A competitiveness measurement framework for regional container hub ports: a case study in East Asia

Shipping lines have been increasing the size of vessels to bring down the unit cost in the past two decades. As a result, the number of port calls has been reduced to save shipping time. This intensifies the competition amongst ports for capturing more port calls. This study identifies the criteria that influence the competitiveness of a regional container hub port. A competitiveness measurement framework combining pair-wise comparison and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques is developed. Empirical study shows that market accessibility is the most influential criterion. It suggests that Shanghai and Tanjung Pelepas are the future potential hubs.