International Transportation | Collection 2020 14 Cooperation with Hanse Networks in the North and Baltic Sea Regions Security strategy for port hinterland traffic via data handling before cargo handling Logistic cooperation, Hanse city, Port hinterland traffic, Nordic Baltic Research Alliance, Hanse Institut für Logistik & Handelsmanagement, Blockchain Internationalization and cooperation between the North and Baltic Sea Regions and Central Europe mean safeguarding them at the same time. Synchromodal logistics cooperations which are vulnerable to exogenous shocks can be stabilized by established Hanse alliances. By means of blockchain-supported databases data handling before cargo handling succeeds. Trading, transport and securing activities, consequently complete value chains, turn to get more efficient and safe by „decentralized centralization“. Thomas Decker T he “Blue Banana”, a special class of Euro-region with roughly 111 million denizens, is an agglomeration, whose actors are already able to cooperate with each other to a high degree, solely on the grounds of their Euro-centred position (figure 1). This agglomeration disposes of a disproportionate number of central institutions for economy, know-how, capital, settlements, traffic and infrastructure, including the Rhenish district as well as the Rhine as a central axis. Cooperation schemes are therefore manifold. In contrast, the area towards Northand Northeast Europe with about 20 million inhabitants still offers frequent opportunities for development. The increasing expansion of infrastructure and a rising demand for specifically logistics-related services require new alliances that accompany these developments. In particular, the conjunction of Central European transport and traffic sectors with those of the Scandinavian and Baltic states, continues to show a gap that needs to be bridged (figure 2). Mounting terminating, originating and transit traffic across all modes of transport lead to more condensed seaport hinterland traffic in the North and Baltic Sea region, Port of Helsinki Photo: Peter H./ pixabay STRATEGIES Logistics Logistics STRATEGIES International Transportation | Collection 2020 15 and the Baltic Sea is meanwhile considered an EU inland sea [1]. In addition, growing insecurities of international trade routes and communication channels (logistics hub of the PR of China on Iceland, 5G/ Huawei etc.) and concomitant tendencies for renationalization (Brexit, customs barriers etc.) jeopardise functioning exchanges of goods and information. This is why these developments suggest strengthening the group of the “European Union” by supplementary networks in the private sector as well as on macroeconomic and transnational levels. Internationalization of synchromodal logistics cooperations in the North and Baltic Sea Regions by means of Hanse Networks The subsequent approaches to a stronger linkage of the North and Baltic Sea area with Central Europe are currently being developed: • Integration of private and parastatal cooperations in the field of traffic logistics, with the aim of a more progressive synchromodalization, for example by LogCoop GmbH / Düsseldorf, a strongly growing cooperation of more than 200 members to date, which predominantly comprises medium-sized freight carriers. • Supplement to political institutions via strengthening of historically evolved trade cooperations such as the partially established and acknowledged Hanse networks, for which awareness has been continuously raised. • Support of the mentioned actors by evidence-based research alliances, e.g. by “The Nordic Baltic Hanseatic League 2.0”, a logistics alliance of the Hanse Institute of Logistics & Trade Management at RFH University of Applied Sciences / Cologne, that was initiated in 2019. Internationalization of synchromodal logistics cooperations in the North and Baltic Sea Regions Freight volumes are also on the rise in the North and Baltic Sea area, across all modes of transport. Although traffic infrastructures in this region of Europe have yet to reach their limits, a development similar to the one of the catchment area of the “Blue Banana” is quite foreseeable [2]. Existing transport chains are therefore to be enhanced in terms of networking, and they should be devised more flexibly. For this to happen, prerequisites are novel software and database structures that enable all participants in the system to equally access any information, devoid of discrimination. To this end, new cooperation models are called for in the transportation industry, potentially demanding even an open communication policy of price among the transport service providers, if need be. The “heyday” of tied freight tariffs might well be history for more than a quarter of a century, and the price pressure is persistently high. Transport cooperations, however, promise a higher turnaround, as their cooperatives could actually manage to pass along necessarily higher freight prices to forwarders, shippers and end-consumers. Also, there is a certain amount of unvaried resentment within the transport chains, expressed by and amongst the participating parties, sometimes understandably so. The problem of cherry-picking within the supply chains is well known to all freighters; its containment an unspoken goal when competing for profitable tours. The stemming might work, applying cooperation models on the basis of block chain-tied and nondiscriminatory data bases, for the benefit of all cooperatives. Respective examples have been noted, e.g. in the field of agricultural goods and nutrient logistics, where parastatal chambers of agriculture partly codetermine the logistics routes [3]. Cooperations of that ilk require an independent and neutral system head as, for example LogCoop GmbH / Düsseldorf, who are already offering these services on behalf of their members. London Amsterdam