Abstract
The environmental friendliness of short sea shipping has been justified in Europe by the ensuing lower congestion at hinterlands and unneeded large-scale infrastructure investments on roads and railways. However, the attractiveness of short sea shipping is about to change. This is because of increasing environmental regulations (International Maritime Organization (IMO) sulfur regulation in the Baltic Sea and planned CO2 emissions trading) and increased world market oil prices. In this research, we analyze this potential change using data envelopment analysis on the existing transportation chain alternatives in the Helsinki (Finland)−Tallinn (Estonia) short sea route (chains using either roro, ropax or container ships). The analysis also includes the planned railway tunnel between the two cities. On the basis of our findings, the current truck and semi-trailer-based transportation is challenged by containers, irrespective of how they are carried (ship type). In the long term, for reasons of emissions and oil independency, the possibility of tunnel construction would make it vital to have container ship operations available along this route. The forthcoming change is not radical, but rather evolutionary and long term oriented.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
AlpTransit Gotthard. (2014) Official webpages of Gotthard Base Tunnel, http://www.alptransit.ch/en/about-alptransit.html, accessed May 2014.
Anguera, R. (2006) The Channel Tunnel – An ex post economic evaluation. Transportation Research Part A 40 (4): 291–315.
BBT SE. (2012) Official webpages of Brenner Tunnel, http://www.bbt-se.com, accessed August 2012.
Brooks, M.R and Trifts, V. (2008) Short sea shipping in North America: Understanding the requirements of Atlantic Canadian shippers. Maritime Policy & Management 35 (2): 145–158.
Chang, C.-Y. and Ive, G. (2007) The hold-up problem in the management of construction projects: A case study of the Channel Tunnel. International Journal of Project Management 25 (4): 394–404.
Charnes, A., Cooper, W.W. and Rhodes, E. (1978) Measuring the efficiency of decision making units. European Journal of Operational Research 2 (6): 429–444.
Crumley, B. (2010) The Eurotunnel Back on Track. Time Magazine 18 October, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2024237-1,00.html, accessed April 2013.
Defra. (2012) 2012 greenhouse gas conversion factors for company reporting, http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/2012/05/30/pb13773-2012-ghg-conversion/, accessed August 2012.
DNV. (2012) Greener Shipping in the Baltic Sea. Det Norske Veritas. June 2010, http://www.dnv.fi/Binaries/Greener%20Shipping%20in%20the%20Baltic%20Sea_tcm146-429433.pdf, accessed August 2012.
Eurotunnel. (2012) Fares, http://www.eurotunnelfreight.com/uk/bookings/fares/, accessed December 2012.
Finnish Customs. (2013) Transports of foreign trade, January–December 2012, http://www.tulli.fi/fi/tiedotteet/ulkomaankauppatilastot/tilastot/kuljetukset/kuljetukset12/liitteet/2013_M08.pdf, accessed June 2013.
Finnports. (2014) Finnish Port Association – Statistics, http://www.finnports.com/eng/statistics/, accessed May 2014.
Goto, M. and Tsutsui, M. (1998) Comparison of productive and cost efficiencies among Japanese and US electric utilities. Omega, International Journal of Management Science 26 (2): 177–194.
Haralambides, H. and Gujar, G. (2012) On balancing supply chain efficiency and environmental impacts: An eco-DEA model applied to the dry port sector of India. Maritime Economics & Logistics 14 (1): 122–137.
Hilmola, O.-P. (2011a) Rail Baltica Influence Area: State of Operating Environment. Lappeenranta, Finland: Lappeenranta University of Technology, Department of Industrial Management. Research Report 236.
Hilmola, O.-P. (2011b) Container sea ports and network connections within the Gulf of Finland. International Journal of Business Performance and Supply Chain Modelling 3 (4): 316–334.
Hilmola, O.-P. (2013) Environmental and infrastructure payments and the future of road transports: Case Tallinn-Warsaw. World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research 4 (1): 55–72.
Hilmola, O-P. and Ketels, C. (2012) Transportation Infrastructure Investments in the Baltic Sea Region. In C. Ketels. State of the Region Report. Denmark, Copenhagen.
Hilmola, O.-P. and Lorentz, H. (2012) Confidence and supply chain disruptions: Insights into managerial decision-making from the perspective of policy. Journal of Modelling in Management 7 (3): 328–356.
Hilmola, O.-P., Tapaninen, U., Terk, E. and Savolainen, V.-V. (2007) Container Transit in Finland and Estonia – Current Status, Future Demand and Implications on Infrastructure Investments in Transportation Chain. Publications from the Centre for Maritime Studies Turku, Finland: University of Turku A44.
IHS Global Insight. (2009) An Evaluation of Maritime Policy in Meeting the Commercial and Security Needs of the United States. Washington DC, USA: IHS Global Insight.
IMO. (2012) International Shipping Facts and Figures – Information Resources on Trade, Safety, Security, Environment. London: IMO Maritime Knowledge Centre.
Jain, P., Cullinane, S. and Cullinane, K. (2008) The impact of governance development models on urban rail efficiency. Transportation Research Part A 42 (10): 1283–1294.
Jasper, C. and Webb, A. (2013) Deutsche Bahn Wins Right to Fight Eurostar in Channel Tunnel. Bloomber Newshttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-14/deutsche-bahn-wins-right-to-take-on-eurostar-in-channel-tunnel.html, accessed June 2013.
Kalli, J., Karvonen, T. and Makkonen, T. (2009) Sulphur content in ships bunker fuel in 2015: A study on the impacts of the new IMO regulations and transportation costs. Publications of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. No. 31. Helsinki, Finland.
