• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.111-132
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• 2018

As China continues to evolve as a major economic power and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Republic of Korea and China was ratified on June 1, 2015, market volume between the two countries is expected to grow more rapidly. This study aims on improving the efficiency of car-ferry lines. We conducted two surveys- for shippers and forwarders of car-ferry companies, and container liners. The study analyzes the decision factors for delivery companies and their importance for shippers and forwarders of car-ferry companies and container liners. Based on analysis of prior studies on the competition for car-ferry companies and liners, three primary variables are selected-promptness, economics, and safety. The promptness variable consists of shipping time, loading/unloading time, and customs clearing time. The economic variable consists of marine transportation cost from a domestic harbor to China, loading/unloading cost in the harbor, and overland transport cost from the harbor to shippers inland. Finally, the safety variable consists of cargo damage rates, safety facilities, such as lashing and shoring, and punctuality of transportation time. The survey and AHP results show that the promptness, safety, and economics factors are 0.549, 0.309, and 0.142 in the shipper groups of car-ferry companies' category, respectively. It indicates that there is considerable difference in the importance of each factor. In contrast, the factors are 0.350, 0.348, and 0.302 in the forwarders category, which suggests that there is little difference in each factor's importance. As for shippers and forwarders of liners, the importance of each factor is found to be in the following order: economics, safety, and promptness.