SEAINTEL Maritime Analysis has said that there is a strong correlation between country-level corruption and delay of container delivery, the American Shipper reported.
SeaIntel, which partners with portal-based ocean transportation technology provider INTTRA on liner shipping metrics, compared corruption analysis from Transparency International, a non-government organisation that monitors and publicises corporate and political corruption in international development. It looked into container delivery data from INTTRA to ascertain the likelihood of a container being delivered on time with the level of corruption in a given nation.
The company said the link is clear: "It is found that a lower degree of corruption systematically increases the likelihood of containers being delivered in a timely fashion, and that high corruption levels have a detrimental impact on timely container deliveries.
"As the corruption index measures the state of affairs for an entire country, this is a factor beyond the control of the carriers. Hence the analysis shows that extraneous factors beyond carrier control, and besides weather, have a direct impact on the timely delivery of cargo," SeaIntel said.
The company also noted that uncertainty in delivery times increases supply chain costs. "Hence, from a supply-chain economic perspective, a high level of corruption will act as a de-facto tax on containerised shipments."