Rotterdam Paris Frankfurt/ M. Stuttgart Düsseldorf Zürich Mailand Genua Madrid Barcelona Marseille Rom München Wien Budapest Hamburg Bremen Leipzig Berlin Warschau Prag Kopenhagen Stockholm Riga Helsinki Figure 1: The „Blue Banana“ (concept developped by Roger Brunet 1989) is a discontinuous corridor of urbanisation spreading over Western and Central Europe. Own work Figure 2: The conjunction of Central European transport and traffic sectors with those of the Scandinavian and Baltic states lead to more condensed seaport hinterland traffic in the North and Baltic Sea region, and the Baltic Sea is meanwhile considered an EU inland sea [1]. Illustration: C. Ziegler / Trialog Publishers STRATEGIES Logistics International Transportation | Collection 2020 16 In any case, a non-discriminatory data base means that all available data - and, above all, all the prices - are on hand for each and every member of the system. In this respect, it makes no difference whether the member of the system is a carter, a rail or barge operator, or even a freighter. All system members will communicate openly concerning their operational transactions, and they will exchange freights according to their abilities. Each member will receive adequate, tariff-oriented remuneration for their services. International and regional Hanse networks by example of Neusser Hanse For approximately three decades, the number of groups with an affinity for the Hanse has been growing, e.g. the so-called Hanse League of Towns, the Hanse Parliament or various other Hanse associations, although these often merely preserve the historical heritage of the Hanse. For instance, the city of Neuss has been in possession of the Hanse privilege, conferred by Emperor Friedrich III, since 1475. Trade between Neuss and the Netherlands instantly flourished. Neuss had trade relations reaching as far as Scandinavia and into the Baltic Sea area. Today, the Neuss-Düsseldorf ports with a turnaround of commodities of ca. 16 million tonnes constitute Germany‘s third-largest inland port. In order to continue to use and expand the advantages inherent in these Hanse networks - so steeped in tradition - in future, it is however indispensable to enlarge them by applied academic research networks and, in due course, by project-specific platforms linking Germany with the Scandinavian countries of the North and Baltic Sea area. Relevant projects have shown that such Hanse networks may generate positive displacement effects in traffic, if only within a national or regional framework, for the time being [4]. Hanse Institute of Logistics & Trade Management at RFH University of Applied Sciences, Cologne The two gaps discussed are going to be reduced by the following logistics alliance, already initiated: The Nordic Baltic Hanseatic League 2.0: Alliance for Sustainable Logistics & Trade Solutions. Its research focus is the digitalization, greening and protection of the international trade routes and networks of all the neighbouring states in the North and Baltic Sea area, with the aim of linking them tighter to the Central European territory. Relevant research partners are, e.g.: 1. Riga City and Riga Technical University (RTU) 2. City of Gdansk and Gdansk Technical University (GUT) 3. City of Gdansk and Gdansk University 4. City of Bergen and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HiB) 5. Hafnarfjördur Town and University of Iceland 6. City of Turku and Turku AMK University of Applied Sciences 7. City of Kalmar and Linnaeus University 8. City of Venlo and Fontys Hogeschool Techniek en Logistiek Conclusion Internationalization and cooperation between the North and Baltic Sea Area and Central Europe also means to protect these same. Synchromodal logistics cooperations are, however, prone to exogenous shocks. Entrenched Hanse groups may counteract these by non-discriminatory block chaindata bases and novel research alliances such as the “Nordic Baltic Hanseatic League 2.0”. To this extent, trade, traffic and security, or protection, are put on “one level lower” - from the current globalized embedding. This novel “decentralised networking” proffers its partners beyond the EU the chance to implement data handling before cargo handling. The IT-savvy Baltic states of the North and Baltic Sea region offer ideal preconditions for this: Consequently, a promising perspective to render traffic control and value more decentralized, and thus safer, again. ■ REFERENCES [1] Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland e.V. (2007): Entwicklung des Seetransportes im Baltischen Raum, 2007 (https: / / www.bund.net/ fileadmin/ user_upload_bund/ publikationen/ mobilitaet/ mobilitaet_seetransporte_baltischer_raum.pdf; 20.01.2020) [2] Buss, Klaus-Peter (2018): Branchenanalyse Hafenwirtschaft - Entwicklungslinien des Hafenwettbewerbs und Herausforderungen der öffentlichen Akteure, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, 2018 (https: / / www.boeckler.de/ pdf/ p_study_hbs_402.pdf; 20.01.2020) [3] Decker, T. (2014): Transport von Agrogütern mit Binnenschiffen zur Versorgung von Biomassekraftwerken, Ergebnisbericht zum EURE- GIO-Forschungsprojekt HARRM Neusser Schriften, 25 S., 1. Jg., (1) 2014 [4] Decker, T./ Kostosz, R. (2016): Untersuchung der Seehafenhinterlandanbindungen entlang einer West-Ost-Schiene zwischen Nordrhein-Westfalen und Sachsen-Anhalt / Brandenburg / Berlin, 20 S., Neusser Schriften, 3. Jg., (1) 2016 Thomas Decker, Prof. Dr. Head of Hanse Institut für Logistik & Handelsmanagement, Professur für Transport- und Verkehrslogistik, Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln gGmbH, Standort Neuss thomas.decker@rfh-neuss.eu eMove360° Hybrid 2020 Conference & exhibition for the electric & autonomous mobility industry - 3 days you shouldn‘t miss Europe 20 - 22 October 2020 - Virtual & in real at the Kohlebunker, MOTORWORLD, Munich www.emove360.com