawrence River, Canada with 1288 vessels and 200 pilots across four stations showed that the proposed decision support process significantly improved workload distribution, reducing waiting times by 14% and enhancing pilot satisfaction. The findings highlight the potential for more balanced and efficient pilot dispatching approach benefiting for both service quality provided to vessels and the pilots themselves by reducing fatigue and improving performance measures.

Alastair Langtry

This paper presents a model of network formation and public goods provision in local communities. Here, networks can sustain public good provision by spreading information about people's behaviour. I find a critical threshold in network connectedness at which public good provision drops sharply, even though agents are highly heterogeneous. Technology change can tear a community's social fabric by pushing high-skilled workers to withdraw from their local community. This can help explain rising resentment toward perceived ``elites'' -- their withdrawal actively harms those left behind. Moreover, well-meaning policies that upskill workers can make them worse off by reducing network connectedness.

Bishwajit Prasad Gond

The increasing complexity of supply chains and the rising costs associated with defective or substandard goods (bad goods) highlight the urgent need for advanced predictive methodologies to mitigate risks and enhance operational efficiency. This research presents a novel framework that integrates Time Series ARIMA (AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average) models with a proprietary formula specifically designed to calculate bad goods after time series forecasting. By leveraging historical data patterns, including sales, returns, and capacity, the model forecasts potential quality failures, enabling proactive decision-making. ARIMA is employed to capture temporal trends in time series data, while the newly developed formula quantifies the likelihood and impact of defects with greater precision. Experimental results, validated on a dataset spanning 2022-2024 for Organic Beer-G 1 Liter, demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms traditional statistical models, such as Exponential Smoothing and Holt-Winters, in both prediction accuracy and risk evaluation. This study advances the field of predictive analytics by bridging time series forecasting, ARIMA, and risk management in supply chain quality control, offering a scalable and practical solution for minimizing losses due to bad goods.

Ana Carolina Carlucci da Silva

O regime internacional de responsabilidade civil e compensação em casos de poluição por derramamento de óleo é composto por quatro convenções de características próprias no âmbito internacional, adotando o princípio da canalização da responsabilidade objetiva na figura do dono do navio e competência territorial baseada no local do dano. Conta, ainda, com dois Fundos que visam garantir a compensação das vítimas. Paralelamente, realidade inegável na atualidade do comércio marítimo atual, as bandeiras de conveniência ganharam grande visibilidade após se envolverem em vários dos maiores desastres marítimo-ambientais ocorridos nos últimos 50 anos. Através dos métodos indutivo, histórico e empírico-quantitativo, propõe-se a conceituar e definir “bandeiras de conveniência”; analisar os dados relativos ao transporte marinho de óleo por petroleiros a fim de se determinar se esses registros de fato acarretam maiores níveis de poluição em comparação com outras bandeiras e em que proporção e, a partir disso, apontar perspectivas e impressões que permitam realizar um balanço das convenções de responsabilidade e compensação, juntamente com os Fundos IOPC, no que toca o combate à poluição marítima por petroleiros. Observou-se que, embora bandeiras de conveniência tenham acompanhado uma tendência positiva, sua prática complacente ainda representa uma grande ameaça socioeconômica e ambiental uma vez que potencializa riscos em uma atividade que por si só já é de alto grau de risco, preocupando, principalmente, pela severidade dos acidentes.

