Performance analysis tools for seaports and their hinterland connections

The international freight transport market grew almost steadily in the last decades, with a sharp decrease during the global financial crisis. Nevertheless, several studies promise a positive outlook for future freight transport development. For trade-oriented countries an internationally competitive maritime industry is of high economic significance. However, the competiveness of seaports highly depends on the quality of available infrastructures inside the ports and between seaports and their hinterland regions. The presentation gives a comprehensive overview of performance analysis tools for seaports and their hinterland connections recently used in R&D projects. The focus is on simulation and modelling of vehicle and freight flows on and between terminals. Additionally, flows between ports and their hinterland regions are also taken into account. The presentation emphasizes how these tools can be used in order to evaluate the performance of available port and hinterland infrastructure.