Spatial pattern of the global shipping network and its hub-and-spoke system

Port system is a research focus of transport geography, and most studies believe carriers are important factors in the development and concentration of the port system. Since the 1990s, carriers have played an important role in organizing the global shipping network and reorganizing the port system. But there isn’t a perfect method to evaluate carriers’ influence and the roles of each port in the maritime shipping networks. In this paper, we use the monthly schedule table of international carriers to describe and model the spatial pattern of the global shipping network and identify its hub-and-spoke system. The result shows that a hierarchical structure exists in the global shipping network. The North Hemisphere, especially the East Asia and the Southeast Asia, is a dominant region of the worldwide shipping network. East Asia, Southeast Asia, Northeast Europe, and East coast of the USA are the concentration regions of worldwide shipping lines. The ports of Hong Kong, Singapore, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Kaohsiung etc have advanced capacity for maritime shipping and high potentials for being hub ports in the global shipping network. Today, the worldwide shipping network is transforming from the multi-port calling system to 44 regional hub-and-spoke systems. Meanwhile, the sub-networks with hub ports of Antwerp, Singapore, and Hong Kong have become the most important ones and dominate the whole global shipping network.     

The polarization of global container flows by interoceanic canals: geographic coverage and network vulnerability

It is widely acknowledged that the two major interoceanic canals of Suez and Panama play a central role in global shipping flows. However, this role has rarely been measured with precision both in terms of the geographic coverage and network topological properties of canal-dependent flows. Based on vessel movement data for containerships, this research clarifies the weight and share of canal-dependent flows globally and at the level of world regions, routes, and ports. It also estimates and maps the effects of removing canal-dependent flows from the network by means of graph-theoretical methods. While main results converge in showing a decreasing importance of canal shipping in the context of growing south-south trade exchanges, certain areas remain more dependent than others, such as Asia, Europe, and North America. The research also underlines factors of port vulnerability across the globe in relation with the two canals.     

Vulnerability analysis of global container shipping liner network based on main channel disruption

The Malacca Strait, the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal play an important role in the global container shipping. To study the impact of main channel interruption on the container shipping, we analysed statistical data on all routes operated by the top 100 global container liner companies and constructed a network model. We selected four topological metrics to measure the network’s connectivity and used the network weekly total shipping capacity and average shortest shipping time to measure the network’s transportation capacity and transportation time. The interruption of the main channel is simulated, and the changes in the metrics are analysed. The results indicated that the network’s vulnerability is sensitive to main channel interruption. If the Malacca Strait is interrupted, the network’s prosperity degree fall by almost half and the network’s transportation time increase by more than a quarter if the Suez Canal is interrupted. In addition, East Asian and European container liner shipping have more than 50% dependence on the Malacca Strait and the Suez Canal. Moreover, the container transport time between ports in East Asia, Europe, and North America and the rest of the world increases by an average of 4–9 days in the main channel interruption.     

非洲港口发展格局及趋势分析

梳理和分析非洲港口发展格局和趋势能够为我国企业参与非洲港口投资、建设、运营提供参考。对非洲港口发展现状、特点和存在问题进行梳理和总结,展望未来发展趋势。与全球其他地区相比,非洲港口在全球海运贸易总规模中的份额较低,港口发展以装卸仓储等基础、传统服务为主,港城矛盾、堆场不足、集疏运通道不畅、现代化和信息化水平低等问题普遍存在。随着全球经济和经贸形势总体长驱稳定,非洲经济产业长期将维持稳定增长,未来非洲港口投资建设需求依旧旺盛,区域港口发展格局将不断演变,港产城一体化、陆上物流通道等建设将加快。     

Hub dependence in constrained economies: the case of North Korea

While the geographical and economic factors concerning the development of hub ports are widely described by a variety of scholars and professionals, there is no recognized methodology measuring the hub dependence of a given port, region, or country. Based on a 20-year database of vessel movements, this paper proposes a methodology measuring hub dependence. North Korea offers a good case of a constrained economy facing dramatic internal and external pressures. Notably, the weight and geographical extent of its maritime connections are worth analysing because of its contrasted evolution from Soviet influence, geopolitical isolation, and growing trade due to economic reforms and increased foreign investments. The main results of this study show the spatial shift from long-distance calls to feeder calls: global foreland contraction, regionalization within Northeast Asia, and traffic concentration upon closest hubs of which South Korean ports. We conclude that hub dependence is a combination of local constraints and trade growth. The political implications of this phenomenon are explored, and a spatial model of hub dependence is proposed.     

