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Q1: (a) Critically discuss any two types of Sea ports?

There are five different types of man-made or natural ports but we will discuss only two types of
those ports in our study. The selected types of ports are.

 Sea Port
 Inland Port

Sea Ports:

Sea Ports are the most well-known ports all over the world and they are famous for their
shipping activities on a commercial level. Seaports are present on the shores of the sea and allow
the accommodation of large and small vessels. Some sea ports are located on the coastline and
they do cargo transactions actively (Wiegmans et al., 2015).

Basically, sea port can be divided into two categories such as cruise port and cargo port.

i) Cruise Ports:
It mainly deals with the cruise ships activities and passenger uses this platform to
disembark at the start of the end of their journey. It is also used to supply drinking
water and fuel resources, and food, etc.
ii) Cargo Ports:
Cargo ports are the ports that are dedicated to cargo purposes only. These ports have a
lot of mechanical techniques to unload and load the shipment. They are also known as
container ports, bulk ports, or break bulk ports.

Inland Ports:

Inland ports are usually available on a low level and they are small in size from the sea ports.
They are mostly found to be in lakes and rivers. They may be used for both passenger and cargo
purposes. They may be naturally maintained or constructed ports on the small water bodies like
estuaries, rivers, and lakes. They are rarely available on sea costs also (Dulebenets et al., 2017).

Few inland ports are linked with the sea by a canal system and they usually work like seaports
but they are not capable of allowing the traffic of deep draft shift. Inland ports are also used for
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the passenger’s transportation purposes and some of them are used for fishing activities. These
ports operate very smoothly as compared to the clogged seaports. Inland ports are used to
perform the smooth operations of cargo dispatching and stocking and these are utilized for
passengers also. Inland ports are shallower as compared to the seaports and that is why they don't
perform deep docking, they only docking to ferries can be allowed. It is the bridge between two
regions for the expeditions of trading to inbound traffic as well as it serves and facilitates the
outbound traffic (Zhou et al., 2018).

(b) Discuss how these ports are different from other types of ports?

There are five different types of man-made or natural ports and each one of them has its own
characteristics and advantages. Some of them are used on a big scale and some or used on a low
level but no one is negligible (Witte et al., 2019).

Inland ports and seaports are similar to some extent. Generally, both of these ports are used to
facilitate passengers and cargo operations. These ports have differences from other ports like dry
port, warm water port, and fishing port. The fishing port is only used for fishing activities but the
sea port can be used for both cargo activities and fishing purposes as well. Dry ports are mainly
located far from the coastline but sea ports and inland ports are present on the coastline and at the
rivers or lakes. Other ports besides inland and seaport are used for few proposes but these two
ports can be used for many purposes including cargo movement, fishing activities, ferrying
people, etc. we can say that these ports have the combined characteristics of other ports because
they are multi-purpose ports that are operating in different domains to facilitate their regions. It
can be said that they are a bridge between different regions to transport cargo and other resources
like fuels, drinking water, etc (Meng et al., 2017).

Q2. (a) Do a critical analysis of container terminals and highlight the

opportunities and challenges faced by container terminal operators?

A container terminal is a place where transshipping of the container is made from one to another
mode of transport. This transshipment may be among the barges or vessels and the land vehicles
and vice versa. The container terminal is now much advanced in the industrial field. It is playing
a major role in the shipping network globally. Container terminals have two major areas such as
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the yard site which is used for the container's storage and another is the berth side specifically
used for berthing vessels. The yard site has various blocks that facilitate the storage area for
containers to perform activities of transshipment, imports, and exports (John et al., 2016).

The container terminal operators have increased a lot of efficiencies by integrating the AI
functions which have reduced human error and boost the process by ensuring more safety.
Automated technology is more precise as compared to other machines and cranes that are to be
operated manually. The advancement has boosts operational activities on the container terminals
by saving a lot of time. There are some of the challenges that are stills reducing the work
efficiency at the container terminal operators such as operational complexity, low turnover rates,
high-cost utilization, manual machinery, safety performance, doing more operations in less work
space, managing congestions risks, etc. some of the container terminals are still using old
technologies for their business operations and it will take much more time to bring those
technologies to these container terminals. It is a big challenge for the shipping industry all over
the globe. In addition to that, the shipping vessels are growing in their size continuously and the
mega-ships development is creating more challenges to the container terminal's abilities in
capacity handling all over the world (Kim and Lee, 2015).

