Maritime connectivity (the relative position of a country in liner shipping networks), matters for trade prospects and competitiveness.
UNCTAD maintains several statistical datasets that enable monitoring maritime connectivity trends, on a quarterly basis, since 2006. These include the country Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI), the Liner Shipping Bilateral Connectivity Index (LSBCI) and the port LSCI which are based on carriers’ liner (planned) schedules.
In addition, the port calls dataset provides insights in terms of the number and characteristics of vessels calling at ports.
This paper analyses maritime connectivity trends in two regions, namely the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Pacific Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) using these different UNCTAD maritime transport indicators. It aims to deepen understanding of global and regional shipping connectivity trends in these two regions.
The paper analyses how well they are connected between them and with the rest of the world, how their connectivity levels have changed in the long-term (i.e. over the past fifteen years) and more recently (since the Covid-19 outbreak) and explores reasons behind connectivity changes.
The report is organized as follows:
The first part analyses the country Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI)
- benchmarking the two regions against global and regional connectivity levels,
- examining short- and mid-term changes to connectivity levels and
- zooming in on the behaviour of the different components underpinning the LSCI for countries in the two regions.
The second part analyses the connections between countries and changes using the Liner Shipping Bilateral Connectivity Index (LSBCI).
The third part analyses connectivity trends at the port level, followed by the fourth examining port call patterns.
