Abstract

Ports are facing several logistical challenges and changes in globalization patterns. For this reason, port oper-ations need to be more efficient than ever. Moreover, they can be classified as maritime operations, terminal operations, and connectivity or land operations. Regarding this, maritime operations represent around 48% of the transport costs and are defined as the processes involved from a vessel's arrival to a dock until the end of its cargo transference. This research focuses on the efficiency analysis of these operations using data envelopment analysis and proposes a method for estimating economic impacts when efficient maritime operations are ach-ieved. A literature review is carried out in order to present a classification of port variables used in data envelopment analysis. In this way, the variables' classification supports the selection of maritime operation variables for the efficiency analysis. A case study of twelve Chilean containerized port cargo terminals is used to illustrate the proposed method, where results of the analysis are discussed. For inefficient ports, medium and long-term recommendations (goals) are presented and economic savings are estimated. In this way, the proposed methodological framework can be a useful tool to support policy-making decisions with respect to prioritizing port infrastructure investments.