The double load factor problem of Ro-Ro shipping

Abstract

Maritime transport is regarded the most environmentally friendly mode of transport in many policy papers and has received a lot of government support for moving cargo transports from road to sea. Most assessments of energy use and related carbon emissions in mode-choice settings have been based on energy use per deadweight tonnage figures for the maritime modes; thus, giving a very favourable picture for the sea-based alternatives. Whereas this may be relevant for bulk shipping, the situation is quite different for Ro-Ro shipping-which is the most relevant alternative for intra-continental transports.Through representation of a number of realistic intra-European multi-modal trade links, with different mixes of modes of transport-energy use and emissions from these various chains are presented. The outcome of this case study is not very favourable for the maritime transport alternatives. This could partly be attributed to the very different regulatory environments these sectors have been subject to, and partly to 'the double load factor problem' of Ro-Ro shipping. Half-full trailers on half-full decks may very well jeopardize the comparative advantage of maritime transport alternatives.

Competitiveness of short sea shipping: the case of olive oil industry

“…Buhaug et al (2009) found that shipping is often presented as an energy and CO 2 efficient mode of transport compared to other modes such as air, truck or rail. However, as suggested by Harald (2014) and Hjelle (2011) the efficiency of RoRo shipping in SSS, which is the most relevant alternative for intra-continental transports, with regards to CO 2 emissions per ton-km, is highly dependent on strong and stable cargo flows in both directions of a pendulum service.…”

Potential freight distribution improvements using motorways of the sea

“…Additionally, when the externalities from transportation are taken into account, SSS (and RoRo) appears to be even more competitive (Medda and Trujillo, 2010; United States Government Accountability Office, 2011), although there is some controversy in this point (Hjelle, 2011). This paper, however, deals with the current practice and competitiveness of RoRo chains, so no externalities neither the differential approach to how to deal with the infrastructure set up costs are accounted for.…”

An Innovative Simulation Agent-Based Model for the Combined Sea-Road Transport as a DSS

“…The scientific literature, summarized in [7], reports some contributions about SSS, mostly dealing with the assessment of the impacts of new SSS services compared with roadonly services in terms of internal and external costs [8][9][10][11]. In [8] a methodology is proposed to conduct a quantitative evaluation of the seaside and landside port's accessibility with reference to the intermodal corridor Italy-Spain to identify new potentially attractive maritime services as an alternative to the road-only services.…”