Port service chains and port performance evaluation

•Port service chain is introduced to account for quality-of-service relationships.•Port service chain methodology is presented to evaluate port performance.•Port services can include cargo, vessel and vehicle services.•Rigorously shown that a cooperative port service chain is more effective.

This paper provides a novel and unique methodology for evaluating the effectiveness performance of a port’s individual services by utilizing the concept of a port service chain – a service network utilized by a port’s service providers in the provision of the port’s services that accounts for the quality-of-service relationships among the services. If such relationships are ignored, the resource allocations by the port’s service providers to improve the quality of their port services will either over- or underestimate the amount of resources needed. A cooperative port service chain will always (under certain conditions) be more effective than a non-cooperative port service chain.