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The introduction of digitalisation in the shipping industry has fundamentally transformed traditional business models. This necessitates an investigation of its impact on customer satisfaction. This study aims to adapt the technology acceptance model in its survey instrument design to understand and evaluate customer satisfaction of shipping lines’ digital platforms.

This study used a mixed-methods approach, incorporating quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Primary data were collected through an online survey designed to measure customer satisfaction in relation to the digitalisation initiatives implemented by the shipping lines. Survey respondents comprised professionals who were online platform users, particularly in the instant spot quotation process and blockchain bill of lading.

The results for both instant spot quotation process and blockchain bill of lading revealed digital trust to be the most influential determinant of customer satisfaction, followed by perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. There was also a very strong correlation between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness as well as between digital trust and perceived ease of use. The managerial implications of digitalisation are also discussed.

The adoption of digital tools is gaining traction in the container shipping sector, and there exists a need to investigate the correlation between digitalisation and customer satisfaction. This study offers significant insights to stakeholders in the shipping industry, particularly in designing and implementing user-friendly digital platforms.

In the shipping industry, both sales and purchases of second-hand ships and freight transport services are prevalently tailormade and traded with intense bilateral negotiations. Price bargaining is the key step of this negotiation process and plays a crucial role in determining mutually agreed prices. Despite its cruciality and applicability, the price bargaining has yet received due conceptual and/or theoretical attention in the shipping literature. This paper attempts to conceptually examine the role of bargaining in shipping transaction prices and subsequently puts forward directions for future research. In doing so, the paper focuses on two types of transactions taking place in shipping markets: asset market trading of second-hand vessels and service market trading shipping freights.

The paper begins with a systematic literature review of price bargaining in the field of economics and management disciplines from a game-theoretic perspective. This approach does logically lead to the establishment of a conceptual framework for price bargaining in shipping sub-markets as a step toward having taken into consideration a variety of heterogeneities commonly present in trading activities and market dynamics.

A set of research areas has been consequently identified where price bargaining and mechanisms for the shipping freight and asset markets could be further explored and analyzed in a way to make better pricing decisions under a more tangible framework.

One of the critical challenges when using bargaining mechanisms to make a decision on pricing shipping services and assets is how to operationalize the study for empirical investigation as some of the factors are internal information of the players and are not adequately revealed to externals: that is, an imperfect information sharing case. The current study aims, however, not to conduct an empirical analysis but to initiate a conversation among maritime economists by bringing their attention to this not-yet fully explored and potentially impactful field of research and by asking them to treat bargaining from a perspective for pricing shipping assets and services. It is claimed that, by doing so, one could better understand price differences between individual contracts.

This study would be considered the first of its kind to provide a detailed survey of the bargaining theory and models from a game theoretical perspective as a theoretical lens to understand its importance and relevance in pricing shipping assets and services. It also provides a simplified operational case on utilizing bargaining in practically pricing freight services.

This research proposes a framework to conceptualise the potential realm of data regarding shipping connectivity for application of data analytics which can be used to generate deeper insights with respect to the state of such linkages and potential areas for practical application.

The study method involved comprehensive presentation of different perspectives of assessing shipping connectivity and levels of data contained within container shipping services and proposed potential application to analyse profitability, performance, competitiveness, risk and environmental impact.

Advances in capabilities to handle large volumes of data offer scope for an integrated approach which utilises all available data from various stakeholders in analyses of liner shipping connectivity. Research shows how different types of data contained in container shipping services are related and can be organised for application of data analytics.

Research implications are offered to shipping lines, port managers and operators and policymakers.

This research presented a conceptual framework that captures the range of data involved in container shipping services and how data analytics can be practically applied in an integrated manner.

This paper is the first in literature to discuss in detail the different levels of data that reside within shipping services that constitute liner shipping connectivity for application of data analytics.

Liner shipping plays a crucial role in facilitating the movement of manufactured goods around the world. While previous literature has shown that liner shipping is an important trade driver, potential differences across trade routes and world regions have not as yet been explored. This paper examines whether the impact of liner shipping on bilateral trade flows differs significantly across world regions, as well as exploring other geographical patterns.

