Investigation Of Environmental Risks In Maritime Logistics In Australia

Background of the Research

The emerging trends of globalization and population explosion, have paved the way for a rapidly increasing demand for the supplying of goods and services all over the world (Grossman and Helpman 2015). The process of shipping is concerned with the transmission of products and items, in addition to the leisurely or business-oriented transport of customers, from one port, or one country to another (Holguín-Veras et al. 2014). At present, shipping procedures have encountered a number of modifications – ‘maritime logistics’ being one of the most advanced and convenient approaches, with respect to the movement of merchandise across the supply and delivery chain, from the manufacturers to the consumers or retail stores (Parola, Satta, and Panayides 2015).

The following chapter of the dissertation concerned with an investigation of the environmental risks associated with the maritime logistics environment in Australia, focuses on the foundation principles of the concerned research, with respect to the research background, aims and objectives, related questions and the overall study structure. There is also a brief outlining of the background of the research, mentioning the pre-requisite information required prior to the conductance of the concerned dissertation.

The aspects of ‘globalization’ are widely prevalent worldwide, and imply the establishment of associated networks amongst organizations and industries, inhabiting numerous cultures and countries, on an international scale (Pieterse 2015). The rapid incidences in globalization, has enhanced its extension to a number of fields, beyond merely organizations, including technological aspects, cross cultural transmission of social and cultural values, and most importantly, transport (Baylis, Smith and Owens 2017). With respect to the aforementioned flourishing of multicultural, globalized networks, significant amendments have been reflected in the associated areas of transport, where organizations dealing with the execution of logistics and shipment have to undergo considerable transformations, in order to fulfill the emerging demands of a cross cultural as well as decentralized economy (Knight 2015).

The industries concerned with the shipment of various items and merchandise, forms the crux of the development of today’s rapidly transforming economy and transport sector (Lau et al. 2017). The existence, along with the optimum functioning of global as well as nationwide shipping procedures is imperative for the feasible and accountable availability of products and travelling of individuals across the planet (Chan, Maclsaac and Bailey 2015). With this respect, the adoption of practices concerned with efficient ‘maritime logistics’ is inevitable for maintenance of efficiency in the movement of goods across various retail stores as well as customers across the globe (Marti and Puertas 2017).

‘Maritime Logistics’ is a novel, complex and integrative procedure with regards to shipping services at present, which aim for the enhanced transport of merchandise or cargo with the aid of ships, through appropriate transportation networks outlining rivers, canals or oceans, with the utilization of fuel friendly and cost effective approaches (Yuen and Thai 2017). While efficient conductance of the regulation of movement of goods across various organizational platforms comprises of the primary characteristics of maritime functioning – it is however, not devoid of significant risks (Kalogeraki et al. 2018). With respect to the concerned field of study outlined in this dissertation, the emphasized risk investigation would be evaluated through environmental dimensions. Ships comprise the heart of the department concerned with maritime logistics and hence considerable environmental impacts are presented by the functioning of the same, which includes generation of solid non-biodegradable waste materials, effluent secretion as resultant products of cleaning and sewerage procedures, spillage of oils, followed by release of noise as well as atmospheric pollutants (Bengtsson, Fridell and Andersson 2014). Additionally, risks and impacts subjected to the ship via environmental mechanisms, driven by ongoing alterations and unpredictability in global warming and climatic patterns also inflict considerable negative consequences in the functioning of maritime logistics (Brynolf 2014).

Statement of the Problem

The country of Australia ranks fifth worldwide in the usage of ships and shipping services, with a vast array of over 11,000 ships and 600 port establishments, establishing communication with 65 Australian ports (Vince et al. 2015). With respect to the emerging environmental and climatic alterations overcome by the country of Australia every year, considerable environmental risks are associated with the maritime logistics department of the country. There has been an increasing prevalence of natural calamities in Australia, which exhibit considerable negative implications in the functioning of maritime operations through damage incurred in the concerned ports (Taylor 2015). The accumulation of aquatic as well as solid industrial wastes also inflict considerable damage on the functioning of the required ships, further posing as a risk in the maritime logistics department of Australia. In response to the existence of such risks, there is hence a conductance of various risk evaluation, assessment and mitigation procedures performed in Australia, which shall be discussed in detail, in the following chapters of this dissertation (Lindstad and Eskeland 2016).

