| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣海洋大學 === 航運管理學系 === 105 === The use of containers to move grain cargoes from the America to the Asia is popular due to the extremely expensive ocean freight rate in dry bulk shipping between 2002 and 2008. However, the containerized grain shipping from the America to Taiwan are mostly loaded with regular dry containers, which may make grain cargoes moldy after they arrive at their discharging ports. Furthermore, in recent years, food safety issues have drawn great concerns from the general publics. Therefore, this research aims at finding the critical factors affecting the quality of containerized grain, and then allocate more resource to these critical factors to ensure the safety and quality of these containerized grain cargoes. After reviewing previous literatures and also surveying local grain importers and marine cargo insurers who have experience in dealing with cargo claims of containerized grain, this research then employed the AHP technique to design a questionnaire.
Previous research results showed that the moisture of grain cargoes and temperature of grain cargoes are the critical factors can be used to improve the quality control of grain transport and warehousing. In the current research, the author also has the similar findings. During the period before export, the “drying process” is found to be an important factor which is measured as the percentage of moisture content of the grain. During the period after export, the “moisture in the container” and “temperature control” are perceived to be two of the important factors. The appropiratetemperature during the grain distribution are decided by the grain’s moisture content and the planned storage period. With sufficient knowledge about these important factors, grain trading companies and their stakeholders can use the research findings to provide strategies and adopt a policy to reduce the odd of moldy or damaged grain occurred during the container distribution process, and finally enhance the overall grain supply chain safety.
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