Site and situation factors in transshipment ports: The case of the Caribbean basin

摘要

Container shipping throughput at world ports is estimated to be over 380 million TEUs in 2006. Of that, close to 30 per cent is estimated to be transshipped cargo from one ship to another. This paper is about Caribbean transshipment ports and their possibilities for success. It is estimated that about 6 million TEUs were transshipped in the Caribbean Basin in 2004. Six ports - Colon, Kingston, Freeport, Rio Haina/Caucedo, Port of Spain/Point Lisas and Cartagena - are competing for transshipment traffic. Attributes of the ports are placed in a site-situation framework. Of particular interest is the situation element of proximity to major shipping lanes, or intermediacy, as shown by deviation distance. A weighted deviation distance explains some of the transshipment volumes at the ports, but it is argued that site factors of infrastructure, management and productivity also contribute to transshipment success.