全球典型中转港发展格局、特征及趋势研究

全球海运的发展催生出以转运货物形式服务于周边区域和远洋运输的中转港,它们在全球贸易及运输体系中占据重要地位,形成了明显的特征格局。在中转港形成因素及分类研究的基础上,总结全球范围中转港发展格局和发展特征,探讨不同区域中转港的发展趋势。结果表明,当前全球航运格局重心在亚太地区,国际中转港主要分布在远东-西欧-北美主航线,而扼守关键区位则容易催生出中转大港。同时,未来各区域的中转港发展将随着经济全球化与国际贸易的深入发展而变动,并受船舶大型化、服务软环境等显著影响。     

Connectivity analysis of the global shipping network by eigenvalue decomposition

ABSTRACT

Maritime shipping necessitates flexible and cost-effective port access worldwide through the global shipping network. This paper presents an efficient method to identify major port communities, and analyses the network connectivity of the global shipping network based on community structure. The global shipping network is represented by a signless Laplacian matrix which can be decomposed to generate its eigenvectors and corresponding eigenvalues. The largest gaps between the eigenvalues were then used to determine the optimal number of communities within the network. The eigenvalue decomposition method offers the advantage of detecting port communities without relying on a priori assumption about the number of communities and the size of each community. By applying this method to a dataset collected from seven world leading liner shipping companies, we found that the ports are clustered into three communities in the global container shipping network, which is consistent with the major container trade routes. The sparse linkages between port communities indicate where access is relatively poor.     

An equilibrium-based network model for international container flows

The liner shipping industry is a highly complex system and is extremely sensitive to rapid changes in the environment. To facilitate decision-making in response to endogenous and exogenous shocks, this research develops a strategic network model based on equilibrium principles to analyze the international marine liner shipping network according to port charge, congestion level at the port, and load factor of the ship and estimates the possible container flows under different scenarios in the long run. The distribution model of container flows is extended from Beckmann's transformation. To calibrate the parameters employed in the model so that it offers greater fidelity in predicting container flows, we devise a descent direction-based heuristic. The proposed framework is empirically applied to various scenarios to validate the model and predict the flow pattern after significant events. By identifying these events’ potential impact on the maritime network, the presented model can help relevant stakeholders reduce uncertainty when shaping maritime policies so that they can seize opportunities to increase their competitiveness and maintain their advantage in the maritime market.     

Analysis of the development potential of bulk shipping network on the Yangtze River

In the past decades, a multilayer transshipment network of bulk shipping has been formed along the Yangtze River so as to support the fast development of Chinese iron and steel industry. Yet with the decrease of iron ore trade in China since 2014, the bulk port system on Yangtze River probably will be subject to change in the future. Under this background, this paper aims to analyze the development potential of Yangtze River bulk ports system with a focus on iron ore transshipment. To realize this objective, we firstly sort out the main transshipment patterns of bulk shipping, and optimize the bulk-shipping network with an optimization model. Several scenarios are then proposed and examined in the model by changing corresponding parameters. Cooperation among ports as one scenario is analyzed by applying core theory in cooperative game. Based on the changes of transshipment plans observed under the various scenarios, we finally ascertain the different development potentials of the system, and provide suggestions to the port operators and local maritime authorities.     

从历史维度分析海运贸易全球化对世界港口城市体系的影响

15世纪源于欧洲重商主义的地理大发现与殖民地运动,开启了海运贸易全球化的时代,对近代世界城市与港口的空间结构形成与演变产生了深刻的影响,其效应仍在被时间不断放大。从历史维度对各洲大陆在殖民地运动与海运贸易全球化驱动下港口—城市体系的发展特征进行宏观比较分析,为理解当今世界港口与城市发展格局提供一个全球视野的概念框架。     

