Competitiveness of Turkish Coaster Merchant Fleet: A Qualitative Analysis By Short Sea Shipping Perspective

There is an intense competition across many sectors in the maritime industry. Coaster owners being in a market where perfect competition rules apply has to be competitive in order to survive. This study aims to analyze the competitiveness of Turkish coaster merchant fleet that consists of the vessels whose cargo carrying capacity differs from 1.000 dwt to 12.000 dwt and that carries dry bulk goods and general cargo based on short sea shipping concept covering Black Sea, Mediterranean and Continental Europe. Based on a qualitative research methodology, interviews were held and data were collected by using semi-structured questionnaire, and the data collected from the interviews was categorized in order to describe and explain patterns and themes. The findings of the interviews were analyzed within the context of sector-specific external factors and company-specific internal factors, and the competitiveness of shipowners operating in the Turkish coaster market was analyzed in detail. It is expected that the findings and implications will especially shed light on the decision makers and policy makers in the sector and contribute to the current literature.