Hub/focus ports

[Wibblebutt]

Make it possible to choose (for example) 4 other ports as well as your home port as a 'hub port'. There could be a cost to make a port a hub.

At hub ports cargo destined for other ports may be unloaded. The cargo when unloaded would automatically be reserved for your company, then may be stored for future loading onto other ships to their onward destinations.

This would make the game more akin to real life, where major shipping companies have large ships that just sail, for example, between Amsterdam and Miami, then smaller ones that will distribute the cargo throughout Europe from Amsterdam, and the Caribbean from Miami.

[robinhood_1984]

I like the idea of that. The time limits for delivery of cargo would have to be greatly increased though.

[rdklein]

yes its on my list, needs a little bit research how it is done in reality (its has not to do with the homeport I think but you can rent or buy hubs at any place though the home country might be a little bit better etc.)
also the liner traffic needs to be done, so to transfer automatically freights from the hubs to the destination for example

[corne_mo]

How it's done in real business? For container shipping it's done like this.

Each company has a couple of lines connecting the different parts of the world, for example an europe-asia line. These lines will be handled by the biggest ships and will only visit the largest ports in both europe and asia (sometimes with a stop in egypt or UAE).
To facilitate all other ports in europe and asia, smaller vessels sail in weekly or bi-weekly services between different ports in their respective area.
The big ports served by the europe-asia line will actually all be hubs, but mostly only one or two of them will be hubs for other world part connecting lines, where other large ships take over cargo.

For example:
We have the major lines:
Europe - Asia - Europe
rotation: Bemerhaven (DE), Rotterdam(NL), Algeciras(SP), Port Said (EGYPT), Singapore (SG), Hong Kong (HK), Ningbo (CH), Port Said (EGYPT), Algeciras(SP), Bremerhaven (DE)
Europe - Africa - Europe
rotation:
Algeciras (SP), Agadir (MAR), Freetown (SL), Monrovia (LIB), Apapa (NIG), Agadir (MAR), Algeciras (SP)
Europe - VS east coast - europe
rotation: Rotterdam, NY, Baltimore, Miami, Manzanillo (Panama), Rotterdam

We have the regional lines:
Europe -> eastern europe
rotation: Bremerhaven -> poland and russia and vv.
Europe -> UK and ireland
rotation : Rotterdam --> UK and ireland and vv.
US -> central america
rotation: Miami, Freeport (BAH), Port-au-prince (HAITI), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Pointe a pitre (GUADELOPE), Bridgetown (BB) (vv).
Asia -> Indonesia
rotation: Singapore -> indonesia vv.
Asia -> Taiwan
rotation: Hong Kong, Chiamen, Taiwan (vv)
Asia -> Japan
rotation: Ningbo -> japan (vv)
(the last two are really fictional, as both taiwan and japan will have their own direct lines to europe)

As you can see there are many hubs here.
Each continent has one or a couple of hubs connection the major lines, for example rotterdam and algeciras. Both of these ports are visited from asia, so that cargo from and to asia can go from and to africa and US east coast through europe.

And each continent will have a lot of smaller hubs used for distribution to the different smaller ports in that part of the world, for example, bremerhaven, rotterdam.

Mostly the hubs are choosen on:
- size: the major line hubs must be able to accomodate the largest vessels available.
- handling company. Maersk Line for example has it's own terminals through APM Terminals. Their hubs will of course be in the cities where they have their own terminal (like algericas). For other companies it's most likely to have these hubs in cities where they have a large amount of stocks from the terminal company (like MSC has bought itself into PSA HNN in Antwerp and has required it's own dedicated terminal that way).
In North America there are a lot of shipping company own terminals.
In LosAngeles/Long Beach for example: Total Terminal (Hanjin), APM Terminals, Matson Terminal, Seaside Terminal (Evergreen). OOCL is another company that has some large terminals in the US.

For the regional line hubs it's important that:
- they are part of one of the major lines, so connections to all parts of the world are guarenteed.
- if possible have company own terminal facilities.
- are located near important regional markets.

As PoC holds only a small number of the nowadays most important ports, and cause the loading is not completely correct divided over these ports, I think the best way to set an option for hubs in PoC is to give the user the option to use whatever port they wish as a hub, but with a maximum of x hubs per part of the world. For each continent that number would be different of course, cause the US, with it's west and east coast will have 2 times the number of hubs in comparison to europe, which mainly has a west coast only (for the biggest lines that is).
_________________
Freight Containers In The Port Of Antwerp