Maritime and Logistics, Business and Policy

iSPER Themed Research Group
Maritime and Logistics, Business and Policy

iSPER's Maritime and Logistics, Business and Policy Group (MLBP) aims to promote excellent research into business and policy issues in maritime business and logistics. MLBP spans the fields of international shipping, international logistics, international supply chain management, international procurement and international trade and port management. Geographically, the maritime scope of MLBP engages complex multifaceted business and policy issues located between interfluves and ocean trenches.   

MLBP networks with industry and numerous other researchers both nationally and internationally. Please contact Lijun Tang if you are interested in working with MLBP.

MLBP lead - Dr Lijun Tang

Dr Lijun Tang is Lecturer in Port and Shipping Management. His research expertise is in the areas of maritime training and education, occupational health and safety, and employment relations in the shipping industry. He has participated in a number of research projects including new technology and training in shipping, analysis of maritime accident investigation reports, safety and shipping 1912-2012, and ship/shore interaction. Lijun also has interest in media studies and has a number of publications related to internet culture and politics in China.

Contact Dr Lijun Tang and find out more about MLBP.

The Practice of Managing Container Flows - 25 May 2017

Over 30 academics, practitioners and students joined this event organised by MLBP, in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and The Nautical Institute. Presenters included Professor Dongping Song, Professor of Supply Chain Management at Liverpool University and Sue Terpilowski OBE, President of WISTA UK amongst many others. The event was also significant for featuring five presentations from Plymouth research students on their completed or ongoing PhDs.

View further details, including speaker presentations and biographies, on the event page. 

MLBP events

The Maritime and Logistics Business and Policy (MLBP) Seminar Series serves as a platform for internal and external exchange of ideas and presentations covering a wide range of topics reflecting the research areas of MLBP. 

It is designed to foster a culture of academic discussions, debates and constructive criticisms amongst the members of MLBP and the international research community. 

MLBP members and collaborating academics from across the UK and abroad present and discuss their research. The Seminar Series provides the opportunity for PhD students to be an active part of the research community. The MLBP Seminar Series also encourages exchange between academics and the wider community and former guest speakers have included practitioners from industry, businesses and public institutions.

MLBP Seminar Series 

For further details on the seminar series, please contact Dr Lijun Tang.

How to book

Everyone is welcome to attend the MLBP seminar series. 

Seminar series archive

View the MLBP seminar series archive for further information of past events. 

MLBP interests include:

  • Maritime Economics: incorporates studies relating to market concentration and competitiveness between ports and maritime organisations at meso- and micro-economic scales and includes systems modelling, optimisation and design, big data, knowledge and information management and financial and economic impacts.
  • Maritime Policy: includes maritime law, maritime regulation and maritime governance centred around interests which include environmental regulation, legal and regulatory processes, human resource issues, social responsibility, community and stakeholder impacts.
  • Port Sustainability Management: embraces a triple bottom line of environmental, social and commercial dimensions. Recent research projects have focussed on megaports in Northeast Asia, smaller ports in Southwest England, crude oil export ports in Nigeria, an Egyptian container port and Liquid Natural Gas ports in the Middle East.

Links to some recent doctoral theses are indicative of some of our research interests:  

Selected publications

Dinwoodie, J., Landamore,M., Rigot-Muller, P. (2014) "Dry bulk shipping flows to 2050: Delphi perceptions of early career specialists", Journal of Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Vol. 88, 66-75.

Kuznetsov,A, Dinwoodie J, Gibbs,D., Sansom, M, Knowles., H. (accepted) "Knowledge capture to inform sustainable maritime operations", International Journal of Operations and Production Management, DOI 10.1108/IJOPM-10-2015-0657.

Park, J.S., Seo, Y.-J. (2016) "The impact of seaports on the regional economies in South Korea: panel evidence from the augmented Solow model", Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Vol. 85, pp. 107-119.

Roh, S., Pettit, S., Harris, I. and Beresford, A. (2015) "The pre-positioning of warehouse at regional and local levels for a humanitarian relief organisation", International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 170 (B), pp. 616-528.

Seo, Y.-J., Dinwoodie, J., Kwak, D.-W. (2014) "The impact of innovativeness on supply chain performance: is supply chain integration a missing link?", Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 19 No. 5/6, pp. 733-746.

Yoon, J., Lee, H.Y., Dinwoodie, J., "Competitiveness of container terminal operating companies in South Korea and the industry-university-government network", Transportation Research Part A, Policy and Practice, Vol. 80, pp. 1-14.

Xu, J., Testa, D. & Mukherjee, P. K., (2015) "The use of LNG as a marine fuel: International regulatory framework ", Ocean Development and International Law, Vol. 46 No. 3, pp. 225-240.

Port Sustainability Management System

Historically maritime business research primarily focused on models which were inaccessible to smaller ports. Plymouth's Drs Sarah Tuck and James Benhin and Professor John Dinwoodie worked with Falmouth Harbour Commissioners on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership to develop a Port Sustainability Management System (PSMS) specifically designed for smaller ports. This was subsequently extended across Devon and Cornwall through a project led by Plymouth's Andrei Kuznetsov and Professor John Dinwoodie together with Professor David Gibbs from the University of Hull, with funding from the European Social Fund. PSMS assists ports to mitigate potential risks and to plan for and promote a proactive stance towards sustainable port management.

Hybrid Freight Sailing: Sustainable Approaches and Innovative Liaisons (SAIL)

Funding body: EU Interreg Programme

Plymouth University Principal Investigator: Professor Jingjing Xu

This project, involving 17 partners, aimed to develop and test hybrid sailing concepts that lead to new business opportunities and a more sustainable future. Professor Xu received €98,626 for research which focused on the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel. LNG produces virtually no sulphur dioxide emissions, and when compared with conventional marine bunker fuels, has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10 per cent, nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 90 per cent, and particulate matter emission by up to 100%. However, the international legal framework governing LNG's use needs further development. Professor Xu examined the legal regimes relating to the use of LNG, identified gaps and made recommendations for how these could be addressed.