Focus on Latin America: The Seaborne Advantage

Cathy Roberson, an analyst with the London-based think tank Transport Intelligence, says “ocean is still the key,” for U.S. shippers in Latin America.

“We don’t anticipate a shift to air for many manufacturers doing business there,” she says. “The road network in regions is so bad that shipments by air remain problematic and expensive.”

Like Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Professor, Department of Global Studies and Geography, Hofstra University, she agrees that new entrants in the market will rely heavily on transshipment through Caribbean Triangle. This comprises a mix of hub-and-spoke network configurations as well as interlining between long-distance shipping routes.

Furthermore, the advantages gained in terms of network interconnectivity and better use of ship assets outweigh the additional handling costs that transshipment entails.

Michael McDaid, who is charged with marketing, strategic planning & yield analysis, for Sea Star Line, LLC in Miami, notes that U.S. shippers currently doing business in the “triangle” are well poised to enter Latin America when they see opportunities there.

“Shippers already active in the Puerto Rico trade have a platform for going beyond the Caribbean into South America,” he says. “Sea Star partners with its customers to find mutually beneficial expansion opportunities when possible.”

This type of collaboration is taking place on far larger scale within the framework of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA). Kurt Nagle, AAPA president and chief executive officer, says that the recently-concluded 22nd Annual Latin American Congress in Bogota, Columbia, focused on the mutual benefits of developing infrastructure.

“Increasing North-South trade can benefit not only ports, but the economic vitality, job opportunities and quality of life for people throughout the Western Hemisphere,” he says.

Similar to here in the U.S., the challenge for many Latin American ports is in how to be able to advance and fund needed infrastructure development projects, both in terms of port facilities and the connecting infrastructure on the land- and water-side, says Nagle.