Research Article

Evaluation of the Structural Competitiveness of Major Container Ports in Europe Using a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach (CRITIC-TOPSIS-SAW)

Volume: 10 Number: 2 August 27, 2026
TR EN

Evaluation of the Structural Competitiveness of Major Container Ports in Europe Using a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach (CRITIC-TOPSIS-SAW)

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the infrastructural competitiveness of Europe’s ten largest container ports using a quantitative approach and to identify the key infrastructure components that determine it. The study examines critical criteria such as quay length, maximum depth, number of cranes, terminal area, and annual capacity. Methodologically, a hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach was employed, incorporating CRITIC for the objective weighting of criteria and SAW and TOPSIS methods for ranking port performances. The findings revealed that the number of cranes (27.10%) and maximum depth (22.96%) were the most distinctive factors in the structural competitiveness of ports. According to the performance ranking, both SAW and TOPSIS results identified the ports of Antwerp-Bruges and Rotterdam as the top two ports with the strongest infrastructure in Europe. The high level of agreement obtained among different ranking methods indicates that the findings are consistent and robust in terms of sensitivity analysis. Moreover, this situation is also supported by the value of 0.9879 for the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient. Consequently, it is recommended that port authorities and decision-makers prioritize strategic investments not only in terms of physical space size but also in terms of crane capacity, which increases operational speed, and depth increases suitable for large vessels.

Keywords

References

  1. ActiaForum, (2025). The annual results of the largest European container ports in 2024. Retrieved October 22, 2025, From https://actiaforum.pl/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/EuropeanPorts2024-Port-Monitor.pdf.
  2. Barros, C. P. (2006). A benchmark analysis of Italian seaports using data envelopment analysis. Maritime Economics & Logistics, 8, 347–365. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.mel.9100163.
  3. Barros, C. P., & Athanassiou, M. (2004). Efficiency in European Seaports with DEA: Evidence from Greece and Portugal. Maritime Economics & Logistics, 6, 122–140. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.mel.9100099.
  4. Bichou, K., & Bell, M. G. H. (2007). A review of port performance measures and relationships. International Journal of Transport Management, 4(2), 79–92.
  5. Bremen Ports, (2025). https://www.bremenports.de.
  6. Cheon, S., Dowall, D. E., & Song, D.-W. (2010). Evaluating impacts of institutional reforms on port efficiency changes: Ownership, corporate structure, and total factor productivity changes of world container ports. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 46(4), 546–561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2009.04.001.
  7. Chou, C.-C. (2007). A fuzzy MCDM method for solving marine transshipment container port selection problems. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 186(1), 435–444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amc.2006.07.125.
  8. Conover, W. J. (1999). Practical nonparametric statistics (3rd ed.). Wiley.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

International Trade (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

August 27, 2026

Submission Date

December 27, 2025

Acceptance Date

July 15, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 10 Number: 2

APA
Öçal, B. (2026). Evaluation of the Structural Competitiveness of Major Container Ports in Europe Using a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach (CRITIC-TOPSIS-SAW). Fiscaoeconomia, 10(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.25295/fsecon.1850229
AMA
1.Öçal B. Evaluation of the Structural Competitiveness of Major Container Ports in Europe Using a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach (CRITIC-TOPSIS-SAW). FSECON. 2026;10(2):1-18. doi:10.25295/fsecon.1850229
Chicago
Öçal, Bora. 2026. “Evaluation of the Structural Competitiveness of Major Container Ports in Europe Using a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach (CRITIC-TOPSIS-SAW)”. Fiscaoeconomia 10 (2): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.25295/fsecon.1850229.
EndNote
Öçal B (August 1, 2026) Evaluation of the Structural Competitiveness of Major Container Ports in Europe Using a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach (CRITIC-TOPSIS-SAW). Fiscaoeconomia 10 2 1–18.
IEEE
[1]B. Öçal, “Evaluation of the Structural Competitiveness of Major Container Ports in Europe Using a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach (CRITIC-TOPSIS-SAW)”, FSECON, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 1–18, Aug. 2026, doi: 10.25295/fsecon.1850229.
ISNAD
Öçal, Bora. “Evaluation of the Structural Competitiveness of Major Container Ports in Europe Using a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach (CRITIC-TOPSIS-SAW)”. Fiscaoeconomia 10/2 (August 1, 2026): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.25295/fsecon.1850229.
JAMA
1.Öçal B. Evaluation of the Structural Competitiveness of Major Container Ports in Europe Using a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach (CRITIC-TOPSIS-SAW). FSECON. 2026;10:1–18.
MLA
Öçal, Bora. “Evaluation of the Structural Competitiveness of Major Container Ports in Europe Using a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach (CRITIC-TOPSIS-SAW)”. Fiscaoeconomia, vol. 10, no. 2, Aug. 2026, pp. 1-18, doi:10.25295/fsecon.1850229.
Vancouver
1.Bora Öçal. Evaluation of the Structural Competitiveness of Major Container Ports in Europe Using a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach (CRITIC-TOPSIS-SAW). FSECON. 2026 Aug. 1;10(2):1-18. doi:10.25295/fsecon.1850229
download?token=eyJ1aWQiOjEwMTE3NywiYXV0aF9yb2xlcyI6WyJST0xFX1VTRVIiXSwiZW5kcG9pbnQiOiJqb3VybmFsIiwib3JpZ2luYWxuYW1lIjoiMjAyNi0wMy0xNF8wMC0xOC01OC5wbmciLCJwYXRoIjoiNTVjMC82NjE0LzA5NGEvNjliNDdmNjNjMjdiMDUuMDA4NTE4OTUucG5nIiwiZXhwIjoxNzczNDQwMzcxLCJub25jZSI6IjMzYzNhMDczOTJhZDBiOWUxMjA4MTJlMzAwOTdlMDhjIn0.uxgvoBOu5rdPPckMLotZ4eBnzOQVB_StL3DcxMXqMSU


Fiscaoeconomia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).