Application of geoeconomics in seaport operations: a theoretical proposal for post Covid-19 recovery strategy

ABSTRACT

Johor Port and Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) are two adjacent seaports act as backbone of the Malaysian international trade and economy. The probability of these seaports catering the same client is very high and may cause overlapping in the hinterland area. This will further result in the waste of resources, congestion in traffic and reducing the competitiveness of seaports. The situation worsened during Covid-19 outbreak as these two seaports faced issues related to capacity and efficiency. This paper employs geoeconomics concept to assist these seaports to design a post Covid-19 recovery plan for these seaports via temporal, spatial and policy taxonomies. An explanatory sequential mixed method design has been employed to meet aims of the paper. The results show that hinterlands in the Southern region are important as production centres, providing logistics efficiency and improving the connectivity. Given the importance of service recovery to continue patronage of these seaports among customers, revitalising 4th industrial revolution and materialising inland capacity are additional post Covid-19 recovery strategies for improved seaport performance from a policy and spatial taxonomies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Dr Jagan Jeevan, CMILT is a senior lecturer from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia. Currently, he is a Head of Maritime Management in Faculty of Maritime Studies. He received his Master in Maritime Management from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu in 2006, PhD in Maritime Logistics and Management from National Centre of Port and Shipping, Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania. He is a Charted Member of Institute of Logistics and Transport Malaysia (CILTM). His research interest mainly focuses on port development, port competitiveness, port performance and development strategy for intermodal terminals. He has published and keep publishing academic articles mostly in refereed journal and conference papers under research interests of inland transport, maritime logistics, maritime business and economics, shipping and port management. Further, he actively reviewing journal papers in maritime logistics including Maritime Policy and Management, Asian Journal Shipping and Logistics, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research and Journal of E-navigation and also Maritime Economy. He received several invitations as invited speaker from Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) for Asia Port Economist Conference (2019), International Conference Of The 6th Ai-MAST (2018; 2019), as well as being a guest lecturer for Graduate School of Logistics, Sunchon National University, Korea (2019) and Shandong Jiatong Transport University, China (2018). He also served as a casual lecturer at National Centre of Port and Shipping, Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania from 2013 to 2016. Further, he has undergone an academic attachment for 6 months in Mokpo National Maritime University, South Korea. These international exposure allows him to be editorial board members for journal and conferences including Journal of E-navigation and Maritime Economy (South Korea and Asian Logistics Round Table (Australia).

Dr Nurul Haqimin Mohd Salleh is a senior lecturer in Faculty of Maritime Studies at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu since 2012. He is an active researcher in his field. He received Diploma in Business Management from University Putra Malaysia in 2006 and the Bachelor’s degree in Management (Maritime) from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu in 2008. In 2010, he had completed MBA in Shipping Management at Industrial University of Selangor, Malaysia and PhD in Maritime Operation at Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom in 2015. His research interests are basically on the maritime operation, ranging from uncertainty treatment to risk and reliability management that focuses on maritime sector. In the recent years, he has focused on modelling and assessing country risks for shipping operation, organizational reliability and also capability of a liner shipping operator. He had developed some new models for predicting a liner vessel’s punctuality (arrival and departure) under dynamic environments. On the other hand, his researches also involves environmental risk assessment, Kra canal, halal transportation, maritime health and safety, maritime supply chain, navigational security and maritime tourism.

Dr Izyan Munirah Mohd Zaideen was born in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia in 1986. She began her career at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu in the year 2018. She currently serves as a senior lecturer and a researcher in Faculty of Maritime Studies. She obtained a PhD in Maritime Studies and a Master in Chemistry, both from UMT. She has done her Bachelor’s degree majoring in Biochemical Engineering at UKM. To date, she had published articles in high impact journals and presented papers in both national and international conferences. She actively conducts researches in her field of interests by supervising undergraduate and postgraduate students. Her main research interests are maritime policy and management, policy and shipping administration and also the marine environmental management. She is also a Chartered Member of The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) (Malaysia).

Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr Mohamad Rosni Othman is a senior lecturer, Dean of Faculty of Maritime Studies and the director of MALTRAC in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT). Currently, he is appointed as the chairman for the Chartered Logistics and Transport East Coast Section (Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan). He is the council member of the CILT Malaysia. He obtained his diploma and degree at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Master in the Maritime Management at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu and PhD in the Maritime Management and Policy at Newcastle University in United Kingdom (UK). He is a member of Nautical Institute of UK, International Association of Maritime Economy (IAME) and Charted Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) in Malaysia. He is specialized in Seaport and Shipping Management, Marine Accident Investigation (Verified by IMO), Certified Ship Surveyor (Verified by Briar Maritime Services, United Kingdom), ISM Code certified lead Auditor (Verified by Lloyd’s Registry, United Kingdom) and Certified MS ISO 1991 Lead Auditor (ISO 10011:1991, verified by Det Norske Veritas). Additionally, he is the chairman for Publication and Information Committee and the permanent member of ISO/TC 188-SIRIM Berhad in Malaysia.

Dr Masha Nur Salsabiela Menhat is a senior lecturer in Universiti of Malaysia Terengganu. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Universiti Malaysia Pahang in the year 2009 and holds a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management from Universiti Putra Malaysia. After graduated, Dr Masha spent around five years working on local and international projects in the oil and gas industry. Her task was to look after contracts on logistic management for offshore transportation, installation, hook-up and commissioning phase. In 2018, she obtained a PhD from University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK with a thesis entitled Performance Measurement Framework for the Oil and Gas Supply Chain. Her research interests are on oil and gas industry, project management, offshore vessels network and supply chain management.

Dr Livingstone Divine Caesar has extensive experience in lecturing at the graduate and undergraduate levels in Australia and Ghana. Dr Caesar brings enormous wealth of experience to the boardroom of any organization. He is an experienced, Australian-trained management consultant and a seasoned academic with over 18 years combined experienced in both the higher education sectors and international business. Currently a consultant to diverse organizations in the following areas: project logistics, international business, trade contract formulation and negotiations, management processes and proposal/bid evaluation. Dr Caesar holds a PhD in Management and Commerce from the University of Tasmania – Australia and has an MSc in Shipping and Transport from the Netherlands Maritime University, Rotterdam. He has helped in restructuring and reengineering of the supply chains of many supply organizations. The management and business disciplines mostly taught by Dr Caesar include but not limited to: Principles of Organizational Behavior, International HR Management, International Management, Principles of Marketing, Supply Chain Management, Business Research Methods, Leadership and Governance, Logistics, International Trade and Corporate Strategy. In recent consultancy projects, he also worked as a consultant to government parastatals in Australia. Specifically, Dr Caesar has worked in the validation of forecasting models (for the Maritime Union of Australia) designed for projecting the manpower training needs of the Australian maritime industry. He has also worked on feasibility studies and cargo throughput analysis projects for Transport (port authority) in Tasmania, Australia. He has also been working on international projects connected to the oil and gas, change management, development of coaching skills process analysis, strategy development and technology implementation.