An analysis of the factors affecting the operation efficiency of chemical tankers

Chemical shipping industry is a unique branch of shipping due to the severe problems experienced during the operations, characteristics of chemical tanker ships as well as the specific features of chemical cargoes and the safety-related requirements needed in the every single step of the tanker operations. In the light of such challenging industry dynamics, an evaluation of the key success factors for chemical tanker operations is needed. Operational efficiency, as a factor closely related to the time spent at ports and tank cleaning operations, is considered as one of the key success factors of chemical tanker operations together with the fleet size and composition, contracts and intermodal capabilities. Any contribution made to the improvement of these factors may have a positive impact on the overall performance of the tanker shipping. Hence, the investigation regarding the main components of operational efficiency of tanker ships by incorporating the main variables of the tanker operations can be considered as an obvious need in the industry. This study primarily aims to reveal the main factors determining the operational efficiency of chemical tanker ships within the context of chemical tanker shipping. The study also attempts to identify the main determinants playing a key role in the operational efficiency of the three stages of tanker ship operations, namely tank cleaning, loading/unloading and transportation. The study employs a qualitative research method and structured interviews are conducted with the operation and fleet managers of chemical tanker shipping companies located in Istanbul and Izmir. The main criteria in the selection of the sample are that these managers have considerable sea experience in chemical tankers. Structured interview guide is prepared according to the recent literature in the selected field in addition to the researcher?s own elaborations regarding the operational efficiency. The findings of the interviews are discussed and evaluated through content and descriptive analysis techniques in order to determine the main variables to be employed in the further research. Although there is a considerable literature on the efficiency and the productivity of ports in the shipping industry, the literature regarding the operational efficiency of tanker ships and specifically the chemical tankers is quite scant. Considering the fact that the majority of the research in this field is basically based on the calculation of the operational efficiency within the context of engineering discipline, analysis and the evaluation of the operational efficiency factors in chemical tankers and determining the main variables to be considered in the further research can be dictated as the main contribution of this study. Hence, this study is a pioneer research on the identification regarding the key factors of operational efficiency of chemical tankers through the use of qualitative interviews with the experts in the so-called field. Keywords: Operational Efficiency, Safety, Maritime Transportation, Chemical Tanker