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Publications

White Papers

White Papers

Dasgupta, S. (2018). Indian shipping- an ocean of opportunities. Maritime Logistics Research Group at IIM Indore.

Since independence, the Indian Shipping tonnage has registered a remarkable growth. The Indian merchant fleet strength stood at 1204 vessels with 10.31 million GRT as on end December 2014, representing 54 fold increases in GRT since independence. The outlay and expenditure on the shipping sector have consistently increased over the plan.

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Research Publication

Dong, B., Christiansen, M., Fagerholt, K., Chandra, S. (2020) “Design of a sustainable maritime multi-modal distribution network: case study from automotive logistics”. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review. (Accepted)

Authors: Bo dong, Marielle Christiansen, Kjetil Fagerholt, and Saurabh Chandra

Multi-modal transportation takes advantage of multiple transport modes and can be an effective way to ease the negative environmental effects of freight transportation. This paper addresses a multi-modal distribution network design problem with the aim of balancing the trade-off between economic and environmental benefits. The distribution network that we consider includes both transportation with trucks and ships. We propose a new mixed integer programming (MIP) model which decides the optimal design of the system, i.e. how many ships of each type to use, their corresponding routes and sailing speeds. It also suggests an optimal cargo flow through the maritime and road-based network. We show how the MIP model can be used to provide decision support through a case study from the distribution of automobiles in India, which has a vast coastline that can be used for maritime transportation. Environmental emissions from automobile transportation in India have been rapidly increasing in recent years with the fast economic development, and it has become a major contributor to regional air pollution and road congestion. One possible way to ease these negative environmental consequences is to consider a modal shift where some of the automobile transportation from the production facilities located close to the coastline is replaced by roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) ships. Our study shows that multi-modal distribution is both environmentally friendly and economically beneficial, especially if more industrial players can collaborate to create economies of scale.

Liner shipping industry and oil price volatility: Dynamic connectedness and portfolio diversification

Authors: Debasish Maitra, Saurabh Chandra, and Saumya Ranjan Dash

Given the importance of the relationship between oil and liner shipping markets, this paper examines the volatility spillover and connectedness between oil and liner shipping markets. We employ dynamic conditional equicorrelations and spillover index approach to know volatility co-movement and spillover between oil prices and returns of liner shipping stocks, respectively. The volatility co-movement between oil and liner shipping companies’ stock returns increased during the 2007–09 global financial crisis, and 2010–12 Eurozone debt crisis. We extend our analysis by considering portfolio diversification strategies and utility gains across pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis periods. Our findings are useful to policymakers and investors.

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Analysing the modal shift from road-based to coastal shipping-based distribution – a case study of outbound automotive logistics in India

Authors: Saurabh Chandra, Marielle Christiansen and Kjetil Fagerholt

This paper analyses the modal shift from a primary road-based to coastal shipping-based freight distribution. A mathematical model is developed to optimize the coastal shipping route planning under a multimodal distribution scenario. The model is applied to a case study of the outbound automotive logistics in India. Exploratory insights on the enablers and challenges to adopting coastal shipping-based distribution are presented along with the route configuration and the level of modal shift achievable based on the model results. The results of the study suggest that the current business and regulatory environment is appropriate to achieve almost one-third shift to intermodal coastal shipping, although investments in infrastructure and substantial cost reductions in ship and port operations need to be implemented to ensure further modal shift.

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Roadblocks to sustainable logistics in India’s Auto Industry

Authors: Saurabh Chandra, Debabrata Ghosh and Sandeep Nimje

A study carried out by the Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation (MISI) and the Indian Institute of Management suggests that the industry can use waterborne transportation to deliver more autos. Strategies such as encouraging more collaboration between stakeholders and targeting investments in water infrastructure could facilitate a shift from road to water modes. There are lessons that other developing countries could learn from the research findings.

