Index measures ‘liner connectivity’

   UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, has electronically published the latest edition of its liner shipping connectivity index.
   The agency notes that a country’s access to world markets depends largely on its transport connectivity, “especially as regards regular shipping services for the import and export of manufactured goods.”
   The index aims to measure a country’s level of integration into global liner shipping networks and is generated from five components: (a) the number of ships; (b) the total container-carrying capacity of those ships; (c) the maximum vessel size; (d) the number of services; and (e) the number of companies that deploy container ships on services from and to a country’s ports. The data are derived from Containerisation International Online and Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
   The index has been generated since 2004, when companies were rated on a scale of that ranged from less than 1 to 100. As shipping services have improved, some companies now have scores that exceed 100. For example, countries such as China and Singapore have extremely high indexes, such as 157.51 and 106.91. The U.S. score is 92.8. Low scores are common among isolated island nations. For example, Antigua and Barbuda has a score of 2.43; America Samoa has a score of 4.19. – Chris Dupin