• Satoshi InoueGRIPS
• Naohiko HibinoGRIPS
• Shigeru MorichiGRIPS

     Ports around the world have been facilitating the economic globalization through the development of port facilities and innovative technology. It is this globalization, however, that has brought structural changes to global logistics, which in turn resulted in fundamental changes in environments of the port management, especially that of container ports. To cope with the advancement of supply chain management in particular, major container ports are taking a range of strategies to transform themselves from the traditional interface between sea and land transport into logistics center of regional supply chain systems.
    This study first overviews fundamental changes facing the management of container ports. Then it analizes selected cases of major container ports with respect to their logistics strategies. Finally charateristics and challegnses of such port logistics strategies are identified, followed by discussion on their implications to port management and new roles port authority is expected to play.