Steering towards Synergy

Designing Guidelines for Terminal Alignment in a Liner Shipping Company's European Hub-and-Spoke Network

Master Thesis (2025)
Author(s)

J.J.H. Peters (TU Delft - Technology, Policy and Management)

Contributor(s)

R. S. van Wegberg – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Organisation & Governance)

F. d'Hont – Mentor (TU Delft - Policy Analysis)

Faculty
Technology, Policy and Management
More Info
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Publication Year
2025
Language
English
Graduation Date
26-06-2025
Awarding Institution
Delft University of Technology
Programme
['Complex Systems Engineering and Management (CoSEM)']
Faculty
Technology, Policy and Management
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Abstract

The container shipping industry underpins more than 80% of global trade, serving as the backbone of international economics that sustains manufacturing, retail and fundamental products worldwide. Recently, Maersk’s adoption of the hub-and-spoke network theory, where modular shuttle loops feed centralized transshipment hubs, has promised improved schedule reliability but also introduced new challenges in coordinating terminal operations. Misaligned objectives between different internal operations teams and external terminal operators can potentially trigger small delays which turn into large-scale network disturbances, affecting the network’s reliability and customer trust. This research addresses the increasing demand for greater operational coordination and resilience in the container shipping industry, particularly in the context of increasingly complex and interdependent logistics networks. As global trade demands higher schedule reliability and cost efficiency, liner shipping companies face the challenge of aligning operations across independently managed terminals...

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