Indirect shipping services/transhipments in SIDS

Caribbean to Africa

Only two direct connections are available from the Caribbean to Africa. These are from Antigua and Barbuda to Angola and from Bahamas to South Africa. Most Caribbean SIDS require at least 2 transhipment moves to connect to African top 2012 LSCI performers. Connections requiring at least 1 transhipment moves are predominant to Djibouti and Egypt. Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica are the countries with the lowest average number of required transhipment moves to reach these African countries: 1.67 and 1.73 respectively. On the other side of the spectrum, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada are the countries with the highest average of required transhipment moves to reach the top 15 African countries:

2.27 and 2.20 respectively. These averages however hide the incidence of connections requiring at least 3 transhipment moves (e.g. Grenada to Ghana) or direct connections (e.g. Bahamas to South Africa).

Caribbean to America

The Bahamas, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have direct connections to most American top LSCI performers with an average of at least 0.1 transhipment moves. Except for Dominica, most Caribbean SIDS can connect to all American LSCI top performers with at least 2 transhipment moves. The Dominican Republic and the United States of America are the only American countries from this list with direct connections to all SIDS. Panama and Colombia are also directly connected to a significant number of SIDS. Panama requires at least one transhipment move to connect to all SIDS. Colombia requires at least two transhipment moves to connect to connect to all SIDS. Dominica is the Caribbean SIDS with the highest average number of required transhipment moves to top LSCI performers in America (1.6). Connections require at least three transhipment moves to countries in the west coast of South America such as Chile, Peru and Ecuador.

Caribbean to Asia

Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Bahamas are the countries with the least average of required transhipment moves to reach top Asian LSCI performers: 0.9, 0.9, and 1.0 respectively. They have direct connections to countries such as China, Japan, Republic of Korea, and, in the case of Bahamas, also to Singapore. This is because China and Japan are amongst the main trading partners for Jamaica while Singapore is the country with the highest imports from Bahamas⁹⁷. Similar to the connections to American countries, Dominica remains as the Caribbean SIDS requiring the highest number of transhipment moves to reach important Asian markets: at least three transhipment moves to reach Taiwan, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. All other SIDS require one or two transhipment moves to reach most connected Asian countries.

Caribbean to Europe

All Caribbean SIDS have direct connections to France and the United Kingdom, the two major trading partners of several SIDS in the Caribbean.⁹⁸The Caribbean SIDS and Europe are generally linked by historical ties and preferential trade agreements.

Both France and the United Kingdom are used as intermediate points to reach the rest of Europe. Caribbean SIDS can connect to most highly European countries with at least one transhipment move. Europe is thus one of the most accessible regions from the Caribbean SIDS perspective. Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Bahamas remain as the countries with the least average of required transhipment moves to reach these European countries: 0.5, 0.5, and 0.6 average transhipment moves respectively. In addition to France and the United Kingdom, these SIDS have direct connections to Germany, Italy, Belgium, Portugal and Spain.

Caribbean to the Pacific

Jamaica is the Caribbean SIDS with the most number of direct connections to the Pacific region, namely to Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and New Zealand. Besides Antigua and Barbuda's direct connection to Australia, no other

Caribbean SIDS has direct connections to these countries in the Pacific. Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago require mostly two transhipment moves to reach this region. Other Caribbean SIDS require at least three transhipment moves. Compared to Africa, America, Asia, and Europe, trade with the Pacific region requires the largest number of transhipment moves. To sum up, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago are identified as the countries most connected both to other SIDS and to external regions.

In spite of a high connectivity to other regions, Bahamas lacks direct connections to other Caribbean SIDS. The United States of America, the Dominican Republic, France and the United Kingdom are the only countries external to the Caribbean SIDS classification with direct connections to all Caribbean SIDS. Interestingly, Jamaica has no direct connectivity to Bahamas in 2012 but has direct connections on the 2013 data set

Table A.14 Africa/Indian Ocean SIDS to the Rest of Africa: Required number of transhipment moves