Port choice behavior in Asia — a network perspective

This paper develops a network-based connectivity index to model the port choice of a large independent liner company. The assessment of port preferences is facilitated by supplementing important observational determinants of port competitiveness, such as port charges, turnaround time, annual port calls, operation hours, water depth, trade volume and availability of inter-modal facilities. Applying factor analysis, these port attributes are found to be classified along three broad dimensions - scale economies, efficiency and convenience. The proposed index is then expressed as an additive aggregation of the identified key operating dimensions and of which, port efficiency, followed by scale efficiency, emerges as the most important factors in determining a port success.