With respect to the country of Australia, there is a requirement for significant risk management strategies are involved for the purpose of mitigating the environmental impacts of shipment and maritime logistics. The ports of Australia concerned with the travelling and commuting of ships, are required to be assessed and evaluated, resulting in the formulation of an appropriate risk regulation plan, which will aid in the reduction of losses encountered due to environmental consequences. This requires thorough and extensive planning, which will begin with the assessment of the types of risks encountered, followed by adequate communication to the managerial processes, for the purpose of highlighting the rate of damaged possibly incurred, and the required decision making procedures to regulate the same (Liu et al. 2016).

Upon completion of the required decision-making procedures, followed by their execution, shipping organizations and ports in Australia, can then focus on implementation of the required amendments for the management of environmental risks upon the department dealing with maritime logistics (Sahim and Kum 2015).  This would involve possible technological innovations in the functioning and performance of the concerned ships, which can include adoption of excess, surplus or waste energy and effluent reutilization by the ships concerned, further resulting in reduced environmentally harmful emissions (Vander Hoorn and Knapp 2015). This would lead to considerable regulation of the possible environmental impact, and the investigation of the same, followed by possible similar recommendations have been focused upon in the following sections of this dissertation.

Hence, there is a requirement of extensive risk assessment, evaluation and mitigation by Australia, which will be investigated and discussed elaborately with respect to this dissertation.

While the process of maritime logistics proves to be an extensive and efficient mechanism for the execution of efficient transport of goods and services across organizational, customer and international networks, there lies considerable problems in the execution of the same. A number of risks are associated with maritime logistics, mainly financial complications, safety of humans and environmental implications (Chang, Xu and Song 2015). This dissertation focuses on the investigation of the environmental risks, which contribute as a major problem for the implementation of maritime logistics in Australia.

Research Aims and Objectives

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the environmental risks associated with the functioning of maritime logistics in the country of Australia.

The objectives of the dissertation are as follows:

• To evaluate the ongoing maritime logistics department in Australia, with respect to its network, functioning and implications.
• To investigate the various environmental risks in Australia, with regards to the maritime logistics department, followed by an evaluation of ongoing risk management procedures aiming to mitigate the same.
• To recommend additional risk mitigation procedures which may be employed, for the eradication and regulation of environmental risks in the maritime logistics department of Australia.

The research questions of the dissertation are as follows:

• RQ1: What are the various environmental impacts and risks, encountered or inflicted, by the maritime logistics department of Australia, at present?
• RQ2: What are the various risk management and mitigation procedures employed by the maritime logistics department situated in Australia, as a response to the ongoing environmental risks?
• RQ3: What additional risk mitigation and management procedures can be recommended or implemented, for the management of environmental risks encountered due to maritime logistics in the context of Australia?

This dissertation aims to investigate the environmental risks encountered by the department of maritime logistics in Australia, with respect to the country of Australia. Rapid enhancement of globalization has ushered the need for efficient transformations in the field of transport, with the emerging advances in shipping, being an imperative amendment in order to facilitate the transport of goods across businesses and their potential consumers, cross culturally (Peyvel and Lan 2016). Maritime Logistics is an impressive development with regards to the shipment of goods and merchandise, which is concerned with the efficient functioning of various commercial businesses by creating diverse consumer and organizational relationships, through enhanced delivery of products (Lyonnet 2015). However, considerable environmental risks and impacts are associated with the same, and the ignorance of which, will lead to considerable negative repercussions on the deliverance of goods and global climatic background (Poulsen, Ponte and Lister 2016). Australia remains victim to significant climatic alterations, as an impact of the worldwide negative environmental phenomena of global warming and greenhouse effects, which yield considerable operational difficulties in its maritime logistics functioning (Broome et al. 2016). Hence, an elaborate and extensive investigation, regarding the procedures implemented by the Australian Government for the risk management of environmental risks in maritime logistics, formulate the rationale of this dissertation, the outcomes of which will yield a clarified understanding of the present day maritime functioning and possible amendments, with respect to the country of Australia.

