When the road controls the sea: a case study of Ro-Ro transport in the Mediterranean

This paper presents, as a case study, a descriptive critique of the system of liner Ro-Ro services, sailing between some Turkish ports and the Italian port of Trieste. These Ro-Ro services were started in 1987, and have developed rapidly since 1992. In that year, the no-profit Turkish International Transport Association (UND) decided to independently manage a number of Ro-Ro vessels on that route. The increasing success of the service (from circa 25000 lorries in 1993, to almost 86 000 in 1998) has caused the UND shipping companies to broaden their services, introducing new vessels and improving the organization. The UND shipping companies aim to manage the fleet in the unbiased interests of all the haulage companies, maintaining rigid neutrality towards each one of the road hauliers. Outlining in detail a single subject for the case study is considered of general interest, since this system of maritime supply displays such singular and innovative elements (e.g. the capital coming from the road transport sector itself, transferring of lorry-drivers by plane, using of railway services) as to make it unique, at least in the European and Mediterranean shipping arena.