Abstract
The article examines the possible implications of climate change for seaport competition and for the local hinterlands of ports of countries that border the Adriatic. The focus is on the effects that further increases in the annual durations over which the Northern Sea Route is navigable will have on costs of shipping between Asian and Europe and, in turn, the effects of this on the various small Mediterranean seaport regions around the Northern Adriatic. The simulation based analysis finds that while North European seaports may, as might be expected, benefit from the new routings, there would be adverse affects on the hinterlands of most North Adriatic ports as fewer sailing pass them.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
An account of the historical development of the Northeast Passage, together with the technical requirements for ships using is found in Ragner (2008).
The preference rate reflects the preferences expressed by liners for calling at a particular port. This is estimated later using a stated-preference approach.
The data are publically available rates from Slovenian Railways, but in practice the actual rates may deviate from these (Nash, 2005).
References
Bertrand, J. (1883) Book review of ‘Theorie mathematique de la richesse sociale and of recherches sur les principles mathematiques de la theorie des richesses’. Journal de Savants 67: 499–508.
Brubaker, D. and Østreng, W. (1999) The Northern Sea Routes regime: Exquisite superpower subterfuge. Ocean Development and International Law 30(4): 299–331.
Button, K.J. (2010) Transport Economics, 3rd edn. Chelmsford, UK: Edward Elgar.
Button, K.J. and Kramberger, T. (2015) European Union expansion and seaport efficiency in the North Adriatic. Applied Economics Letters 22(9): 700–703.
Byers, M. (2009) Who Owns the Arctic? Vancouver, Canada: Douglas & Mcintyre.
Guy, E. (2006) Evaluating the viability of commercial shipping in the Northwest passage. Journal of Ocean Technology 1(1): 9–15.
Ho, J. (2010) The implications of arctic sea ice decline on shipping. Marine Policy 34(3): 713–715.
Hong Kong Marine Department. (2006) Port Benchmarking for Assessing Hong Kong’s Maritime Services and Associated Costs with Other Major International Ports. Hong Kong, China: Government of the Hong Kong.
Howell, S.E.L. and Yackel, J.J. (2004) A vessel transit assessment of sea ice variability in the Western Arctic, 1969–2002: Implications for ship navigation. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing 30(3): 205–215.
Hua, X., Yin, Z., Jia, D., Jin, F. and Ouyang, H. (2011) The potential seasonal alternative of Asia – Europe container service via Northern Sea Route under the Arctic sea ice retreat. Maritime Policy and Management 38(5): 541–560.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2013) Fifth Assessment Report, Geneva, Switzerland.
Kramberger, T., Rupnik, B., Štrubelj, G. and Prah, K. (2014) Port Hinterland modelling based on port choice. Promet – Traffic & Transportation 27(3): 195–203.
Lasserre, F. (2011) Arctic shipping routes. From the Panama myth to reality. International Journal 66: 793–808.
Lasserre, F. (2014) Case studies of shipping along Arctic routes, Analysis and profitability perspectives for the container sector. Transportation Research A 66: 144–161.
Lasserre, F. and Pelletier, S. (2011) Polar super seaways? Maritime transport in the arctic: An analysis of shipowners’ intentions. Journal of Transport Geography 19(5): 1465–1473.
Leontief, W. (1941) The Structure of American Economy, 1919–1929. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Liu, M. and Kronbak, J. (2010) The potential economic viability of using the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as an alternative route between Asia and Europe. Journal of Transport Geography 18(3): 434–444.
Nash, C.A. (2005) Rail infrastructure charges in Europe. Journal of Transport Economics and Policy 39(3): 259–278.
Ragner, C.L. (2000) The Northern Sea Route: Commercial potential, economic significance and infrastructure requirements. Post-Soviet Geography and Economics 41(8): 541–580.
Ragner, C.L. (2008) The Northern Sea Route, In: T. Hallberg (ed.) Norden Association’s Yearbook, Stockholm, Sweden: Arena Norden, pp. 114–127 (originally in Swedish), English translation at: http://www.fni.no/doc&pdf/clr-norden-nsr-en.pdf.
Rodrigues, J. (2008) The rapid decline of the sea ice in the Russian Arctic. Cold Regions Science and Technology 54: 124–142.
Somanathan, S., Flynn, P. and Szymanski, J. (2009) The Northwest passage: A simulation. Transportation Research A 43(6): 127–135.
Verny, J. and Grigentin, C. (2009) Container shipping on the Northern Sea Route. International Journal of Production Economics 122(1): 107–117.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Button, K., Kramberger, T., Vizinger, T. et al. Economic implications for Adriatic seaport regions of further opening of the Northern Sea Route. Marit Econ Logist 19, 52–67 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1057/mel.2015.25
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/mel.2015.25