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Combined fleet deployment and inventory management in roll-on/roll-off shipping

Authors: Saurabh Chandra, Marielle Christiansen and Kjetil Fagerholt

In the maritime transportation of automobiles, roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) shipping companies operate liner shipping services across major trade routes. Large ro-ro shipping companies are well placed to offer end-to-end integrated logistics services to auto manufacturers engaged in international trade of vehicles. Therefore, we present a new mixed integer programming model for fleet deployment including inventory management at the ports along each trade route. Due to the complexity of the problem, a rolling horizon heuristic (RHH) is proposed. The RHH solves the problem by iteratively solving sub-problems with shorter planning horizon. Computational results based on real instances are presented.

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Outbound logistics management practices in the automotive industry: an emerging economy perspective

Authors: Saurabh Chandra, Debabrata Ghosh, and Samir K. Srivastava

Outbound logistics management practices, specific to India have drawn limited attention in the past. Recently though, this sector has garnered the renewed attention from researchers and practitioners. Through an exploratory study, we attempt to understand and illustrate the outbound logistics management practices of the automotive industry in India. Outbound logistics is divided into a set of interlinked functions based on a logistics framework and described accordingly. Based on findings from the exploratory study and extant literature in this field, a framework for the development of integrated logistics management practices in the automotive industry in India is derived, and several research directions are proposed.

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Enhancing the role of coastal shipping in outbound automotive logistics- a viability study

Authors: Saurabh Chandra; Marielle Christiansen; Kjetil Fagerholt

Indian automotive manufacturers rely mainly on direct truck deliveries from their assembly plants to the dealers/customers across the country. As India has an extensive coastline and railway network, companies should be able to develop more efficient ways of distribution. Such modal shifts are expected to reduce logistics costs and decongest the existing road network. We select a major Indian automotive manufacturer based in the southern part of India, operating with 14 ports in the country as potential ro-ro (roll-on/roll-off) terminals to analyze the modal shift from primary road based distribution to coastal intermodal shipping. Regulatory framework and policy initiatives related to this area are discussed along with challenges faced in logistics operations. A mixed integer linear programming model is developed to test the viability of modal shift. The mathematical model minimizes the total cost of distribution and suggests the extent of modal shift, optimal selection of vessel types, route options and port usage in distribution. The computational study shows that a major modal shift can be achieved by full-scale implementation of coastal intermodal shipping for automotive distribution under favorable operational cost structure. The fixed cost of shipping and port charges need to be substantially reduced to enable major modal shift. The suggested scenario calls for a favorable regulatory framework and infrastructure development. Appropriate port tariff structure, tax rebates and priority in port usage for coastal vessels are required. In terms of infrastructure, regional major ports need to be developed as ro-ro terminals, with the ability to handle large vessels, availability of efficient automobile handling facilities and last-mile connectivity to customer locations.

Ongoing Projects

Coastal shipping viability

Authors: Saurabh Chandra, Marielle Christiansen and Kjetil Fagerholt

Indian automotive manufacturers rely mainly on direct truck deliveries from their assembly plants to the dealers/customers across the country. As India has an extensive coastline and railway network, companies should be able to develop more efficient ways of distribution. Such modal shifts are expected to reduce logistics costs and decongest the existing road network. We select a major Indian automotive manufacturer based in the southern part of India, operating with 12 ports in the country as potential ro-ro (roll-on/roll-off) terminals to analyze the modal shift from primary road based distribution to coastal intermodal shipping. Regulatory framework and policy initiatives related to this area are discussed along with challenges faced in logistics operations. A mixed integer linear programming model is developed to test the viability of modal shift. The mathematical model minimizes the total cost of distribution and suggests the extent of modal shift, optimal selection of vessel types, route options and port usage in distribution. Application of the model to the case study shows that a major modal shift can be achieved by full-scale implementation of coastal intermodal shipping for automotive distribution. The suggested scenario calls for favorable regulatory framework and infrastructure development. Appropriate port tariff structure, tax rebates and priority in port usage for coastal vessels are required. In terms of infrastructure, regional major ports need to be developed as ro-ro terminals, with the ability to handle large vessels, availability of efficient cargo handling facilities and last-mile connectivity to customer locations.