Using state-of-the-art gravity modelling, this paper investigates the impact of the UNCTAD's Liner Shipping Bilateral Connectivity Index on bilateral trade in manufactured goods using a comprehensive database of disaggregated trade data for the period from 2006 to 2019.

The results show that the trade effect of liner shipping is greater in long-distance and interregional bilateral flows. For some regions, such as North America and Oceania, the effect is greater than the world average, while for others, such as Africa and South America, the effect is significantly smaller. The trade effects of liner shipping connectivity on the main east–west routes are average, but clear asymmetry emerges when analysing China's inward and outward trade flows separately.

The results of this paper show that the major east–west routes determine the baseline trade effects of liner shipping, demonstrate that some north–south trades such as those involving Oceania generate larger trade effects and confirm that the trade effects of liner shipping can be improved for some world regions such as South America and Africa.

This paper investigates the announcement effect of shipping sale-and-leaseback (SLB) transactions. As an emerging source of financing, a growing deal of interest has been paid to the SLB. However, little is known about a variety of aspects of SLB transactions in the shipping industry. In this regard, this study examines the stock market reaction to the SLB announcements of shipping firms and their impact on shareholders' wealth.

A sample of 15 shipping SLB deals commenced by publicly listed Korean shipping companies during 2009–2023 are examined in this research. The announcement effect is measured by abnormal returns (AR) of their stocks based on the event study analysis.

It is found that the AR on the shipping SLB announcement date is, on average, −0.84% while there is no statistical significance. However, the results indicate that shareholders of shipping companies engaging in large-sized SLBs can experience positive AR around the announcement date.

This study is the first attempt to investigate the announcement effect of SLB transactions on the shipping industry and their impact on shareholders' wealth. The findings in this research can offer implications for the financing decisions of shipping companies and investment decisions of stock investors.

Competition among seaports is rapidly increasing due to various factors such as the global recession, resurgence of COVID-19, tight environmental regulations of IMO, sharp rise in ocean freight charges, increasing global uncertainties and growth in ship sizes. It is essential to have precise knowledge of shipping companies' port selection factors to secure the competitive advantage of seaports. This study aims to empirically analyze recent changes in the importance of port selection factors.

By employing a longitudinal study, this study conducted the t-test analysis. The first survey was conducted from January 2005 to April 2005. Then, the second survey was conducted in May 2021.

First, the importance of port facilities (berth length and the number of berths, shed and terminal areas, possession of adequate equipment and maximum berth size) increased significantly. Second, while ship and cargo safety were the critical port service factors in previous studies, speed, flexibility and reliability for handling cargo and berthing schedule were found to be crucial in this study. Third, the importance of ship arrival/departure frequency, route diversity and ship arrival/departure information systems increased when shipping companies selected the port.

This study has academic significance in that it reveals the changing importance of port selection factors in the 2020s and has taken the form of a longitudinal study on the importance of port selection factors from 2005 to 2021, moving beyond the cross-sectional approach. This study can provide valuable insights into and implications for port policymakers and managers when developing and formulating port policies and strategies.

Existing literature is still lacking field works that reflect the implications and applications of blockchain in supply chain management. This paper aims to explore the role of blockchain technology in improving the performance of maritime shipping and develop a model to enhance blockchain applicability.

Qualitative data were collected through 28 semi-structured interviews from several supply chain actors in the Middle East and were analyzed based on a thematic analysis approach using NVivo software.

An emerging model for improving the performance of the maritime shipping industry through blockchain technology has been developed. The findings suggest that there are transparency and process efficiency–related improvements as an outcome of Blockchain implementation in the maritime shipping industry.

As shipping industry is largely fragmented, small players find it difficult to achieve great benefits such as those achieved by larger players in the sector. The authors’ model provides guidance for the implementation of Blockchain.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first scholarly works to investigate Blockchain applicability in shipping industry in the Middle East. The lack of a universal standard is a considerable challenge which is still hindering the development of blockchain applications that integrate the different actors.

