_-_ Trujillo, L. and Nombela, G. _Privatization and regulation of the seaport industry_

# **1.** - **INTRODUCTION**

The relevance of seaports in the efficient working of an economy cannot be understated since all goods and passengers transported by sea require the use of, at least, two ports. In the majority of countries, most international trade (export/import), and in some cases also large shares of domestic trade, is done through maritime transport. For long-haul shipments, there are no alternative transport modes to ships, with the exception of high-value and small volume cargoes, for which air transport offers speed as its advantage.

Seaborne traffic depends on seaports for all its operations, since ports act as _interfaces_ between maritime and inland modes of transport (railways, road or inland navigation). Therefore, in order to have an efficient maritime transport system, seaports must be guaranteed to work efficiently. The basic objective of a seaport is to provide a fast and safe transit of goods and passengers through its facilities, so that generalized costs for passengers (fare+time) and for shippers (tariffs+storage time) are minimized. Another role that some large seaports play is to serve as _hubs_ for connection and transshipment, allowing cargoes on different long-haul routes to be served more efficiently by several ships.

The role of a modern seaport can be summarized in the following UNCTAD definition _(United Nations Conference on Trade and Development):_ "Seaports are interfaces between several modes of transport, and thus they are centers for combined transport. Furthermore, they are multi-functional markets and industrial areas where goods are not only in transit, but they are also sorted, manufactured and distributed. As a matter of fact, seaports are multi-dimensional systems, which must be integrated within logistic chains to fulfil properly their functions. An efficient seaport requires, besides infrastructure, superstructure and equipment, adequate connections to other transport modes, a motivated management, and sufficiently qualified employees." In the above definition, one of the main characteristics of seaports is stressed: a seaport is not merely an organization that provides a _single_ service, but instead, seaports provide multiple activities. It is therefore interesting to study in detail all those taks, in order to evaluate the most efficient provision of these activities from an economic point of view. Moreover, since all port activities take place in a limited area, it is also relevant to study how they are coordinated, and what is the role that _port authorities_ -or any other responsible institutions- must play in regulating seaports' infrastructure and activities.

In the last decades, we have witnessed profound changes in maritime transport, which have modified the balance between capital and labor at seaports. Ports are now increasingly becoming capital-intensive industries, while in the past they used to be labor-intensive. This change has generated an excess of employees in most ports around the world. The development of containerized transport is another factor that has significantly modified ports' operations. Containers have allowed large cost reductions in cargo handling, but they have also imposed new needs on ports in terms of equipment (gantry cranes, specialized terminals improved pavements, etc). On the other hand, economies of scale obtained by the transport of large quantities of containers and bulk cargoes have led to the building of increasingly larger specialized ships that require substantial port investments in new infrastructures and equipment.

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