Francisco Campos da Costa, Jonathan Silvy Rodrigues

O presente artigo tem como objeto a análise acerca da (in)existência de amparo legal para que o transportador rodoviário de carga retenha em sua posse a mercadoria transportada, em caso de inadimplemento do valor arbitrado à título de frete, até que este venha a ser quitado pelo contratante/embarcador. Para tanto, esta pesquisa utilizará metodologia dedutiva e as fontes serão de cunho bibliográfico e documental. A pesquisa examinará a revogação ou vigência do Decreto nº 19.473, de 10 de dezembro de 1930, o qual, por intermédio do art. 2º, possibilita a retenção de mercadorias em tais caso, com amparo no posicionamento doutrinário e jurisprudencial sobre o tema. O ponto central de debate deste artigo decorre do debate sobre a extensão do Decreto s/n de 25 de abril de 1991 teria incluído o Decreto nº 19.473 na lista de normas revogadas, o que inviabilizaria a sua utilização para fundamentar juridicamente a retenção de carga por parte do transportador. Como resultado da pesquisa, constatou-se que o Decreto de 1930 fora recepcionado pela atual Constituição Federal de 1988 com status de lei ordinária, portanto, sua revogação estaria condicionada à regulamentação de uma nova lei, a partir da instauração de um processo legislativo constitucional, como estabelecido pela própria Lei de Introdução às normas do Direito Brasileiro.

Fiona Maureen Courtens, Elvira Haezendonck, Michaël Dooms et al.

The transition towards a circular economy (CE) has grown in importance during the last decade, and ports are now being viewed as potentially important contributors to this move towards a more sustainable economy. However, several research questions about adopting CE projects in ports remain unanswered. The importance of clustering and secondary resources for circular loops indicates the importance of proximity to either industrial clusters or urban zones. However, gateway ports (GWP), contrary to industrial ports, metropolitan (or urban) ports and diversified port hubs (which combine an industrial function with the proximity to a large urban area), do not benefit from the vicinity of these secondary resources. Nevertheless, even without access to such secondary resources, any port and port managing body (PMB) needs to prepare for the changing competitive landscape, with new cargo flows, material streams and related businesses linked to the circular economy transition of value chains. Here, GWPs, thanks to their nodal position, still have potential to function as platforms for circular transition initiatives arising in other industries. In the present study, we conceptualize a CE transition process, consisting of six steps, especially relevant to GWPs. We then explore the case of the Port of Zeebrugge (Belgium), shortly before its merger with the Port of Antwerp. We propose that GWPs should rely mainly on their potential to attract ‘new value streams’ as the main driver of their CE strategy. Here, top-down initiatives emanating from internal stakeholders, and likely even external ones, appear to provide pathways to CE success.

Yong An Park, Tsz Leung Yip, Sung Rye Hu et al.

COVID-19 pandemic clearly demonstrates that seafarers are essential for sustaining world shipping services and global supply chain. Understanding the characteristics of supply and demand in seafarer market will be a solution for the bottleneck issues of seafarer change and shipping services. This paper explores the supply and demand of seafarer market in Korea and evaluates the effects of COVID-19 on both supply and demand sides of Korean seafarers by adopting regression models with panel data for the supply and time series data for the demand. First, this paper finds that the effects of COVID-19 are negative in the demand of Korean seafarer market even with the wider increase of tonnage of the Korean flagged ships in 2020. The demand shock seems to be resulted by the traveling restriction and stricter immigration measures to travellers after the announcement of COVID-19 pandemic. Second, supply in the regression models of panel data is affected negatively after declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic may trigger the hesitation of seafaring due to the travelling restriction and bottlenecks from seafarer changes onboard. Besides these findings, the correlation coefficients between the number of Korean seafarers of merchant ships and merchant fleet illustrate a diverse relationship between the two. The expansion of Korean ocean-going fleet is accompanied by the decrease of Korean seafarers on the Korean flag. The employment of foreign seafarers since 1992 has resulted in the continual decrease of ratings employment in the Korean flagged ships. The inflow of foreign deck officers in the Korean flagged ships after 2005 could lessen the officer deficiency caused by high separation rate of Korean deck officers. This inflow implies that seafarer market in a country not only affects global seafarer market in the world through the changes of seafarer supply and demand in the country, but is affected by the global market. The dual markets of Korean seafarers in ocean-going and coastal shipping present the following phenomena: severe aging of seafarers in coastal shipping and wider difference in welfare level of seafarers between the two. Further research on wage and career advancement of Korean seafarers would widen and deepen our understanding on seafarer market both for Korea and the rest of the world.