The following paragraphs highlight the salient features of the overall structure of the dissertation, which was essential in order to outline the organizational aspects required for the conductance of optimum research.

The addition of this chapter is essential in order to establish basic conceptual features of the concerned topic, which will aid in the development of the pre-requisite knowledge required for enhanced understanding of the concerned topic chosen for dissertation. In this chapter, a summarized introductory outline has been discussed, with regards to the chosen topic for the dissertation, involving the investigation of environmental risks prevalent in the maritime logistics performance in Australia. Firstly, the section of ‘Introduction’ highlights the key concepts of globalization, transport and shipping, and the associated relationship existing amongst the three, resulting in the establishment of the requirement of maritime logistics. The following paragraphs of this section also briefly discuss the context of environmental implications with regards to the Australian maritime context. This is followed by a focus on the required research aims and objectives to be covered, the required research questions to be answered during the dissertation conductance, a statement of the problem, lastly followed by the declaration of the rationale inspiring the performance of the mentioned research context.

The second chapter on review of literature, is considered to be one of the most essential features in the formulation and conductance of any research. This chapter presents an extensive and detailed analysis of the various researches, studies and information, performed and obtained prior to the commencement of this dissertation, acquired during the procedure of research conductance. The review of literature firstly begins with a summarized review of researches concerned with outlining the key features of maritime logistics, the various types of ships utilized and the primary functioning principles defining the performance of maritime logistics. This is followed by studying and highlighting an extensive review with regards to the prior research conducted, focusing on current global maritime statistics, the possibility of occurrences of various types of the associated risks and a need for management of the same. Finally, the chapter of review of literature, highlights previous researches and existing information concerning the environmental alterations encountered by the country of Australia, the implications of the same in its maritime logistics and the present risk management and mitigation practice employed by the associated departments of the nation, to improve its environmental, as well as maritime shipment scenario.

This chapter of the concerned dissertation outlines the salient procedures and principles employed for the conductance of research, which will ultimately yield in the provision of the results required for the implementation, collection and analysis of data. A focus on the various qualitative and quantitative methods utilized for data gathering and researching, along with hypothesis formulation and the required statistical principles employed for the outlining of necessary conclusions with regards to the investigation of environmental risks in maritime logistics, considering the scenario of Australia, has been extensively discussed in this chapter.

The concerned chapter aims at presenting and displaying the information gathered by the research, during the conductance of the study. The data so obtained during research performance will be highlighted in this chapter, through graphical modes of representation, with the employment of tabular and graphical templates, and as well as pictorial display of the same. Such modes of visual representation highlighted in this chapter, will aid in the analysis and interpretation of the concerned data.

This chapter outlined in the dissertation is concerned with the researching of the primary and secondary data so obtained during data collection, with the usage of appropriate statistical procedures. The analysis so conducted will aid in the interpretation of the obtained and arranged data which will further prove to beneficial in the process of drawing conclusions regarding the ongoing environmental risks encountered by the maritime logistics department of Australia. An additional benefit of the data analysis, as outlined by this chapter, will be in the formulation of recommendations regarding the possible mitigation principles which the government of Australia can undertake, as an active response to the present occurrence of environmental risks in its maritime logistics procedures.

Conclusion and Recommendations

This chapter outlines the final statements and conclusions derived upon data analysis, which will form an essential part of the research conducted in this dissertation. Conclusions will highlight the present maritime logistics scenario prevalent in Australia, followed by current procedures utilized by the nation, for the purpose of risk management and mitigation of the same. The section of ‘Recommendations’ mentioned in this chapter highlights the salient modifications which the country of Australia can undertake, for the improvement of its environmental risk management concerned with the performance of maritime logistics.

References

Baylis, J., Smith, S. and Owens, P. eds., 2017. The globalization of world politics: an introduction to international relations. Oxford University Press.

