Open research questions in Maritime Ports and Logistics
257 gap statements mined from Maritime Ports and Logistics papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 1,906 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.
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What the literature leaves open
Prior studies have not adequately addressed the inter-industry relationships and repercussions of smart port technology programmes.
Inducement Coefficients for Smart Port Logistics Equipment Technology: An Input–Output Analysis for Korea · 2026 · DOIThe study does not provide a detailed comparison with other existing methods. The model is not tested on a large-scale dataset. The study assumes that the value of φ remains relatively stable in the short term.
Comprehensive Unit Price Estimation for Temporary ShipRepair Based on an LSTM–PPO Algorithm · 2026 · DOIThe lack of integrated planning for bunkering and cargo operations at container terminals. The need for a formulation that captures the trade-offs between cost and emissions. The absence of a solution method that can solve the problem efficiently.
Simultaneous Bunkering and Cargo Operations Under a Continuous Berth Layout: Cost and Emission Trade-Offs at a Mediterranean Transhipment Hub · 2026 · DOIDisruptions and delays can occur during the vessel's planned departure from the port, even after all cargo operations have been completed. Port congestion can be a significant challenge, particularly when there are not enough available berths. Yard congestion, referring to a lack of available space for stacking containers within the terminal, is another challenge.
Liner Schedule Reliability Problem: An Empirical Analysis of Disruptions and Recovery Measures in Container Shipping · 2025 · DOIRegional ports are understudied compared to major container ports. There is a need to reassess the competitiveness of regional ports in a decarbonizing world. The study aims to fill this gap by evaluating the economic and environmental viability of rerouting deep-sea container services to regional ports.
The research highlights the need for alliance-specific strategies to mitigate vulnerabilities and enhance network robustness.
The need to understand and mitigate the economic and environmental effects of vessel delays. The importance of optimizing turnaround times and reducing emissions in port operations.
The authors highlight the need for effective coordination between the nuanced characteristics of demand and the various components of the hinterland transport system.
The need to balance longitudinal and transverse forces while minimizing occupied deck area. The importance of considering the shape of the cargo item in calculating wind and sea-sloshing pressures.
Optimizing Cargo Securing Layouts on General Cargo Ships Using Lashing Lines Through Comparison of International Maritime Standards · 2025 · DOIExisting approaches do not account for real-time disruption management. There is a need for a resilient and flexible planning framework that can adapt to disruptions. Current strategies do not provide a balanced approach to handling disruptions.
Adaptive Intermodal Transportation for Freight Resilience: An Integrated and Flexible Strategy for Managing Disruptions · 2025 · DOILimited road connectivity. Insufficient public investment in hinterland infrastructure. The lack of predefined schedules for handling empty containers, resulting in unpredictable peaks in yard occupation and truck congestion.
Container Traffic in the Colombian Caribbean: A Competitiveness Analysis of the Port of Santa Marta Through a Technical–Economic Combination Framework · 2025 · DOIThe lack of effective reverse logistics to manage abandoned maritime containers. The imbalance of container inflow and outflow, leading to the accumulation of containers in storage yards. The need for efficient reverse logistics strategies to address the container imbalance.
Impact of Container Reverse Logistics on the Maritime Sector: Economic and Environmental Factors · 2025 · DOIThe need to balance environmental, economic, and social factors in developing sustainable shipping corridors. The challenge of achieving the IMO's zero-emission targets by 2050.
Prioritizing Criteria for Establishing a Green Shipping Corridor Between the Ports of Sines and Luanda Using Fuzzy AHP · 2024 · DOIFurther research could explore the application of this methodology to other countries or contexts, - Investigating the impact of different programme definitions and equation specifications on the results, - Examining the relationship between port modernisation and industry competitiveness in more…
Inducement Coefficients for Smart Port Logistics Equipment Technology: An Input–Output Analysis for Korea · 2026 · DOIFurther research could investigate the impact of external factors on the evolution of the cross-border integrated logistics network, - The study of other regions and countries could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the trends and patterns in cross-border…
Evolutionary Characteristics and Trends of the Cross-Border Integrated Logistics Network in Inland Provinces Driven by China-Europe Railway Express and Land-Sea Intermodal Transport · 2026 · DOIFurther research on the application of integrated planning to other container terminals, - Investigation of the impact of different operating rules on the performance of container terminals, - Analysis of the trade-offs between cost and emissions in container terminal…
Simultaneous Bunkering and Cargo Operations Under a Continuous Berth Layout: Cost and Emission Trade-Offs at a Mediterranean Transhipment Hub · 2026 · DOIInfrastructure limitations, - The need for integrated maritime facilities, - Supply chain visibility challenges in a fragmented landscape, - High operational costs and service reliability…
