ABSTRACT

A port service chain is a spatial network with nodes and links, where providers of port services provide port services and where users of port services utilize port services. The provision of port vessel services in a port cargo-service chain occurs at the port harbor vessel anchorage site, berth and quay nodes. Vessel links in a port cargo-service chain are port waterways over which vessels move between two port nodes, the berth and the harbor vessel-anchorage site. A port operator may be a port authority that operates a government-owned cargo port, a private marine terminal operator that contracts with a port authority to operate a government-owned cargo port or a private marine terminal operator that operates a private cargo marine terminal. Port harbor pilots utilize pilot boats for joining incoming ships and for boarding and un-boarding these ships. A port harbor tugboat operator uses its tugboats to maneuver ships within a port cargo-service chain by pushing or towing the ships.