Andreas Breivik Ormevik, Kjetil Fagerholt, Frank Meisel et al.

In this paper, we present the scheduling problem on a given route where speed optimization under various weather conditions is to be performed. Different approaches for calculating fuel consumption for vessels are introduced with a discussion of how this might influence the speed optimization strategies on predetermined multi-stop routes in a short sea shipping service within offshore logistics. Due to both spatial and temporal changes in weather conditions, fuel consumption as a function of speed becomes time-dependent as a vessel performs its route in varying weather. In our novel approach, the weather impact on fuel consumption for the considered vessels is modeled with a higher level of detail than in previously conducted studies, including both wave direction and wave period as input together with the wave height. We test our approach for optimizing schedules on a large set of routes of different lengths and number of stops, as well as for a set of different weather samples based on historical observations. When comparing the new approach to current industry practice, the computational study reveals on average a 4.5% reduction in fuel consumption across the different routes and weather scenarios. The magnitude of the reduction potential increases for worsening weather conditions. Furthermore, it is demonstrated how the approach commonly used for modeling weather impacts in the literature tends to greatly miscalculate the true cost of performing a voyage in realistic weather conditions. Finally, we discuss how the model fidelity is likely to affect the outcome of the routing decisions at a higher planning level, representing a potential for even further reductions of fuel consumption in various weather conditions.

Hans W. Ittmann

Background: Postal services have been impacted by e-digitisation and e-commerce. The revenue derived by the South Africa Post Office (SAPO) from letter-post has declined contributing to its financial difficulties. This has led to a decline in the mail delivery service and performance. With its country-wide network, SAPO can offer an affordable and indispensable service. Objectives: The objective is to evaluate the mail delivery performance of SAPO, using both an international and local perspective, with an emphasis on aspects such as logistics, supply chain management (SCM), last mile delivery, etc. Method: Primary data, by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), on postal performance were used with locally collected primary tracking data of postal delivery from origin to destination of registered postal items. A quantitative data analysis and evaluation was performed using these data to get a sense of the postal development and mail delivery performance of SAPO. Results: The postal development performance of SAPO as measured by the UPU was compared with actual quantitative tracking data. There seems to be a significant disconnect between the results published by the UPU and what those in South Africa are experiencing. Conclusion: This quantitative analysis shows that SAPO’s postal service is no longer a reliable, predictable and professional service. It will necessitate an enormous effort to turn it around. Contribution: The article provides a view on the performance of the postal services of SAPO, both from an international and local perspective.

Frederik C. Rust, Leslie R. Sampson, Adriana A. Cachia et al.

Background: In view of limited funding, research and development (RD) investment needs to be optimised for future impact. Road transport RD is complex and vary from road materials, design and traffic control to safety. Objectives: Future drivers, trends and technologies in the South African road transport sector were determined and rated. Causal loop diagrams (CLDs) were used to determine how they will influence the sector and potential future RD focus areas. Method: Literature reviews, stakeholder interviews and workshops assessed the prevailing state of the sector and identified and rated the drivers, trends and technologies that will impact it. A novel method for structured technology foresight using CLDs was used to analyse the interrelationship between these elements and to determine the gaps in knowledge and the technologies required to position the sector for the future. Results: Eighteen mega-drivers, 28 industry drivers, 53 trends and 79 key technologies were identified and rated by 98 workshop participants. The CLD analysis provided insight into the characteristics of the transport system and enhanced the understanding of the complexity of the system. Research focus areas were identified to position the transport sector for the future. Conclusion: Causal loop diagrams were used effectively to demonstrate the interrelationships between and influence of drivers, trends and technologies on the transport sector and to identify gaps in knowledge. Contribution: The current and future drivers, trends and technologies in the transport sector were identified and CLDs used to assess the relationships between them which led to the identification of new focus areas for RD.

