Factors Affecting Container Shipping Through Inland Waterways

Inland waterways in India have shown positive growth over the last 10 years. The mode of transport is very promising, yet desired volumes are yet to be achieved. In 2018, India started its first domestic container shipping and the first export of container shipping through inland waterways in 2020. This research work expedites the identification of various prominent factors using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process method. Four major factors were considered based on feedback from experts, and using the said method, factors and subfactors were ranked globally. Among the four factors we considered, infrastructure factors were found as the most critical factor, followed by economic factors, geographical factors, and, lastly, regulatory factors. Moreover, as per the weights obtained for the subfactors, inadequate river depth of rivers, container inventory, and repositioning emerged as significant factors that need to be addressed. Finally, this research paper puts forward steps necessary for boosting the growth of container shipping through inland waterways.