Abstract
This paper concerns the network structure of container shipping services in the Caribbean Basin. It investigates Robinson’s (1998) concept of hierarchical networks in container shipping in which the higher the order of the network the fewer the ports and the fewer the connections among those ports. Three networks are defined based on the geographical reach of the carriers’ services: Intra-Basin, Americas’ region, and Inter-Oceanic. All three networks are quite similar, although there are differences in the number of ports served and the number of services and linkages among the ports of each net. Each net has a high degree of redundancy. Almost 40 per cent of the 88 ports in the basin belong to all three nets. It is not true that the higher the order the network, where order is defined by the geographical scale of service, the fewer ports and the fewer linkages. Defining hierarchical structure is elusive. Even the hub and spoke service structure is not immediately obvious.
Highlights
Notteboom and Winkelmans, 2001) and the Mediterranean (Genco and Pitto, 2000)
16 Why would there be configured networks of global, regional and local carriers operating in the Caribbean basin? Only a small proportion of container shipping in the Caribbean basin is dedicated to the basin itself, the majority is to link the basin ports to markets outside the basin
The most important economic trading connections – trade links – for the islands and ports of the Caribbean are to the world beyond the basin, not internally within the basin
Summary
10 Figures 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 show the various networks. Figures 2 and 3 show the same network structure, but in Figure 3 and subsequent networks the land has been removed for simplicity. The Inter-Oceanic global network has the most services with the most links, but the fewest Caribbean ports served. The fewest ports are served by the Inter-Oceanic services, the largest geographical scale. It shows the distribution of ports by the networks they belong to. As can be seen 33 (37.5%) of the 88 ports belong to all three networks These ports are receiving some ships that operate solely within the Caribbean Basin, but they are receiving ships on regional Americas’ services and on Inter-Oceanic services. It is understandable why Houston, Kingston, San Juan, Puerto Manzanillo, or Ria Haina, all of which operate as hubs in the Caribbean (Frankel, 2002) would be part of all the networks, but what can explain the inclusion in the list of Basseterre, Philipsburg or Willemstad, all of which are small island ports not operating as hub centres? the five ports that are uniquely part of the Inter-Oceanic network (Baton Rouge, Galveston, Newcastle, Nicaro and Panama City (Florida)) are not major shipping centres
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