Peng Zhang, Jiaquan Wei, Yuhong Liu et al.

With the massive amount of digital data generated everyday, transactions of digital goods become a trend. One of the essential requirements for such transactions is fairness, which is defined as that both of the seller and the buyer get what they want, or neither. Current fair trade protocols generally involve a trusted third-party (TTP), which achieves fairness by heavily relying on the TTP's behaviors and the two parties' trust in the TTP. With the emergence of Blockchain, its decentralization and transparency make it a very good candidate to replace the TTP. In this work, we attempt to design a secure and fair protocol for digital goods transactions through smart contracts on Blockchain. To ensure security of the digital goods, we propose an advanced passive proxy re-encryption (PRE) scheme, which enables smart contracts to transfer the decryption right to a buyer after receiving his/her payment. Furthermore, based on smart contracts and the proposed passive PRE scheme, a fair trade protocol for digital goods transactions is proposed, whose fairness is guaranteed by the arbitration protocol. The proposed protocol supports Ciphertext publicity and repeatable sale, while involving less number of interactions. Comprehensive experiment results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed protocol.

Jian Zhang, Runwei Ding, Miaoju Ban et al.

Visual anomaly detection is essential and commonly used for many tasks in the field of computer vision. Recent anomaly detection datasets mainly focus on industrial automated inspection, medical image analysis and video surveillance. In order to broaden the application and research of anomaly detection in unmanned supermarkets and smart manufacturing, we introduce the supermarket goods anomaly detection (GoodsAD) dataset. It contains 6124 high-resolution images of 484 different appearance goods divided into 6 categories. Each category contains several common different types of anomalies such as deformation, surface damage and opened. Anomalies contain both texture changes and structural changes. It follows the unsupervised setting and only normal (defect-free) images are used for training. Pixel-precise ground truth regions are provided for all anomalies. Moreover, we also conduct a thorough evaluation of current state-of-the-art unsupervised anomaly detection methods. This initial benchmark indicates that some methods which perform well on the industrial anomaly detection dataset (e.g., MVTec AD), show poor performance on our dataset. This is a comprehensive, multi-object dataset for supermarket goods anomaly detection that focuses on real-world applications.

MohammadTaghi Hajiaghayi, Max Springer, Hadi Yami

We here address the problem of fairly allocating indivisible goods or chores to $n$ agents with weights that define their entitlement to the set of indivisible resources. Stemming from well-studied fairness concepts such as envy-freeness up to one good (EF1) and envy-freeness up to any good (EFX) for agents with equal entitlements, we present, in this study, the first set of impossibility results alongside algorithmic guarantees for fairness among agents with unequal entitlements. Within this paper, we expand the concept of envy-freeness up to any good or chore to the weighted context (WEFX and XWEF respectively), demonstrating that these allocations are not guaranteed to exist for two or three agents. Despite these negative results, we develop a WEFX procedure for two agents with integer weights, and furthermore, we devise an approximate WEFX procedure for two agents with normalized weights. We further present a polynomial-time algorithm that guarantees a weighted envy-free allocation up to one chore (1WEF) for any number of agents with additive cost functions. Our work underscores the heightened complexity of the weighted fair division problem when compared to its unweighted counterpart.