Bengtsson, S.K., Fridell, E. and Andersson, K.E., 2014. Fuels for short sea shipping: A comparative assessment with focus on environmental impact. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part M: Journal of Engineering for the Maritime Environment, 228(1), pp.44-54.

Broome, R.A., Cope, M.E., Goldsworthy, B., Goldsworthy, L., Emmerson, K., Jegasothy, E. and Morgan, G.G., 2016. The mortality effect of ship-related fine particulate matter in the Sydney greater metropolitan region of NSW, Australia. Environment international, 87, pp.85-93.

Brynolf, S., 2014. Environmental assessment of present and future marine fuels (No. 3687).

Chan, F.T., MacIsaac, H.J. and Bailey, S.A., 2015. Relative importance of vessel hull fouling and ballast water as transport vectors of nonindigenous species to the Canadian Arctic. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 72(8), pp.1230-1242.

Chang, C.H., Xu, J. and Song, D.P., 2015. Risk analysis for container shipping: from a logistics perspective. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 26(1), pp.147-171.

Grossman, G.M. and Helpman, E., 2015. Globalization and growth. American Economic Review, 105(5), pp.100-104.

Holguín-Veras, J., Wang, C., Browne, M., Hodge, S.D. and Wojtowicz, J., 2014. The New York City off-hour delivery project: lessons for city logistics. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 125, pp.36-48.

Kalogeraki, E.M., Papastergiou, S., Mouratidis, H. and Polemi, N., 2018. A Novel Risk Assessment Methodology for SCADA Maritime Logistics Environments. Applied Sciences, 8(9), p.1477.

Knight, J., 2015. Updated definition of internationalization. International higher education, (33).

Lau, Y.Y., Ducruet, C., Ng, A.K. and Fu, X., 2017. Across the waves: a bibliometric analysis of container shipping research since the 1960s. Maritime Policy & Management, 44(6), pp.667-684.

Lindstad, H.E. and Eskeland, G.S., 2016. Environmental regulations in shipping: Policies leaning towards globalization of scrubbers deserve scrutiny. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 47, pp.67-76.

Liu, L.C., Li, Q., Zhang, J.T. and Cao, D., 2016. Toward a framework of environmental risk management for CO 2 geological storage in China: gaps and suggestions for future regulations. Mitigation and adaptation strategies for global change, 21(2), pp.191-207.

Lyonnet, B., 2015. Assesment of Logistic Information Systems: The Contribution of Lean Management–Application Case in the Maritime and Port Sector.

Martí, L. and Puertas, R., 2017. The importance of export logistics and trade costs in emerging economies. Maritime Economics & Logistics, 19(2), pp.315-333.

Parola, F., Satta, G. and Panayides, P.M., 2015. Corporate strategies and profitability of maritime logistics firms. Maritime Economics & Logistics, 17(1), pp.52-78.

Peyvel, E. and Lan, V.S.X., 2016. Tourism, urbanisation and globalisation in Vietnam. The IIAS Newsletter, 73, pp.38-39.

Pieterse, J.N., 2015. Globalization and culture: Global mélange. Rowman & Littlefield.

Poulsen, R.T., Ponte, S. and Lister, J., 2016. Buyer-driven greening? Cargo-owners and environmental upgrading in maritime shipping. Geoforum, 68, pp.57-68.

Sahin, B. and Kum, S., 2015. Risk assessment of arctic navigation by using improved fuzzy-ahp approach. International Journal of Maritime Engineering, 157(4), p.241.

Taylor, M., 2015. Global warming and climate change: what Australia knew and buried… then framed a new reality for the public. ANU Press.

Vander Hoorn, S. and Knapp, S., 2015. A multi-layered risk exposure assessment approach for the shipping industry. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 78, pp.21-33.

Vince, J., Smith, A.D., Sainsbury, K.J., Cresswell, I.D., Smith, D.C. and Haward, M., 2015. Australia? s Oceans Policy: Past, present and future. Marine Policy, 57, pp.1-8.

Yuen, K.F. and Thai, V., 2017. Barriers to supply chain integration in the maritime logistics industry. Maritime Economics & Logistics, 19(3), pp.551-572