usually construction materials such as sand and cement imports. In Dominica the number of calls for dry bulk has been steady in recent years, while in St. Lucia and St. Vincent, it has decreased alongside a slump in construction investment (in, for example, hotels). Bulk cargo tends to be conducted in small vessels. Grenada has the highest number of vessel calls for liquid cargo.

# **The region’s overall cargo vessel traffic is showing a declining trend: total vessel traffic contracted**

**by 17 percent in 2008–12.** This drop contrasts with a rising trend in cargo volume (table 2.4). The decline in cargo vessel traffic is most likely due to shipping liners using higher load factors on their vessels. It is also an indication that the OECS ports are slowly moving from break-bulk to containerized practices. Aside from Woodbridge Bay (which experienced 1 percent growth over the period) and Campden Park (11 percent growth), OECS ports’ cargo traffic decreased over the period (table 2.1). Antigua’s cargo calls dropped by half over the period, and the transshipment activities of Vieux Fort also fell significantly.

**Table 2.1 Total Cargo Vessel Calls, 2008–12**

|**Port**|**2008**|**2009**|**2010**|**2011**|**2012**|**Change**<br>**Growth**<br>**(%)**|**AAGR**<br>**(%)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|St. John’s|711|613|506|470|378|-47|-15|
|Woodbridge Bay/Roseau|1,043|1,011|1,041|992|1,056|+1|0|
|St. George’s|1,235|1,196|1,173|1,162|1,018|-18|-5|
|Basseterre|711|625|432|569|529|-26|-5|
|LongPoint|403|464|437|344|295|-27|-7|
|Castries|323|316|350|308|288|-11|-3|
|Vieux Fort|599|549|560|521|447|-25|-7|
|Campden Park/Kingstown|646|777|896|753|720|+11|+4|
|**Total**|**5,671**|**5,551**|**5,395**|**5,119**|**4,731**|**-17**|**-4**|

_Source:_ Authors’ own elaboration on primary data. _Note:_ AAGR = average annual growth rate.

**Freight traffic is dominated by containerized cargo, which in recent decades has been handled by five main shipping lines** . Tropical, King Ocean, CMA CGM, Sea Freight, and Geest Line together dominate the Caribbean market.<sup>4</sup> Most of the routes covered by these shipping lines are “feeder routes” that use Miami as their main hub and Trinidad and Tobago and Vieux Fort as regional transfer hubs between vessels. In practice, there is very little interplay between the north and the south of the region. This dynamic is not unique to the OECS and extends to the entire Caribbean, in which cargo routes are clearly divided between northern and southern islands. In practical terms, this creates a hub-and-spoke system.

**Most of the shipping lines that carry cargo to the OECS are considered “liner” services, and adhere to a predictable schedule** .<sup>5</sup> The typical schedule shows the same vessel plowing exactly the same routes over and over again each year. For example, King Ocean has two vessels that, on a 14-day rotation,<sup>6</sup> travel the following route:

> 4 With the exception of Geest Line, which takes general cargo, other shipping lines carry containerized cargo. In addition, Crowley serves some islands (for example, Antigua and Grenada), mainly doing Ro-Ro (Roll on/Roll off), a method of ocean cargo service using a vessel with ramps that allow wheeled vehicles to be loaded and discharged without cranes (World Bank, 2007).

> 5 The term “liner services” is used here in contrast to “tramper services.” Liner services refer to shipping lines that take on fixed route schedules with their fleet and/or in partnership with other liners. Tramper services are by demand.

> 6 The route has a bigger vessel capacity of 550 TEU nominal (330 TEU actual) and a smaller vessel capacity of 500 TEU nominal (275 TEU actual).

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