This thesis addresses various concerns of maritime and rail transport of goods between East Asia and the Czech Republic. Its conceptual part outlines the present situation of sea freight transportation with the emphasis on the container use. Furthermore, the thesis describes the rail infrastructure between East Asia and Europe. In the how-to part, the author describes working procedures of an actual freight forwarding company carrying out an import shipment from China into the Czech Republic, utilising ocean and rail carriers. The last part of the thesis contains a summary of the main differences when employing various types of transport, and of their comparison based on the time of the shipment and on its cost.

This thesis deals with a specific company AUSTROMAR obchodní a dopravní spol. s.r.o. operating in the maritime transport market in the Czech Republic, Austria, the Slovak Republic and Hungary. The first half of the theoretical part is devoted to maritime transport in general, its development in recent years and the importance for Europe and the world. The second half explains the main terms used in maritime transport relevant to the thesis and describes the roles of the various entities operating in this market. The practical part determines whether it is rentable if the company expands its portfolio of offered services by opening a direct regular service of consolidated cargo to Mexico. At the bottom of the text the further opportunities and threats for Austromar are evaluated.

Maritime transport is the world's leading transport industry. Its importance is shown by the fact that over 90% of goods is transported by sea. The aim of the thesis is to analyze present maritime container transport, with a focus on its use in the export operations of the Czech Republic. Firstly, it characterizes the specifics of maritime container transport from a global perspective. It describes the development of containerization and the current situation of maritime container transport market. Subsequently, it analyzes the use of maritime container transport in the Czech Republic and the role of forwarder. Finally, a case shows the process of an export operation from the Czech Republic to Mexico.

The main objective of this master thesis is Northern Sea Route and its potential economic feasibility in maritime transportation between Europe and Asia. Theoretical part of the study begins by definition of maritime container transportation and then it continues by description of discovery of the Northern Sea Route, its geographical and weather conditions. The empirical part is concentrating on the Russian legislation adjusting using of Northern Sea Route, infrastructure and ports in arctic waters and the services of Russian icebreaker fleet that operates in arctic waters. Last part of the thesis is the case study, where is calculated the price of transport of one TEU between Asia and Europe via Northern Sea Route and the costs of this transport are compared with the costs of transport via Suez canal.

The thesis investigates the development of short-sea shipping (SSS) in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region by studying the determinants of SSS, the stated choice preference of shippers and freight forwarders and the stated intentions of maritime carriers for SSS. It is purported the introduction of SSS in SADC could reduce socio-environmental problems currently faced such as road damage, road congestion, pollution and transport related accidents. Discrete choice modeling (DCM) is employed as the main methodology to study shipper and carrier behavior. Discrete choice modeling permits the construction of general utility functions incorporating various decision maker characteristics and choice attributes to elicit preference of respondents. The general postulate in DCM is that utility is derived from the properties of things rather than the actual thing per se. A particular benefit of DCM in this study is the elicitation of preference for services and interventions that have not been introduced by SSS. The first step in the study is a theoretical investigation of the potential of SSS in the SADC region. It highlights the policy initiatives, the barriers and enablers related to the development of SSS. The proposed SSS system would have three main roles: to offer an alternative mode of freight transport service between port cities, to serve as the main leg in an intermodal transport network, and to serve feeder services between hub-and-spoke ports. The findings reveal that, SSS has the theoretical potential to work in the SADC region, given the large geographic region, projected freight volumes and customs and trade policies the SADC region is pursuing. The second step in the study involves an a-priori study conducted to develop a general understanding of freight transport in SADC. For this purpose, a uniquely developed online survey was conducted across the SADC region to ascertain in particular: who the decision maker is in terms of freight mode choice; and what the significant attributes that influence freight mode choice are. The results reveal that both the shipper and the freight forwarder are involved in mode choice decisions, however the shipper being the dominant decision maker. Furthermore, the results of the exploded logit model reveal that the top five modal attributes that shippers consider most important are: reliability, transport cost, risk of damage, frequency of service and transit time. These results were subsequently employed to inform the shipper and carrier behavior studies. The third step entails the assessment of shipper behavior, where trip specific mode choice decisions are studied along five intra-urban origin-destination (O-D) paired routes (which would form the study corridors). Three of these corridors considered unimodal SSS, and the two considered intermodal SSS. Unimodal SSS was studied along the following corridors: Cape Town (South Africa)~ Walvis Bay (Namibia), Walvis Bay (Namibia) ~ Luanda (Angola) and Durban (South Africa) ~Beira (Mozambique); and intermodal SSS was studied along the following corridors: Durban (South Africa) ~ Harare (Zimbabwe) and Cape Town (South Africa) ~ Windhoek (Namibia). To develop the choice scenarios, d-efficient stated choice experiments were uniquely developed for each of the corridors with the following key modal attributes systematically varied and analyzed across respondents: service frequency, reliability in terms of arriving on time, expected delay, transport cost and transport time. Subsequently, the following choice models were developed: Binary Logit, Mixed Logit and Integrated Choice and Latent Variable Structure models for the unimodal corridors; and Multinomial Logit, Nested Logit and Cross Nested Logit models for the intermodal corridors. The results highlight that in addition to the modal attributes, mode choice decisions are driven by shipper characteristics and situational characteristics. Moreover, the unimodal SSS study reveals that underlying latent perceptions also influence freight mode choice decisions; while the intermodal SSS study reveal strong correlations in the intermodal SSS alternatives, which requires improved intermodal capability if SSS is to become competitive. The fourth step in the study entail the assessment of maritime carriers preference for SSS given varying levels of maritime conditions that include: dedicated freight volumes, income from freight, port dues discount, terminal handling fees discount and ship registration requirements. The results of an ordered logit model reveal that ship registration provisions and terminal handling charges are the most important to the development of SSS from a carrier side. Moreover, ship registration and maritime cabotage provisions require visitation to boost the participation of carriers in SSS. The last step of the study revisits the modeling results and considers their implications through the estimation of willingness-to-pay and attribute elasticities. The results were then employed to suggest policy actions and interventions to develop SSS.

