Service quality is still a new concept to those who works in shipping lines services since it has not been identified as a mandatory factor to increase the competitiveness. Most carriers are currently offering services at the same level of price, transit time, equipment, etc. Thus offering a high quality service is the best way for a carrier to differentiate itself from its competitors in the market. | RESEARCHES & DISCUSSIONS Service quality is still a new concept to those who works in shipping lines services since it has not been identified as a mandatory factor to increase the competitiveness. Most carriers are currently offering services at the same level of price, transit time, equipment, etc. Thus offering a high quality service is the best way for a carrier to differentiate itself from its competitors in the market. The research aims to conduct an assessment on service quality at Wan Hai Lines outbound services based on the SERVQUAL model, form of dimension-by-dimension analysis. The outcome is the service quality of Wan Hai Lines outbound services can be identified by three dimension Empathy and Responsiveness, Assurance, and Reliability. It would help the management to have a clear and full picture about the current service quality, and to have the ways to improve service quality following the recommendations. Keywords: Service quality, SERVQUAL model INTRODUCTION After a long period of constant growth rate of 8-9% per year, world transportation demand decreased 3% in 2009 and it is estimated to increase by 6-7% in 2010. Concerning the shipping providers, the world total number of vessels increased by in 2009 but the productivity was at the lowest level as same as in 1980 and unfortunately this trend seems likely to continue in 2010. In 2010, the growth of international trade is expected to increase by . But shipping supply is still higher than demand. This situation could be explained due to stiffer competition among carriers recently. Wan Hai Lines was founded in 1965 and now he has agents all over Asia's major cities and ports. Wan Hai lines established agent in Hochiminh city in 1993; currently, it offers shipping services between Hochiminh, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Middle East, India, Black Sea, EU, the USA, etc. Wan Hai transfers all kinds of dry and reefer shipments, except .
