An analysis of safety and security risks in container shipping operations: A case study of Taiwan

Safety and security has been an increasing concern in container shipping over the past few decades. In this paper, three major risk categories, namely, risks associated with information flow, risks associated with physical flow, and risks associated with payment flow are categorised and analysed. The paper uses Taiwan as a case study aiming to provide some insight into the management of safety and security in a wider maritime contest. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are employed in this paper. An interview survey is undertaken to explore and identify the risk factors in container shipping, and a questionnaire survey is then conducted to collect the relevant data. In order to conduct a comprehensive risk analysis, risk scale is calculated to rank the risk factors using the mean value method and the stochastic dominance method; and risk map is used as the main analytical method to identify the level of risks. It is found that with regard to maritime safety and security damage, risks associated with physical flow as a whole is more likely to have serious impacts than risks associated with information flow and risks associated with payment flow. However, 'shippers hiding cargo information' as a factor in risks associated with information flow is the most serious one among all the risk factors in terms of risk scale. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.