Maritime system design

Authors: Saurabh Chandra

Coastal shipping is an upcoming mode of transportation in India. So far, the mode is generally used for bulk cargo. Other freight has been tried on an irregular basis. A firm carrying out a major part of its domestic freight logistics within India needs to design a maritime supply chain network to minimize the cost and maximize the effectiveness of this mode of transportation. To this end, we take the case study of a logistics company trying to develop a coastal shipping based maritime logistics system for the distribution of finished automobiles from the factories to the dealers all over India. We propose a MILP model for the same and run a simulation with real data to find appropriate vessel types, ports, routes, port-destination linkages, and storage areas required at various locations. This model considers inventory holding cost along with transportation cost for multiple variants of the product. Thus, which of the variants to ship using coastal and which ones using direct trucking will also be suggested.

Bottlenecks in the development of coastal shipping in India

Authors: Harshal Lowalekar and Saurabh Chandra

For a country like India with a long coastline, coastal shipping or short-sea shipping is an environmentally friendly and sustainable means of transport. Shifting cargo movement to coastal shipping will also alleviate the existing roadways and railways transportation from rising congestion and associated economic and social costs. Several issues in the development of coastal shipping in India have been identified in previous studies. The important ones are strict cabotage laws, underdeveloped infrastructure, and complex port procedures, underdeveloped minor ports, poor hinterland connectivity of ports, competition with foreign going vessels at ports for berthing, lack of collaborative planning between shippers and logistics companies. The government realizes the importance of coastal shipping and has introduced a supportive policy framework, which is expected to remove or reduce most of the identified constraints. Consequently, there has been a steady rise in the share of coastal shipping, although very slow. In this paper, we attempt to identify the major bottlenecks in the development of coastal shipping in India under the existing policy framework through a rigorous cause-and-effect analysis. It is shown that the poor state of affairs in the coastal shipping system is largely due to very few policies. Such restrictive policies which have led to slow development of coastal shipping are identified, and the recommendations are made to eliminate such policies. This research shows that that elimination of such policy constraints will go a long way in improving the state of coastal shipping in India.

Incentive design model for supply chains involving coastal shipping and logistical services

Authors: Omkar P. Desai and Saurabh Chandra

In the underdeveloped economy of India, almost 96% of ready-to-sale automobiles are dispatched from manufacturing plants to intermediary dealer locations on specialized trucks on road. In recent years, a handful of logistics service providers have offered sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions involving a coastal shipping mode. The particular mode of transportation is cost efficient for the supply chain players as well. Nevertheless, the critical challenges in coastal shipping in the highly competitive industry are relatively smaller supply volumes of individual manufacturers and demand from dealers individually, and longer lead times. Thereby, the coastal shipping mode of transport is less attractive for dealers as their profitability is directly linked with the financial turnaround in the channel connecting manufacturers and downstream customers. An alternative to improve the attractiveness of coastal shipping mode to dealers and to ensure sustainability of the supply channel is to share the logistical benefits with dealers and/or with end-customers. We develop an analytical model using game theoretic techniques to characterize decision making problems of the players involved in the entire supply chains. Our aim is to examine incentives for the supply chain players to adopt coastal shipping.

Impact of Shipping Freight Sentiment on Stock Return, Liquidity and Volatility: A Multi-Country Experience

Authors: Saumya R. Dash, Debasish Maitra, Satya R.Sahoo, and Saurabh Chandra

In recent years, there are increasing evidence of significant sentiment related factors influence on global stock market, commodity market, and future contracts (Baker and Wurgler, 2206; Deeney et al., 2015; Debata et al., 2017; Han, 2007; Papapostolou et al., 2016). The increasing evidence of asset pricing beyond the theoretical prediction of rational pricing has been a cause of concern for both policy makers and investors. Among the growing body of literature much less focus has been given to the sentiment based pricing for the shipping industry. Existing literature (Papapostolou et al., 2014, 2016) suggest that there is an important global shipping sentiment variable. However, the application of this variable is only limited to aggregate stock return behavior of certain selected countries (Papapostolou, 2016). There is scope to extend the literature of shipping sentiment with finer proxies and the application of the proxy for managerial decision making in terms of stock return behavior, volatility of the return, and the liquidity of the study. No study till date explores this issue on a large sample. This conspicuous gap in the literature motivates us to carry out a study by examining the impact of shipping freight sentiment on stock return, liquidity and volatility on a multi-country sample.