Source: UNCTAD (2009) Transport Newsletter #43.

Transshipment Requirements for Liner Shipping Connections between Pairs of Countries, 2009

It is technically and economically impossible to establish direct shipping connections between every country. There may not be enough volume or the ports may be far too distant from one another. Unlike bulk shipping, container shipping networks are established as sequences of port calls along a route often structured as a pendulum between maritime facades. Therefore, a set of direct or transshipments connections are required to link all country pairs by maritime shipping. Only 17% of all country pairs are directly connected, while 62% of all country pairs require at least one transshipment and 18.6% of all pairs require two transshipments.