Shipping, or the business of transport, is an essential means that facilitates international trading activities. Due to its cost-effective intermodal operations, most of the international trade in manufactured goods and an increasing share of commodities are transported through container shipping services, which are mostly provided by liner shipping companies. They form a network that connects practically all coastal countries worldwide with each other. Liner shipping operations are now increasingly involving transshipment in seaports that act as nodes in the network. Research on global liner shipping networks has expanded significantly. In particular, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has published the Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI) at the country-level annually since 2004. The term “connectivity” is increasingly used to characterize national trade competitiveness, and defined at different levels, such as at the country level and bilaterally.
