Role of maritime ports and shipping in the creation of the economic value of the sea areas

¹ University of Gdańsk, Faculty of Economics, 119/121Armii Krajowej str., 81-824 Sopot, Poland
² Gdynia Maritime University, Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Quality Science, 81-87 Morska Str., 81-225 Gdynia, Poland

Abstract

The sea coast location of a country has been regarded as a critical value for its development and prosperity for years. It relates to economic, military, and environmental issues. A wide scope of economic activities, like shipping and maritime ports, fishing and aquaculture, underwater mining (e.g., oil, gas, sand) and sea coast tourist activities all require access to the sea. The sea area should also be regarded as a limited resource thus the activities need to compete for maritime space. Today, comprehensive economic valuation of selected activities, both from the private and public point of view, became significantly important. The aim of this article is an attempt to evaluate the economic value of maritime space, which is generated by ports and shipping. Initially, review of the literature regarding the valuation of economic effects of maritime port and shipping was carried out. The analysis has been based on a model of the interrelation between ports and shipping and its socio-economic environment. Then, redefinition and extension of identified values to the sea areas were provided. Finally, a calculation of the unit value of sea space [PLN per sq. km] as well as identification of most valuable spatial parts of the sea was completed. The application part of the study was based on the example of Polish seaports as well as Polish maritime areas on the Baltic Sea.