A Multi-Type Ship Allocation and Routing Model for Multi-Product Oil Distribution in Indonesia with Inventory and Cost Minimization Considerations: A Mixed-Integer Linear Programming Approach · 2025 · DOIOptimization of oil distribution logistics in Indonesia is largely impeded by infrastructure constraints, - Further investigation may be warranted to refine the models or adjust the assumptions used in the MILP formulation, - Potential areas for future work and insight for relevant…
A Multi-Type Ship Allocation and Routing Model for Multi-Product Oil Distribution in Indonesia with Inventory and Cost Minimization Considerations: A Mixed-Integer Linear Programming Approach · 2025 · DOIFurther research could be conducted to investigate the impact of incentive schemes on shipping service rerouting, - Further research could be conducted to collect greater granularity in data to enable a more accurate comparison between different scenarios, - Further research could be conducted in the direction of advanced optimization of ship routing and scheduling, fleet deployment, and alternative fuel…
Investigating variations in network topology, - Evaluating alliance resilience under different disruption scenarios, - Examining the impact of infrastructure investments on network…
The problem's complexity and high dimensionality can make achieving the set of all Pareto efficient solutions challenging - The prioritized search algorithm can increase computational costs due to the need to form trees and perform computationally expensive operations - Scalability concerns related to increased vessel and berth numbers are addressed through…
Further research could focus on addressing scalability concerns related to increased vessel and berth numbers - The parallelizable nature of Algorithm 4 could be explored for large-scale problem settings - Evaluating the proposed method in different terminal settings could provide more…
Further research could explore the application of the queuing model to other ports or terminals, - Investigating the impact of different regulatory scenarios on port operations, - Analyzing the effectiveness of various mitigation strategies for reducing congestion…
Further research could incorporate uncertain travel times, - examine the impact of other disruption profiles, - investigate the application of the AIT framework in different…
Adaptive Intermodal Transportation for Freight Resilience: An Integrated and Flexible Strategy for Managing Disruptions · 2025 · DOIFurther research on the competitiveness of mid-sized terminals in Latin America, - studies on the application of technical-economic models to port…
Container Traffic in the Colombian Caribbean: A Competitiveness Analysis of the Port of Santa Marta Through a Technical–Economic Combination Framework · 2025 · DOI
Most-cited papers in Maritime Ports and Logistics
- Disruptions and resilience in global container shipping and ports: the COVID-19 pandemic versus the 2008–2009 financial crisis · Maritime Economics & Logistics · 2021 · 462 citations
- Borg, Omega, and Kubernetes · Communications of the ACM · 2016 · 457 citations
- The worldwide maritime network of container shipping: spatial structure and regional dynamics · Global Networks · 2012 · 332 citations
- Multi-AGV scheduling for conflict-free path planning in automated container terminals · Computers & Industrial Engineering · 2020 · 269 citations
- Dynamic and Stochastic Models for the Allocation of Empty Containers · Operations Research · 1993 · 254 citations
- The port—City interface: Trends, problems and examples · Geoforum · 1989 · 225 citations
- Port disruptions due to natural disasters: Insights into port and logistics resilience · Transportation Research Part D Transport and Environment · 2020 · 223 citations
- Containerization and the Load Center Concept · Economic Geography · 1981 · 202 citations
- Optimization in multimodal freight transportation problems: A Survey · European Journal of Operational Research · 2021 · 198 citations
- A Geography of Logistics: Market Authority and the Security of Supply Chains · Annals of the Association of American Geographers · 2010 · 185 citations
Most recent work
- Integrated scheduling of cargo vessels, research vessels, and marine experiments in multifunctional ports using Q-learning enhanced PSO · Swarm and Evolutionary Computation · 2026
- Enhancing multivariate time series forecasting for container reloading operations: an improved adaptive multi-granularity cascade forest model integrating · Transportation Research Part E Logistics and Transportation Review · 2026
- Network analysis of port clusters in the context of regional coordinated development: a case study of the Bohai Bay port cluster · Maritime Policy & Management · 2026
- A case study on berth and marine experiment allocation method considering uncertainty for cargo and research ports · Computers & Industrial Engineering · 2026
- A metric of global maritime supply chain disruptions: The global supply chain stress index - maritime (GSCSI-M) · Journal of Transport Geography · 2026
- A risk-averse two-stage stochastic programming model for vessel schedule recovery in liner shipping service · Transportation Research Part E Logistics and Transportation Review · 2026
- A sustainable maritime supply chain framework: an overview for academics and practitioners · Transportation Research Part A Policy and Practice · 2026
- Port resilience assessment and analysis with dynamic cargo coordination in network: The case of China's global liner shipping · Journal of Transport Geography · 2026
- An integrated framework of vessel demand shifting and port capacity utilization for congestion mitigation · Transportation Research Part E Logistics and Transportation Review · 2026
- Digital twin-based dynamic co-scheduling with AGV energy management in sea-rail intermodal automated container terminals · Transportation Research Part E Logistics and Transportation Review · 2026
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