Port viability for choice making among shipping companies in West Africa sub-region trade route

Abstract

In this paper, the study of port viability for choice making among shipping companies in West Africa sub-region trade route was conducted. Discriminant analysis was used to ascertain the consistency of the attributes of ports that establish their overall attractiveness to the carriers. The critical valued port attributes deduced were further analyzed to estimate the choice model and their sensitivity status. The outcome explains the port viability for each shipment imported from European ports between 2001 and 2005 to West Africa ports. In particular, we studied the relationships between carrier attributes and port market share of maritime traffic influenced by port characteristic. We assumed that vessel schedules were fixed, model the assignment of shipments as a function of the attributes of ports, and established the critical attributes that could influence the port viability and improve import capacity building. Results were compared across commodities to find the significance of the port efficiency, warehousing cost, port reputation for cargo damage, geographical locations and port facilities. Our findings show that, with the recognition of the five attributes, the port managers could focus market more effectively, port managers could also evaluate more effectively investment designed to increase market share.

Keywords: Port viability, shipping companies, trade route, West Africa

International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences, 6(1): 42-48, 2010