Keh, H.T. and Chu, S. (2003) Retail productivity and scale economics at the firm level: A DEA approach. Omega – The International Journal of Management Science 31 (2): 75–82.
Keinänen, O. and Sakkeus, J. (2012) Conclusions. In: U. Tapaninen (ed.) Helsinki and Tallinn on the Move. Helsinki, Finland: H-TTransPlan Project.
Liao, C.-H., Lu, C.-S. and Tseng, P.-H. (2011) Carbon dioxide emissions and inland container transport in Taiwan. Journal of Transport Geography 19 (4): 722–728.
McIntosh, C. (2013) The fuel use and air emission consequences of shipping great lakes coal through the soo locks. Transportation Research Part D 18 (January): 117–121.
Merk, O., Hilmola, O.-P. and Dubarle, P. (2012) The Competitiveness of Global Port-Cities: The Case of Helsinki – Finland. OECD Regional Development Working Papers 2012/08, Paris, France.
Morales-Fusco, P., Sauri, S. and Lago, A. (2012) Potential freight distribution investments using motorways of the sea. Journal of Transport Geography 24: 1–11.
Nieuwenhuis, P., Beresford, A. and Ki-Young Choi, A. (2012) Shipping of local production? CO2 impact on a strategic decision: An automotive industry case study. International Journal of Production Economics 140 (1): 138–148.
Notteboom, T. and Rodrigue, J.-P. (2009) The future of containerization: Perspectives from maritime and inland freight distribution. GeoJournal 74 (1): 7–22.
Notteboom, T. and Rodrigue, J.-P. (2008) Containerisation, box logistics and global supply chains: The integration of ports and liner shipping networks. Maritime Economics & Logistics 10 (1–2): 152–174.
Ojala, L., Kersten, W. and Lorentz, H. (2013) Transport and logistics developments in the Baltic Sea region until 2025. Journal of East-West Business 19 (1–2): 16–32.
Ports of Sweden. (2012) Cargo Statistics Available from Swedish Sea Ports, http://www.transportgruppen.se/In-English/Association-ports-of-Sweden/Statistics/, accessed December 2012.
Puckett, S.M., Hensher, D.A., Brooks, M.R. and Trifts, V. (2011) Preferences of alternative short sea shipping opportunities. Transportation Research: Part E 47 (2): 182–189.
Raab, R.L. and Lichty, R.W. (2002) Identifying subareas that compromise a greater metropolitan area: The criterion of country relative efficiency. Journal of Regional Science 42 (3): 579–594.
Rodrigue, J.P. (2010) Ports and maritime trade, http://people.hofstra.edu/jean-paul_rodrigue/downloads/Ports%20and%20Maritime%20Trade.pdf, accessed May 2014.
Sames, P.C. and Köpke, M. (2012) CO2 emissions of the world container fleet. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 48: 1–11.
Savolainen, V.-V and Hilmola, O.-P. (2009) Relative technical efficiency of European transportation systems concerning air transports and railways. International Journal of Business Performance Management 11 (1-2): 19–42.
Statistics Estonia. (2014) Transport statistics database, http://www.stat.ee/transportation, accessed May 2014.
Styhre, L. (2010) Capacity utilization of short sea shipping. Doctoral Dissertation. Göteborg, Sweden: Chalmers University of Technology.
Sundberg, P., Posti, A. and Tapaninen, U. (2011) Cargo Traffic on the Helsinki-Tallinn Route. Publications from the Centre for Maritime Studies. Turku, Finland: University of Turku, A56.
Tallinn Sea Port. (2014) Port of Tallinn key figures, http://www.portoftallinn.com/key-figures, accessed May 2014.
Tapaninen, U. and Räty, P. (2012) Vehicles carrying cargo in the ports of Helsinki and Tallinn. In: U. Tapaninen (ed.) Helsinki and Tallinn on the Move. Helsinki, Finland: H-TTransPlan Project.
Thompson, L.S. (2008) Railway Access Charges in the EU: Current Status and Developments Since 2004. Paris, France: OECD/International Transport Forum.
Tzannatos, E. (2010) Costs and benefits of reducing SO2 emissions from shipping in the Greek sea. Maritime Economics & Logistics 12 (3): 280–294.
United Nations. (2012) Review of Maritime Transport. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, New York and Geneva.
VTT Lipasto. (2011) Lipasto Traffic Emissions, http://lipasto.vtt.fi/indexe.htm, accessed June–July 2012.
Walsh, C. and Bows, A. (2012) Size matters: Exploring the importance of vessel characteristics to inform estimates of shipping emissions. Applied Energy 98: 128–137.
Wang, T.-F. and Cullinane, K. (2006) The efficiency of European container terminals and implications for supply chain management. Maritime Economics & Logistics 8 (1): 82–99.
Woxenius, J. and Bergqvist, R. (2011) Comparing maritime containers and semi-trailers in the context of hinterland transport by rail. Journal of Transport Geography 19 (4): 680–688.
Wright, R. (2012) Eurotunnel to take over SeaFrance vessels. Financial Timeshttp://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9e3b4cac-b3e1-11e1-a3db-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2FP3mOHAU, accessed June 2013.
Wu, J., Yan, H. and Liu, J. (2010) DEA models for identifying sensitive performance measures in container port evaluation. Maritime Economics & Logistics 12 (3): 215–236.
Xue, M. and Harker, P.T. (2002) Note: Ranking DMUs with infeasible super-efficiency DEA models. Management Science 4 (5): 705–710.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hilmola, OP., Lorentz, H. & Rhoades, D. New environmental demands and the future of the Helsinki−Tallinn freight route. Marit Econ Logist 17, 198–220 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/mel.2014.17
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/mel.2014.17