Fatigue is not a trivial issue and needs much attention. On the other hand, fatigue among seafarers could lead to accidents at sea due to their inability and ineffectiveness in carrying out their work. Some were caused by sleepiness and lack of vigour, which, could not only affect their safety but compromising on other seafarers as well. In this study, factors that cause fatigue among seafarers were examined analytically and their quantitative priorities were determined using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Additionally, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is used to identify the best alternatives in minimizing fatigue among seafarers. For this, data is collected through interview involving those working in academic and maritime industry with more than 5 years of experiences in dealing with seafarers. The AHP result shows that fitness is the main cause that could affect fatigue on seafarers’ reliability. Besides, TOPSIS result shows that a well-maintained shipboard is the best way in sustaining seafarers’ energy. In sum, fatigue among seafarers could influence on safety and may lead towards precarious health issue over a long-term.

Halal transportations will ensure that the Halal status of the products will be preserved. Halal certification is believed to increase the operation cost for the transport providers, which reflect the price paid by customers who choose to buy products transported by Halal transportation. Hence, it is worthwhile to investigate the willingness of Muslim consumers to pay extra for the Halal transportation cost. The study aims to identify factors influencing Muslim consumers’ attitude towards their willingness to pay for Halal transportation. Using the stimulus-organism-response model, attitude which represents the organism factor will be treated as a mediator for variables representing the stimulus factors and the variable for the response. On the other hand, the study will also examine the effect of knowledge as a moderating factor. The data was collected from Muslim consumers in Kuala Lumpur. Applying the purposive sampling method with a self-administered survey, 202 respondents agreed to participate in the study. The findings revealed that awareness and perceived behavioural control are a stimulus towards attitude, and attitude is a significant organism on willingness to pay. The study also found that attitude mediates the relationship between awareness and perceived behavioural control towards the willingness to pay for Halal transportation. Additionally, the knowledge has a moderating effect of the relationship between attitude and the willingness to pay. The findings of the study are not only beneficial for the Muslim community in Malaysia, but also the Muslims around the world.

The IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP) has been established purposely to enhance the greater safety of vessel’s navigation by standardizing the language used among seafarers. However, accidents are still occurred due to communication failures among onboard merchant vessels’ crews. It is worth mentioning that the major cause of marine accidents is human error (80%) where one-third from it was due to communication failures. Ineffective communication, different culture and language among seafarers onboard are some instigators of human error that lead to accidents in marine operations. Therefore, the primary aim of this paper is to investigate and evaluate the causal factors that contributes to communication failures onboard merchant vessels. Then, this paper recommends possible solutions for minimizing the communication failures among seafarers. To achieve this research objectives, two decision-making tools which are the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Evidential Reasoning (ER) was applied. Data and judgments are obtained from domains experts from four marine training providers and eight shipowners in Malaysia. The result has shown that lack of SMCP knowledge, prejudice and dialect varieties are the most significant factors that contribute to the communication failures onboard merchant vessels. Few suggestions and opinions from the experts are proposed in this paper. This research can assist marine training providers and shipowners to identify and evaluate the causal factors of communication failures thus corrective action can be taken.

In late 1950’s, the beginning of container revolution has started a new paradigm shift in maritime industry worldwide. This new paradigm has become a major reason for seaport systems to prepare their physical capacity, space availability, multi-modalism, transport connectivity via regionalisation. However, in early 2010’s the introduction of industrial revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) which starts the era of immersive digitalization proved that seaport systems need to be prepared to face pattern of unstable magnitudes in dynamic maritime trade. Therefore, this paper analyses key components required for Malaysian seaport system to be aligned with the key requirements in IR4.0. By employing document analysis, this research analyses the challenges faced by Malaysian seaport system as well as suggests strategies to muddle through the key requirements of IR4.0. The findings from this research indicate that Malaysian seaport system need to be improved by enforcing skill-based education system, flexibility in labour structure, development in skill and competence level as well as improvement in infrastructure suitability. The findings from this research also reflect significant strategies to improve seaport system in the era of IR4.0 including enhancing requirements for intermodal terminals, improving preparation for seaport alliances, developing mechanism for interoperability, improving utilisation of intra and interregional economic development as well as scrutinising safety and security.

The significant exodus of containers inland due to the container revolution has increased the salience of inland terminals for efficient freight distribution. Further, the migration of containers gradually inland has forced seaports to depend on these inland terminals to determine their competitiveness and offer a mechanism for competitive freight price to the consumer. The performance of dry ports need to be improved along with the dynamic nature of maritime business, to efficiently fulfil the demand all the key players in the container seaport system, provide economies of scale and scope to their respective clients and enhances the importance of inland networks to improve and consistently elongate the competitiveness of container seaports. Predicated to these importance, this paper aims to enhance dry port performance by adapting a process benchmarking strategy among the Malaysian dry ports. Prior to the adaptation of the process benchmarking approach, a grounded theory had been conducted as a method of analysis among the key players of the Malaysian container seaport system in order to provide essential inputs for the benchmarking. Through this paper, the outcome shows all four Malaysian dry ports need to improve their transportation infrastructure and operation facilities, container planning strategy, competition, location and externalities in order to assist all the key players in the container seaport system efficiently and effectively.

Malaysia, situated between East and West, is an interface in world maritime trade, playing a crucial role in the business of moving container boxes in South-eastern parts of Asia. The prominent container terminals in Malaysia such as Port Klang and Port of Tanjung Pelepas are positioned among the top twenty ports in terms of volume handled. The annual average growth of throughputs in Malaysian container ports increased more than three-fold from the year 2000 to 2010. Within this context, the development of Malaysian seaports has been significantly influenced by three forces: increased use of containerisation, significant growth in domestic economic activities and ever-changing patterns in both supply and demand chains, all of which have led to increased transshipment activities and altered shipping routes. This phenomenon has brought dynamic change to Malaysian container ports, resulting in the establishment of new terminals and adapting emerging technology to enhance the ports’ ability to accommodate larger vessels and an increased number of containers. This paper aims to present the development of Malaysian container seaports by addressing changes to acreage size and handling volumes during the last three decades. The results of the analysis suggest that major Malaysian ports are experiencing an exponential growth in container trade with the expansion of port capacity following trade growth and need effective strategies to reduce the operational pressures of Malaysian seaports. The results of this research offer directions for development strategies of seaports by utilising the existing inland freight facilities as an effective strategy for capacity enhancement and develop efficient distribution network to meet future demands.