Tumelo F. Mothupi, Ricky M. Mukonza, Titos Khalo

Background: The management and funding of research in South Africa are managed at the national level by a dedicated public utility. However, the procurement plan implementation at the utility has been unsatisfactory and is hindered by various factors. The institution requests funding, but by the end of the financial year, not all of the funds would have been used up. Funds not utilised by the end of the financial year are returned to the National Treasury, which reflects poor performance in the Supply chain management unit. Objectives: This study examines the factors hindering the implementation of the procurement plan at the National Research Foundation. This is crucial because National Treasury SCM Instruction 2 of 2016 and 2017 stated that some government institutions sorely undermine and weaken the ethos of the Public Finance Management Act and ultimately waste scarce resources that are intended to improve service delivery. Method: A qualitative approach with interviews being the major data collection technique was applied. Results: The findings revealed that there is a lack of support from SCM managers and that SCM officials lack dedication to their work. In addition, the results also reveal a knowledge barrier between Scientists and SCM practitioners. Conclusion: The study recommends that SCM managers arrange quarterly meetings with project managers to discuss the progress of projects on the procurement plan. The National Research Foundation (NRF) business heads should offer support to SCM officials in an effort to assist them to fulfil their responsibilities. The SCM officials should train Scientists on SCM regulations, which would break the knowledge barriers existing between them.

W. Matekenya, R. Ncwadi

Abstract The study explored the impact of maritime transport financing on trade in South Africa. Using the Autoregressive Distribution lag model, we examine the impact of maritime transport financing on total trade in South Africa during the period 1994 to 2019. The results confirm a long and short-run positive relationship between maritime transport financing and total trade. The findings suggest an overall, substantial investment in maritime transport has the potential to promote trade flows in South Africa. We recommend more investments towards maritime transport infrastructure to ensure a significant increase in exports, and to stimulate economic development in South Africa.

D. G. N. D. Jayarathna, G. H. J. Lanel, Z. A. M. S. Juman

Abstract This study is motivated by a real-world application of ABC (Pvt) Ltd., a well-known FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) industry. The industry have nine agents (in two operating regions) from which it can serve its 5483 clients. We focus on this industry’s outbound logistics in its two operating regions, namely Colombo and Gampaha, while taking into account its distribution and current decentralized redistribution processes, since additional routing costs have been identified in the existing setup. The goal of this study is to implement a better route plan that optimizes the truck allocation system at the lowest possible costs of transportation, warehouse, and administration. First to determine a best location for the new facility, the gravity model is used to pinpoint the exact location of the central warehouse. Then a centralized delivery strategy is applied to establish a better path between the sub-clusters. The performance of this centralized policy is evaluated on a real-world case study data. The relative cost benefit/saving (34%) of the centralized distribution system is then brought into focus and verified with solid statistics by comparing the overall cost of the centralized distribution system to the total cost of the existing decentralized distribution system. Finally, we highlight how decision-makers and policymakers in the logistics area might use our centralized delivery strategy to reduce extra-costs, particularly during the transportation of commodities.

Priya Mehta, Sanat Bhargava, M. Ravi Kumar et al.

Circular trading is a form of tax evasion in Goods and Services Tax where a group of fraudulent taxpayers (traders) aims to mask illegal transactions by superimposing several fictitious transactions (where no value is added to the goods or service) among themselves in a short period. Due to the vast database of taxpayers, it is infeasible for authorities to manually identify groups of circular traders and the illegitimate transactions they are involved in. This work uses big data analytics and graph representation learning techniques to propose a framework to identify communities of circular traders and isolate the illegitimate transactions in the respective communities. Our approach is tested on real-life data provided by the Department of Commercial Taxes, Government of Telangana, India, where we uncovered several communities of circular traders.

Kikun Park, Sunghyun Sim, Hyerim Bae

Port operation efficiency has grown in importance as container volumes and vessel sizes have increased. For improved port operations efficiency, the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of sea-going vessels must be accurately predicted. In this paper, an AIS data-driven method- ology is proposed for the estimation of vessel ETA at ports. For ETA prediction, we first introduce how to find possible vessel trajectories using AIS data mining methods and reinforcement learning (RL); next, we introduce the Markov Chain property and Bayesian Sampling to estimate the speed over ground (SOG) of a vessel. Experimentation comparing the proposed methodology with an existing one was performed to verify the former's performance. We expect the proposed ETA prediction methodology to predict ETA to help build an intelligent port system.