Find Freight, Shipping and Logistics expertise in Bahamas, The

Freight and carriage of goods and cargo takes place to, from and within The Bahamas via air, land and sea. At Freeport the port infrastructure is managed and owned by the Grand Bahama Port Authority. The facilities are of world-class standard, providing agents, facilities and logistics for cargo, container shipping, clearing, forwarding, ship registry and stevedoring. The other container terminal port in the islands is located at Nassau, whilst additional sea ports are located at South Riding Point and Ocean Cay. Container liner services in operation in the country include Maersk Line, Tropical Shipping, Crowley Liner Services, Mediterranean Shipping Company and Seaboard Marine. There are six major airports on the islands, served by a number of air freight companies. The main centres for air cargo services are Grand Bahama International Airport at Freeport and the publicly operated Lynden Pindling International Airport at Nassau. Grand Bahama International Airport is privately owned by the Port Group and Hutchinson Port Holdings as a joint venture. Land freighting is provided for by the 2,717 km of roadways present on the islands (2012).

In the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (2012) The Bahamas was given a value of 2.77 out of 5, placing it 66th out of 155 countries. The value was below the average for high income non-OECD countries, scored at 3.32.

In 2010 imports of goods from The Bahamas were valued at €10.4 billion, whilst exports of goods were valued at €1.9 billion. The major import partners are the United States and India, with a share of 25.8 per cent and 16.2 per cent respectively, followed by the European Union with 12.4 per cent (2010). The major export partners are the United States, Singapore and the European Union, with shares of 29.3 per cent, 14.7 per cent and 13.7 per cent, respectively.

The thriving shipping and freight industry in The Bahamas is provided for by numerous operators. Companies that provide freight forwarding services include Abaco Freight Co, Oceanair Bahamas, Tropix Air Limited, Kellair Ltd, Mario’s Air and GB Airlink Inc. Additionally, there are a number of integrated companies providing freight forwarding, courier and customs brokerage services, alongside freighting provision. These include Mail Plus Bahamas, PCL Imports and Sun Express Cargo.

In the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (2012) The Bahamas ranked 80^th overall out of 155 countries, with a value of 2.75, 56.1 per cent of the highest performer, Singapore. Each country is scored from one to five, with one being the worst performance in terms of logistics, infrastructure and customs amongst other categories. In terms of the categories of customs (57^th), international shipments (81^st), logistics competence (80^th), tracking and tracing (87^th) and timelines (98^th), The Bahamas was given a score below the average for its income group (high income non-OECD countries).