Port-city closeness and turnaround time critical for short sea shipping sustainable performance. A case study: Spain.

Abstract

Air pollution is the most relevant externality of maritime transport and its effects are more acute in urban areas. As Short Sea Shipping (SSS) services call ports frequently and expend significant time in port, both the overall turnaround time and the port city closeness, become critical in its sustainable performance. This paper analyses the impact of maritime transport at Spanish SSS ports and identifies the ideal ones, reflecting the differences in their sustainable performance and finally identifying the characteristics that a harbour needs to gather in order to minimize air pollution impact in the maritime transport sector.