(b) Critically explain how best could the opportunities be exploited and
challenges overcome as highlighted.

The container terminals operators have various opportunities as well as challenges according to
their operational activities to maintain efficiency, ensure safety, etc. applying different methods
and strategies these opportunities can be exploited and those challenges that are faced by
container terminals can be overcome efficiently (Gharehgozli et al., 2016).

1. Cost reduction:
According to RBS that the automated technology introduction in the container terminals
will save operators a high amount of the labor workforce cost. After the implementation
of automated technology, it will require 45% less labor and it will allow optimizing the
remaining resources more efficiently.
2. Enhances ROI:
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The fully automated terminal like VICT in Australia or trade hubs of China can operate at
night and they don't require much supervision. The journey of technology and the
automation potential level and reliability will be enhanced in the future up to that extent
that the operations will be performed continuously and it will generate revenue
constantly.
3. Enhances operational efficiency:
Using the system of TOS, RBS has highlighted the implementation of the AI system and
TOS operating in conjunction in collaboration with automated machines will enhance the
operational activities with much accuracy. It will minimize human error and enhance
safety. By reducing the pressure of the human workforce of the terminal, the handling of
cargo will be done with a more transparent and holistic overview by the operators. It will
make them able to manage the container's movement and resources effectively (Bahnes et
al., 2016).
4. Sustainability boosting:
The operations will be performing smoothly and the work will not be delayed after the
installation of automated machinery along with loess fuel consumption. It will also
provide environmental advantages like a reduction in carbon emission and the long life
cycle of handling instruments of the container. Transportation and manufacturing costs
will also be reduced.
5. Workspace expansion:
In the modern world, imports and exports are growing faster. Most of the activities are
performed on the container terminals and the load of work is increasing and thus the
workspace is reducing. The expansion of the workspace is necessary to handle all the
operations quickly and efficiently.
6. High turnover rates:
The challenge of turnover rates can be overcome by handling the containers quickly and
faster cargo moves because of the implementation of automated machines in the
container terminal operators. They are more predictable and precise as compared to
manual technology. It will enhance the turnover rates by consistent functioning and
flexibility (Ayala, et al., 2015).
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References:

Ayala, D.F.M., Sidoti, D., Mishra, M., Han, X. and Pattipati, K., 2015, April. Context-based
models to overcome operational challenges in maritime security. In 2015 IEEE
International Symposium on Technologies for Homeland Security (HST) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

Bahnes, N., Kechar, B. and Haffaf, H., 2016. Cooperation between intelligent autonomous
vehicles to enhance container terminal operations. Journal of Innovation in Digital
Ecosystems, 3(1), pp.22-29.

Gharehgozli, A.H., Roy, D. and De Koster, R., 2016. Sea container terminals: New technologies
and OR models. Maritime Economics & Logistics, 18(2), pp.103-140.

John, A., Yang, Z., Riahi, R. and Wang, J., 2016. A risk assessment approach to improve the
resilience of a seaport system using Bayesian networks. Ocean Engineering, 111, pp.136-
147.

Kim, K.H. and Lee, H., 2015. Container terminal operation: current trends and future challenges.
In Handbook of ocean container transport logistics (pp. 43-73). Springer, Cham.

Meng, Q., Weng, J. and Suyi, L., 2017. Impact analysis of mega vessels on container terminal
operations. Transportation Research Procedia, 25, pp.187-204.

Witte, P., Wiegmans, B. and Ng, A.K., 2019. A critical review on the evolution and development
of inland port research. Journal of Transport Geography, 74, pp.53-61.

Wiegmans, B., Witte, P.A. and Spit, T.J.M., 2015. Inland port performance: a statistical analysis
of Dutch inland ports. Current transport practices: appraisal methods, policies and
models, 8, pp.145-154.

Dulebenets, M.A., Moses, R., Ozguven, E.E. and Vanli, A., 2017. Minimizing carbon dioxide
emissions due to container handling at marine container terminals via hybrid evolutionary
algorithms. IEEE Access, 5, pp.8131-8147.
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Zhou, C., Li, H., Liu, W., Stephen, A., Lee, L.H. and Chew, E.P., 2018, December. Challenges
and opportunities in integration of simulation and optimization in maritime logistics.
In 2018 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC) (pp. 2897-2908). IEEE.