Paper Title
Collaboration In Maritime Supply Chain Relationships: A Case Study Of A Moroccan Port (Tangier Med)

Abstract
Contemporary International trade has experienced enormous growth over the last century, as a result of the great innovation, technology integration, and containerisation. A Port is one of the vital elements that boost international trade (Xiuhui and Wei, 2011). Traditionally, ports were just interfaces between sea and inland transport (Trujillo and Nombela, 1999; Carbone and De Martino, 2003), where their main activities were limited to cargo handling, cargo storage, and distribution. According to UNCTAD report (2008), since the introduction of containerisation in the 1990s, the global container trade witnessed a massive growth to reach an estimated 143 million TEUs and 1.24 billion in tonnage in 2007. Ports started to rethink their strategies to improve better efficiency and deal with this increasing development of container transportation caused by globalisation and industrial boom. Consequently, new forms of collaborations had established among ports logistics chains. OECD report (2002) suggested that to achieve efficient ports logistics systems in the contemporary port operations network, extensive collaborative relationships among private corporations, governments, and international organisations are essential. Therefore, the management of relationships among ports logistics chains in Heaver’s (2011) view has taken much attention by maritime economics lately. Although, significant academic studies have emphasized the significance of collaboration among port supply chain members (Carbone and De Martino, 2003; Panayides and Song, 2008; Panayides and Song, 2009; Heaver 2011), the criteria and nature of collaboration needs more in depth investigation. Min et al., (2005) emphasized that collaboration is the driving force behind effective supply chain management. However, few organizations were able to benefit from its outcomes (Ellinger et al., 2006; Min et al., 2007).The implementation of collaboration also remains very hard because of the unclear understanding of the real meaning of collaboration among organisations (Barratt, 2004) In this research, I argue that understanding collaboration can be the primary instrument towards successful practices. Through a single case study (Tangier-Med port), this research aims to analyse the nature and the criteria of effective collaborations among a Moroccan port’ players (Tangier Med). By providing a significant understanding of the fundamental concepts of collaboration, and examining the significance of Information Technology, Communication, Trust and Mutual Benefits in establishing fruitful collaboration in maritime supply chain relationships in port development.