PORT PLACEMENT WITH CONSIDERATION FOR GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WORLD

摘要

Basic matters to be considered in setting the international main route for container ships are“geographical factors”and “transportation means factors.”The authors analyzed the density of economicactivities and depth of the port hinterland, which were categorized as geographical characteristics, and alsoanalyzed the characteristics of the port placement by using a model of topography properties.The authors classified the characteristics of ports of the world into three kinds based on the density ofeconomic activities and depth of the port hinterland. The first type is ‘the Continental Hub Port Type’, whichit is located in the continent and has the large economic hinterland. Typical ports of this type are Melbourne,LA, Rotterdam and Shanghai. The second type is ‘the Marine Hub Port Type’, which is located in the oceanspace where geographical predominance is high. This type forms route hubs. Typical ports of this type areSingapore, Freeport and Malta. The third type is ‘the Narrow-area, extra-high-density Port Type’, which islocated in an island and has the highest density of economic activities and the lowest depth worldwide. Thistype has characteristics that the distance between the ports is short and there are a lot of numbers of ports,which is unique and special in the world.Japan’s ports are classified in the third type. Furthermore, Japan has a characteristic that there aremany large-scale earthquakes and has to consider earthquake measures to reduce disaster risks. The authorswill suggest that what are required for the third type are a bold reorganization of international hub portfunctions and a drastic reformation of the structure of collecting domestic cargoes at major ports.