Severe disruptions to maritime supply chains, including port closures, congestion and shortages in shipping capacity, have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper’s purpose is to explore flexibility-based countermeasures that enable actors in maritime supply chains to mitigate the effects of disruptions with different characteristics.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with shipping lines, shippers, forwarders and ports. Data on the COVID-19 pandemic's effects and countermeasures were collected and compared with data regarding the 2016–2017 Gothenburg port conflict.

Spatial, capacity, service and temporal flexibility emerged as the primary countermeasures, whilst important characteristics of disruptions were geographical spread, duration, uncertainty, criticality, the element of surprise and intensity. Spatial flexibility was exercised in both disruptions by switching to alternative ports. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring capacity flexibility included first removing and then adding vessels. Shipping lines exercising service flexibility prioritised certain cargo, which made the spot market uncertain and reduced flexibility for forwarders, importers and exporters that changed carriers or traffic modes. Experience with disruptions meant less surprise and better preparation for spatial flexibility.

Understanding how actors in maritime supply chains exercise flexibility-based countermeasures amid disruptions with different characteristics can support preparedness for coming disruptions.

Comparing flexibility-based measures in a pandemic versus port conflict provides insights into the important characteristics of disruptions and the relevance of mitigation strategies. The resilience of maritime supply chains, although underexamined compared with manufacturing supply chains, is essential for maintaining global supply chain flows.

Recent trends in total quality management (TQM) argue in favor of incorporating environmental concerns into TQM and considering external stakeholders. The aim of this study is to bring environmental consciousness in the soft TQM dimension of human resource management (HRM) and assess its interrelationship with stakeholder integration towards achieving a competitive advantage.

An empirical study was conducted in the transportation sector, specifically targeting managers in Greek shipping companies involved in global cargo transport and vessel operations. A structured questionnaire was administered, yielding 109 responses. The collected data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal the positive effect of both green HRM (GHRM) and stakeholder integration on the innovation differentiation advantage and market differentiation advantage of shipping companies. Results confirm the complementary (partial) mediating effect of GHRM in the relationship between stakeholder integration and both types of competitive advantage.

The primary limitation resides in data collection exclusively from shipping companies in Greece. A longitudinal approach would be beneficial for examining how the relationship between variables changes over time.

The findings of the study could assist shipping managers in their decisions to allocate resources for developing GHRM practices and for involving stakeholders in organizational practices to overcome competition.

This study contributes to the discourse on TQM by empirically investigating the combined impact of GHRM and stakeholder integration on competitive advantage – an aspect that has been relatively overlooked in existing literature.

The purpose of this study is to determine if blockchain-supported carbon offset information provision and shipping options with different cost and environmental footprint implications impact consumer perceptions toward retailers and logistics service providers. Blockchain and carbon neutrality, each can be expensive to adopt and complex to manage, thus getting the “truth” on decarbonization may require additional costs for consumers.

Experimental modeling is used to address these critical and emergent issues that influence practices across a set of supply chain actors. Three hypotheses relating to the relationship between blockchain-supported carbon offset information and consumer perceptions and intentions associated with the product and supply chain actors are investigated.

The results show that consumer confidence increases when supply chain carbon offset information has greater reliability, transparency and traceability as supported by blockchain technology. The authors also find that consumers who are provided visibility into various shipping options and the product's journey carbon emissions and offset – from a blockchain-supported system – they are more willing to pay a premium for both the product and shipping options. Blockchain-supported decarbonization information disclosure in the supply chain can lead to organizational legitimacy and financial gains in return.

Understanding consumer action and sustainable consumption is critical for organizations seeking carbon neutrality. Currently, the literature on this understanding from a consumer information provision is not well understood, especially with respect to blockchain-supported information transparency, visibility and reliability. Much of the blockchain literature focuses on the upstream. This study focuses more on consumer-level and downstream supply chain blockchain implications for organizations. The study provides a practical roadmap for considering levels of blockchain information activity and consumer interaction.