The thesis concerns maritime labour and its recent challenges from an international law perspective. The purpose of the work is twofold. First, it analyses how maritime labour has changed in most recent years. In particular, the work discusses the impact on maritime labour of two recent phenomena, namely globalisation and digitalisation. As far as the former is concerned, the thesis outlines that globalisation has given rise to flags of convenience and open registries, which have led to a marked deterioration in living conditions on board. As far as the latter is concerned, it is shown that digitalisation has made crews less and less numerous, although at the same time increasingly qualified and competent. Second, the study investigates whether the current international legal framework is adequate to cope with the changes described above, or whether it should be modified – and, if so, in which sense. Specifically, the research examines the main Conventions, bilateral agreements as well as voluntary or self-regulatory instruments. In addition, the study takes into account international collective bargaining, which is relevant because the maritime sector is highly unionised, and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has made a great effort over the years to get global shipowners to guarantee minimum conditions for seafarers. This research has an innovative and original approach. Maritime labour law is a rather neglected branch of legal studies. Only few researchers have investigated this subject. In particular, an organic study on this topic still represents a desideratum in Italy. This work intends to fill this gap, providing an Italian point of view on maritime labour law. In fact, even though the issue transcends national borders by its very nature, the transposition of international legal instruments at domestic level can vary greatly from state to state. In addition, the maritime sector is usually studied from an economic perspective, rather than from a labour law perspective. For example, most publications about flags of convenience focus on the distortion of competition. This research shifts the approach and looks at the phenomenon from the workers’ point of view. Such an approach is relevant for seafarers and for the entire sector, since taking the human factor into account is crucial for the sustainable development of the field.

Sjöfartsverkets ställning liknande ett naturligt monopol och dagens politiska läge kräver en farledsavgift utformad på ett sätt som gör att Sjöfartsverket täcker sina kostnader samtidigt som de snedvrider beteendet av sjöfartens aktörer så lite som möjligt. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka elasticiteterna för olika fartygssegment och om Ramseyprissättning utifrån dessa kan användas för att utforma de svenska farledsavgifterna så att dessa krav uppfylls. Genom att kartlägga de avgiftsförändringar som skett mellan 2008–2020 och använda data från Sjöfartsverkets årliga farledsdeklarationer för samma period kan vi skatta elasticiteterna inom svensk sjöfart. Våra resultat indikerar att olika fartygssegment har olika elasticiteter vilket innebär att de har olika känslighet för avgiftsförändringar. Likt tidigare forskning är de elasticiteter vi får fram främst oelastiska och negativa. Vissa icke-signifikanta eller orimliga resultat innebär dock osäkerhet kring hur segmenten skiljer sig åt mellan varandra och över tid. Denna osäkerhet tillsammans med osäkerheten kring beräkningen av marginalkostnader och konkurrensen med andra transportslag gör att vi rekommenderar att Ramseyprissättning inte borde användas som grund för farledsavgifternas utformande i dagens läge. Vår kartläggning av avgiftsförändring kom fram till att endast två av dessa var lämpliga att utföra skattningar på. Detta tillsammans med det endogenitetsproblem som farledsavgifternas nuvarande struktur ger upphov till bidrog troligen till att vi inte kunde få fler signifikanta och rimliga elasticiteter. / The Swedish Maritime Administrations (SMA) position resembling that of a natural monopoly and the current political situation demands a fairway due designed in a way that allows the SMA to cover their costs while at the same time distorts the behaviour of the maritime agents as little as possible. The purpose of this essay is to examine the elasticities of different ship segments and whether Ramsey pricing based on these can be used to design the Swedish fairway dues in a way that meets these demands. By mapping the changes in dues between 2008-2020 and using data from the SMAs yearly fairway declarations during the same period, we can estimate the elasticities within Swedish shipping. Our results indicate that different ship segments have different elasticities which means that they have different sensitivity to changes in dues. Like previous research, the elasticities we find are mainly inelastic and negative. However, some insignificant or unreasonable results imply uncertainty around how the segments differ from each other and over time. This uncertainty together with the uncertainty around the calculations of marginal costs and competition with other modes of transportation makes us recommend not to use Ramsey pricing as a basis for designing the fairway dues in the current situation. Our mapping of changes in dues concluded that only two of these were suitable for making estimations. This, together with the endogeneity problem that the current structure of the fairway dues generates, probably contributed to our resulting elasticities not being more significant and reasonable.

