Megaships in Marine Transportation: A Critical Literature Review and Extensions

Over the last few decades the size of container vessels, deployed by liner shipping companies, has significantly increased. In 2014-2015 three megaships with over 19,000 TEU capacity have been launched. Large vessels are more advantageous for liner shipping companies, as they provide lower voyage cost per TEU as compared to medium and small size vessels. However, some experts underline that megaships have an excessive capacity and cause negative externalities for other supply chain players. This study performs a detailed overview of scientific literature related to megaships in marine transportation. The collected papers are classified by different topics. Based on the literature review findings, necessary conclusions and future research directions are presented.