Communications - Scientific letters of the University of Zilina X:X | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2026.011

Evaluating Port Performance in EU Countries with Fuzzy and Grey Logic

Gül Alişar Kayar ORCID...^{1, *}, İlker İbrahim Avşar ORCID...²

¹ Toros University, Mersin, Turkey

² Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, Osmaniye, Turkey

Ports are fundamental components of global supply chains, and their performance is critical to sustaining international trade and economic activity. Recognizing that existing studies often focus on individual ports rather than broader regional patterns, a new hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) model is proposed to provide a more comprehensive assessment framework. Based on expert judgments, the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) results indicate that cargo type is the most influential determinant, followed by cargo direction and container volume. Using Evaluation based on Distance from Average Solution - Grey (EDAS-G) and Additive Ratio Assessment - Grey (ARAS-G), the port performance across 24 EU countries for the period 2014-2023, incorporating a temporal dimension that enables multi-year trend analysis. The hybrid grey-based ranking shows that Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Germany rank the highest, while Slovenia, Bulgaria, Malta, and Cyprus consistently rank at the lower end.

Keywords: logistics, port, fuzzy AHP, EDAS-G, ARAS-G

Grants and funding:

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Received: September 13, 2025; Accepted: December 9, 2025; Prepublished online: January 16, 2026