Investigating the Competitive Factors of Container Ports in the Mediterranean Area: An Experimental Analysis Using DEA and PCA

In the maritime world scenario, various challenges are affecting Mediterranean container ports, which are trying to keep high their efficiency and their competitiveness through infrastructural and managerial improvements. The identification of the priority actions requires the analysis of the productivity of each port in relation to the use of its resources. This study applies Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in order to investigate the potential factors that can affect the efficiency of Mediterranean container ports. These methods use six input variables (yard area, berth depth, number of quay cranes, equipment, berth length and distance of the port from the Suez-Gibraltar axis) and one output variable (port throughput expressed in TEUs). The results can help to highlight the potential factors of success for Mediterranean container ports and to identify future policies and management strategies aimed towards the strengthening of the analyzed context.