A methodology for short-sea-shipping service design within intermodal transport chains

This paper presents a methodology aimed at improving the design of short sea shipping (SSS) services embedded in intermodal door-to-door transport chains. The cargo capacity of a Ro–Ro ship for such a service is estimated. The ship is assumed to operate in an integrated intermodal transport network comprising competing transport chains. The latter link multiple origin–destination (O–D) pairs, in a set of discrete geographical regions separated by sea, including non-European Union (EU) countries. The methodology comprises four steps, starting by estimating freight transport demand between O–D pairs using a method that combines international trade and maritime transport data. The estimated demand is then allocated to transport chains on the basis of a logistic regression model that considers both cost and time of transportation. The maximum aggregate freight transportation demand among all legs of the Ro–Ro service is used as the governing criterion to determine the right ship size. An application of the methodology is carried out for the case of a Ro–Pax service between mainland Portugal, Madeira, and Morocco, as a set of two round voyages with opposite rotations. The SSS service researched here is of particular interest as it could provide a crucial link, serving simultaneously an EU peripheral region and a fast-developing non-EU country. The required cargo capacity of the ship, expressed in lane meter length, is determined, with results showing that the proposed adjustments can significantly improve the economic results of the service.