A Study on Competitiveness of Sea Transport by Comparing International Transport Routes between Korea and EU

This study analyzes competitiveness of the six Korea-Europe transport routes. For the criteria of analysis, the quantitative factors (total transport distance, total transport time, and total transport cost) and the qualitative factors (transport service, safety, and awareness) were selected and weighed. The factors were then applied to the TOPSIS technique to rank the routes based on their competitiveness. The result of TOPSIS analysis showed the priority in the routes as follows:Route 1 (Trans Korea Railway(TKR) and Trans Siberia Railway(TSR))> Route 6 (Arctic Route)>Route4(Busan-Vanino-TSR)>Route2(Busan-Vostochny-TSR)> Route3 (Busan-Vladivostok-Vostochny-TSR)> Route 5 (Suez Canal Route).Route 1 was found the most competitive, and Route 5, the most widely used sea way was ranked the lowest. In addition, the new transport routes, Route 1 and 6 are shown to be more competitive than the currently available routes, Route 2, 3 and 4. However, these routes need national level supports (rail construction for Route 1 and subsidy plan for Route 6) for the commercial use in the future.