Container Ports in Country Systems: Calibration of the Aggregate Function for the Time of the Ship in Port

The maritime transport of goods has always been the crucial element of international trade. The two pillars of maritime transport are: the sea routes and the port systems. The main characteristic that represents the performance of the ports, in sea side, is the time of the ship in port from the arrival and entrance in the port, to the departure from the port, after having completed the loading/unloading operations. The time of the ship in port, by considering the largest ports of a country, is therefore a synthetic indicator of the ability of each country-system to compete in international trade challenges. It is useful to investigate what are the significant characteristics, aggregated at the country level, that determine the average ship time in port at the country level. This analysis is important for planners operating at national level and for technicians and planners who operate within the individual port systems, because it allows to define general policies aimed at improving the performance of the country-system in the global competition, and of the generic port in the competitiveness.