Multiple Case Study of Transport Chains of Dangerous Goods in the Baltic Sea Region Authors: Mikko Suominen, Markku Häikiö, Paula Lehtinen, Lasse Metso, Tuire Pernaa, Lauri Ojala 1) Turku School of Economics, Finland, mikko.i.suominen@tse.fi ; all other authors with the same affiliation Abstract This multiple case study of 14 multimodal transport chains provides an insight on how international supply chains of Dangerous Goods (DG) work with an over- view of problems which the actors are faced. The data covers border-crossing transport chains in the Baltic Sea Region, which means that all movements involve a maritime transport leg in one form or another. The main emphasis is on operations rather than costs in finding out how effective, efficient and professional the operations are in the various phases of the operations. The empirical case-data was collected by interviewing managerial level employees from the participating com- panies in late 2006. In the interviews it came up that the general public is interested in transport of DG, because of the risks that they present to the environment and people. However, shippers and transport companies tend to think that giving information to the public might increase people’s awareness about the DG issues and might also tighten the regulations in the future. Thus, firms prefer to give as little information as possible on DG transports. Requirements in DG transports stretch far beyond what is required in non-DG shipments. This calls for system- controlled operations, up-to-date equipment and well- trained personnel. In most of the studied cases DG cargo was transported in temperature regulated and specially built cargo units. The availability of such special equipment is often limited, which may affect the transport frequency. Special equipment also raises the cost of transport. A major identified problem was differing regulations across transport modes (such as IMDG vs. ADR vs. RID), which complicates supply chain operations. The study gives information on dangerous goods trans- port in the BSR, which has been very little studied. It gives important information regarding safety, security and environmental protection. Keywords Dangerous goods; transportation; Baltic Sea region; supply chain. 1. Introduction In 2003 trade in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) 1 totalled 1 788 million tonnes; imports 744 and exports 1 044 M tonnes. The total volume of maritime transport in 2003 amounted to 731 million tonnes, of which 178 million tonnes (25 per cent) was within the Baltic Sea countries, and the rest (75 per cent) extra-BSR trade (Fig.1; Baltic Maritime Outlook 2006). Fig.1 Illustration on key maritime and road trans- port routes in the Baltic Sea Region. Source: Baltic Maritime Outlook 2006; op. cit. TEN-A Ports, 2003 The European trade pattern shows significantly larger east-west trade volumes than north-south volumes, and the strongest growth in the intra regional trade is ex- pected to take place between the north-eastern and the 1 Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Sweden. 1