A gestão das ameaças e dos riscos nas empresas tem se dedicado a estudar estes problemas, pelo viés de mercado, com o intuito de torná-las mais preparadas para enfrentar estes desafios. Nesse sentido, uma série de instrumentos de análise diagnosticaram que as ameaças e os riscos fazem parte da natureza das relações empresariais. Dentre as inúmeras relações que uma empresa estabelece para atingir os seus objetivos, destacam-se as que estão inseridas em um sistema denominado “cadeia de suprimentos” que, em decorrência do processo de globalização tornou-se internacionalizada. As empresas, ao prolongarem suas cadeias de suprimentos “além fronteiras”, estão submetidas, às influências do ambiente econômico, geopolítico, social e histórico. Nesses ambientes, o ano de 2001 originou uma série de estudos de gestão de risco que identificaram, nas ameaças externas ou exógenas, isto é, as que estão fora do viés de mercado, a possibilidade de tornar a cadeia de suprimentos internacional insegura. Tais ameaças se configuram em ações da natureza e ações praticadas pelo ser humano, por meio de atos criminosos, como, o terrorismo, o tráfico, o contrabando e a pirataria marítima Além das empresas, os países criaram regimes internacionais que buscaram proteger as cadeias de suprimentos, principalmente, em seu sistema de transporte, destacando-se o modo chamado “marítimo”, em razão da sua intensa utilização para transportar cargas. O presente estudo tem como objetivo propor um protocolo de gestão de risco para o transporte marítimo de cargas “less than container load”, para tornar a cadeia de suprimentos internacional mais segura. A metodologia utilizada nesta pesquisa, foi descritiva e documental, já que descreveu o processo de operacionalização e baseou-se na análise dos documentos, utilizados na gestão do transporte marítimo “less than container load”. Conclui-se, assim, que o operador de transporte multimodal, como responsável por operacionalizar uma forma de transportar cargas, a qual torna a cadeia de suprimentos insegura, tem condições e, principalmente, o dever de juntar-se aos outros atores, em prol do aumento da segurança do sistema. / The management of threats and risks in the company has been dedicated to study these problems by market bias in order to make them better prepared to face these challenges. In this regard a number of analytical tools diagnosed threats and risks as part of the business relations. Among the many relationships that a company established to achieve their goals, we highlight those that are embedded in a system called the supply chain, which as a result of the globalization process has become internationalized. Companies to extend their supply chains "across borders", are subject to the influences of economic, geopolitical, social and historical environment. In these environments, the year 2001 led to a series of risk management studies that have identified the external or exogenous threats, those outside the market bias, the possibility of making the chain of uncertain international supplies. Such threats are configured shares of nature and actions taken by humans, by means of criminal acts as terrorism, trafficking, smuggling and maritime piracy In addition to companies, countries have created international regimes that sought to protect supply chains, especially in its transport system, highlighting the called maritime, because of their heavy use to transport cargo. The thesis aims to propose a risk management protocol for the shipping cargo "less than container load" to make the international supply chain more secure. The methodology used was based on descriptive type and documentary because described the operational process and analized documents used in the management of shipping “less than container load”, In conclusion, the multimodal transport operator who is responsible for operating a means of transporting cargo , which makes the supply chain insecure supplies, has conditions , and especially the obligation to join the other actors , in favor of the increase system security.

