The steady growth of seaborne trade has resulted in the further development of container ships, ports, and container terminals, and the operating efficiency of a container terminal is a decisive element for its competitive ability in international markets. The aim of this research is to evaluate the relative efficiency of Russian and South Korean container terminals. For this purpose, the output-oriented DEA was applied to 31 container terminals of Russian and South Korean seaports for the years from 2012 to 2014. The results indicate that Korean container terminals exhibited higher efficiency scores than their Russian counterparts.

The port throughput situation has changed since the 2008 financial crisis in the US. Therefore, we studied the situation, accurately estimating port traffic of Korean port after the 2008 financial crisis. We ensured the proper port facilities in response to changes in port traffic. In the results of regression analysis, Korean GDP and the real effective exchange rate of Korean Won were found to increase the container throughput in Korean and Busan port, as well as trade volume with China. Also, the real effective exchange rate of Korean Won was found to increase the port transshipment cargo volume. Based on the ARIMA models, we forecasted port throughput and port transshipment cargo volume for the next six years (72 months), from 2015 to 2020. As a result, port throughput of Korean and Busan ports was forecasted by increasing annual the average from about 3.5% to 3.9%, and transshipment cargo volume was forecasted by increasing the annual average about 4.5%.

우리나라 컨테이너항만 개발은 수요와 공급 논리에 따르기보다는 지역균형발전과 같은 정책적 고려에 의해 이루어진 측면이 강하다. 광양항의 시설공급 과잉뿐만 아니라 울산 신항, 포항 영일신항 등 지역 소규모 컨테이너 항만들이 운영에 어려움을 겪고 있는 것이 이를 반증한다. 특히, 지리적으로 인접한 일부 항만들이 중복되는 국내 시장을 대상으로 하고 있어서 항만 운영 활성화가 어려울 뿐만 아니라 지역적 국가적으로도 낭비 요인이 될 수 있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 부산항, 광양항, 인천항, 평택항, 울산항 등 5개 항만을 대상으로 각 항만의 특성을 실증 자료를 기반으로 분석하여 각 항만의 특성과 위상을 구체적으로 제시하여 향후 항만개발에 대한 시사점을 도출하고자 한다. 이를 위해서 해당 항만의 환적 및 수출입화물 집중도, 항만별 대륙 기종점 현황, 항만별 우리나라 내륙 기종점 현황 등의 시계열 자료를 분석하여 항만을 분류하고 기능을 정립하였다.