Ports are central hubs in global supply chains and play a crucial role in ensuring security of supply for the economy and society. Disruptions caused by crises, extreme weather events, geopolitical conflicts, or technical failures can have far-reaching consequences. This makes it all the more important to systematically understand the resilience of port and logistics systems and to strengthen them in a targeted manner.The aim of the CritSupPort research project is to develop cross-sector measures that strengthen Germany's security of supply in the event of restricted port operations. The project examines the central role of ports as logistical hubs and critical junctions in freight transport. Disruptions in ports quickly have far-reaching cascading effects along supply chains. The "port hub" (its physical structures, internal and external dependencies, and communication channels) is systematically recorded, analyzed, modeled, and evaluated in terms of its crisis suitability and resilience as a central element of maritime supply chains in the project. ogistical, technical, organizational, and communicative processes of port operations and their interdependencies in pre- and post-run are examined. The focus is on the scientific advancement of methods for the system-analytical description of complex logistical infrastructures under crisis conditions. By combining empirical analyses with model-based methods, new insights into the functionality, vulnerability, and adaptability of port and logistics systems are to be gained. Another key objective is to develop a generalizable system model for the port that integrates logistical, organizational, technical, and communication structures and can map both normal and crisis operations. This model forms the basis for deriving measures to strengthen security of supply and for developing decision-making and communication procedures that enable coordinated prioritization and supply of critical goods in the event of a crisis. It also represents a methodological innovation, as it is the first to analyze and evaluate the cross-sector dependencies between actors, processes, and information flows in such depth.The project combines methods of system analysis, scenario and sensitivity assessment, and multi-criteria decision support to gain insights into the vulnerability and adaptability of ports. This contributes to expanding theoretical models for assessing the resilience of logistics systems and translating them into practical tools.
This project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under grant number 13N17740. The authors are responsible for the content of this publication.
CONTACT PERSONS:
Marvin Kastner, M.Sc.
Tel.: +49 40 30601 4793
E-Mail: marvin.kastner(at)tuhh(dot)de
Ole Grasse, M.Sc.
Tel.: +49 40 30601 4009
E-Mail: ole.grasse(at)tuhh(dot)de
Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH)
Institute of Maritime Logistics
Am Schwarzenberg-Campus 4 (Building D)
21073 Hamburg