O objetivo desta dissertação é analisar a viabilidade do transporte marítimo de automóveis novos por cabotagem no Brasil, buscando uma alternativa de transporte, pois atualmente este transporte somente é realizado pelo modal rodoviário. A utilização da cabotagem como transporte de cargas tem aumentado desde a promulgação da Lei de Modernização dos Portos (lei 8.630), em 1993. Nesta mesma época, as fábricas de veículos começaram a passar por um processo de desconcentração geográfica, se deslocando da região Sudeste, e necessitando de transportes mais eficientes. Para observar se tal alternativa é viável economicamente, foi elaborado um estudo de caso e foram usados os dados de uma montadora específica. Esta montadora possui fábricas nos municípios de Camaçari (BA) e de São Bernardo do Campo (SP) e precisa distribuir sua produção em 275 concessionárias espalhadas pelo país. A partir do levantamento e análise dos custos rodoviários e de cabotagem para o transporte de automóveis, foi desenvolvido um modelo de transporte solucionado com o uso de técnicas de programação linear cujas soluções a partir da minimização dos custos de transporte apontaram para o uso ou não da cabotagem. As rotas que apresentaram maiores ganhos econômicos têm como característica uma grande distância entre a fábrica e as concessionárias e uma proximidade dos portos de destino das concessionárias. / This study aims to examine the feasibility of costal shipping of new cars by cabotage in Brazil, searching for an alternative system, since, currently, this transport is performed solely by road transportation. The use of cabotage as cargo transportation has increased since the enactment of the Modernization of Ports Law (Act 8630) in 1993. Since then, automobile makers started to undergo a decentralization process, moving away from the Southeast, and, therefore, requiring more efficient transport. To evaluate the economical feasibility of this alternative, a case study was established and data were collected from a specific auto maker. The auto maker has plants in the cities of Camaçari (BA) and São Bernardo do Campo (SP) and needs to distribute its production to 275 authorized dealers across the country. From the study and analysis regarding road and cabotage costs for car transports, it was developed a transportation model whose solutions using linear programming techniques aim to mitigate transportation costs pointing to the use or not of cabotage. Routes that had greater economic yields are characterized by a large distance between the plant and dealers and proximity to destination ports of dealers.

O objetivo desta dissertação é analisar a viabilidade do transporte marítimo de automóveis novos por cabotagem no Brasil, buscando uma alternativa de transporte, pois atualmente este transporte somente é realizado pelo modal rodoviário. A utilização da cabotagem como transporte de cargas tem aumentado desde a promulgação da Lei de Modernização dos Portos (lei 8.630), em 1993. Nesta mesma época, as fábricas de veículos começaram a passar por um processo de desconcentração geográfica, se deslocando da região Sudeste, e necessitando de transportes mais eficientes. Para observar se tal alternativa é viável economicamente, foi elaborado um estudo de caso e foram usados os dados de uma montadora específica. Esta montadora possui fábricas nos municípios de Camaçari (BA) e de São Bernardo do Campo (SP) e precisa distribuir sua produção em 275 concessionárias espalhadas pelo país. A partir do levantamento e análise dos custos rodoviários e de cabotagem para o transporte de automóveis, foi desenvolvido um modelo de transporte solucionado com o uso de técnicas de programação linear cujas soluções a partir da minimização dos custos de transporte apontaram para o uso ou não da cabotagem. As rotas que apresentaram maiores ganhos econômicos têm como característica uma grande distância entre a fábrica e as concessionárias e uma proximidade dos portos de destino das concessionárias. / This study aims to examine the feasibility of costal shipping of new cars by cabotage in Brazil, searching for an alternative system, since, currently, this transport is performed solely by road transportation. The use of cabotage as cargo transportation has increased since the enactment of the Modernization of Ports Law (Act 8630) in 1993. Since then, automobile makers started to undergo a decentralization process, moving away from the Southeast, and, therefore, requiring more efficient transport. To evaluate the economical feasibility of this alternative, a case study was established and data were collected from a specific auto maker. The auto maker has plants in the cities of Camaçari (BA) and São Bernardo do Campo (SP) and needs to distribute its production to 275 authorized dealers across the country. From the study and analysis regarding road and cabotage costs for car transports, it was developed a transportation model whose solutions using linear programming techniques aim to mitigate transportation costs pointing to the use or not of cabotage. Routes that had greater economic yields are characterized by a large distance between the plant and dealers and proximity to destination ports of dealers.