Lukáš Hanšút
University of Žilina, Department of Water Transport, Slovakia
E-mail: Lukas.Hansut@fpedas.uniza.sk

Andrej Dávid
University of Žilina, Department of Water Transport, Slovakia
E-mail: Andrej.David@fpedas.uniza.sk

Jozef Gašparík
University of Žilina, Department of Railway Transport, Slovakia
E-mail: Jozef.Gasparik@fpedas.uniza.sk

Abstract

Containers, as intermodal transport units, not only reduce loading time in sea
ports; but they also help to protect cargo against its damage, loss and theft. Nowadays
different types of containers are carried by cellular container ships among the
continents. In maritime transport there are three main container trade routes that link
the developed to developing countries located in Asia, Europe and America. One of
these routes links top Asian and European container ports. Vessels, which operate on
this route, have to sail through important maritime canals and straits. Some of these
places are dangerous because of piracy or local war conflicts.
The goal of this paper is to choose an appropriate method of cargo transport
between a selected Asian container port and the Slovak Republic. At the beginning
we will describe the container trade route Asia and Europe, Asian and European
container ports that handle containers. Then we would like to identify the criteria such
as transport time, transport costs, risks during transport which be used for the analysis
of the proposed routes. At the end we will use the critical path method, one of the
methods of Operation Analysis that will help to evaluate and identify the optimal
container route between Asia and Slovakia.

Key words: containers, container trade routes, critical path method, evaluation and identification, maritime transport

Last Update: October 26, 2017