Our data is derived from the Drewry Shipping Database(2006, 2007) for year 2006. The decision to focus on this specific period is due mainly to the global financial and
economic crisis, starting in 2008, which has largely impacted on maritime and terminal flows. The crisis has exposed the vulnerability of the maritime industry and therefore prompted terminal operators to shift their strategies towards greater rationalization of the services and investment, and to a ‘‘more cautious assessment of the future prospects’’ (Notteboom and Rodrigue 2011). The same level of maritime traffic pre-crisis is nevertheless expected to return in the future (Vanelslander and Van de
Voorde 2009); we have therefore chosen to analyze the results from year 2006 in order to provide insights into possible future trends in container terminal operations