Arctic shipping scenarios and coastal state challenges

The Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum of the eight Arctic states, is currently embarked on a comprehensive assessment of Arctic marine activity in the 21^st century — the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA). One of the challenges for theAMSA study team has been to identify the major uncertainties that will be central to shaping the future of Arctic marine use in 2020 and 2050. Using scenario planning, AMSA has identified two primary drivers and uncertainties: (A) Resources and trade; and, (B) Governance. Four scenario narratives have been developed with these two, key uncertainties as the framework elements. The main arguments focus on the fact the Arctic has experienced globalization early in the century and that the global maritime industry has already ventured into the Arctic Ocean. Marine access in the Arctic Ocean is also changing in unprecedented ways and the extraordinary transformation Arctic sea ice is undergoing — thinning, extent reduction, and a reduction in the area of multiyear ice in the central ocean — has significant implications for longer seasons of navigation. However, the high prices of global commodities such as oil, gas, and hard minerals (for example, copper, nickel and zinc) have generated high levels of demand for Arctic natural resources. The Arctic states are challenged by an overall lack of maritime infrastructure to adequately support current and future levels of Arctic marine operations; ports, communications, environmental monitoring, search & rescue, incident response, aids to navigation, and coastal charting, to name a few, require substantial and timely investment by the coastal states and marine operators. A second challenge is the ongoing development of an integrated system of rules and regulations governing Arctic navigation that will enhance marine safety and ensure marine environmental protection throughout the basin. These challenges will require historic levels of cooperation among the Arctic states and broad engagement with the many, non-Arctic stakeholders and actors within the global maritime industry.     

Maritime education in cross cultural settings

Cross-cultural interaction is growing in our global economy. Expanding maritime trade in ports around the world reinforces the need for standardized training and education to cope with new global technologies and logistics systems. Working, studying and interacting in cross-cultural settings can lead to problems of misunderstandings and misinterpretations among people having different worldviews.     

浅谈海事网络安全管理

内网安全是网络安全最重要的主题之一,它是保障内网运行畅通的前提和保证。文中分析了当前海事网络建设中存在的安全问题,介绍了海事内网安全管理的重要性,阐述了加强海事内网安全应采取的几项措施,旨在为今后海事内网安全建设提供参考。     

DYT88DCS分散递阶控制系统及其在南浦大桥交通监控系统中的应用

本文介绍了一种具有星—树型网络拓朴结构,长距离通信,适用于船用恶劣工况的分散递阶控制系统及其在南浦大桥交通监控系统中的应用。     

Port regionalization: towards a new phase in port development

Logistics integration and network orientation in the port and maritime industry have redefined the functional role of ports in value chains and have generated new patterns of freight distribution and new approaches to port hierarchy. Existing models on the spatial and functional evolution of ports and port systems only partially fit into the new freight distribution paradigm. This paper aims to add to existing literature by introducing a port regionalization phase in port and port system development. It is demonstrated that the regionalization phase and associated hinterland concepts demand new approaches to port governance and a functional focus that goes beyond the traditional port perimeter.     

Port regionalization: towards a new phase in port development

Logistics integration and network orientation in the port and maritime industry have redefined the functional role of ports in value chains and have generated new patterns of freight distribution and new approaches to port hierarchy. Existing models on the spatial and functional evolution of ports and port systems only partially fit into the new freight distribution paradigm. This paper aims to add to existing literature by introducing a port regionalization phase in port and port system development. It is demonstrated that the regionalization phase and associated hinterland concepts demand new approaches to port governance and a functional focus that goes beyond the traditional port perimeter.     

The Caribbean basin: adjusting to global trends in containerization

Positioned strategically between major east–west and north–south trading routes, the Caribbean basin has become a locus of new service configurations in container shipping. Over the last decade global shipping lines have been restructuring their service networks in the region in order to integrate local services with the newly rationalized intercontinental connections. By comparing service network structures in 1994 and 2002 at three levels of organization—local, regional and global—we are able to show that although Caribbean ports are well connected to the global system, and while the total number of services has declined between the two years, those mounted by members of global alliances have increased. Moreover, services of the global carriers at the local and regional levels are on the increase. As much as the alliances are reshaping Caribbean networks, the smaller carriers are still playing a role, but at a reduced spatial scale. Parallel with the modifications to network configurations are the changes in the port system. Essentially, traffic of the most important ports in the north and western part of the basin has grown at slower rates than the ports in the south and east. These traffic changes are only partly related to network changes. It is the growth of transshipments that is driving the most important developments in port traffic and bringing to the forefront the development of hub ports. The most important are: Colon, Panama (southwest), Freeport, Bahamas (north), Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (southeast), Kingston, Jamaica and Rio Haina, Dominican Republic (middle), and Cartagena, Colombia and Puerto Cabello, Venezuela (south).     

Fuzzy empty containers excess estimation as an economic indicator—the case of the north Adriatic port system

Today, approximately 90% of the world’s cargo is moved by ships and almost all general cargoes are transported in containers. Worldwide container traffic has increased over the last 20 years by 7% annually, and containerization has begun to seriously impact global trade patterns. As a result, container terminals have become very important nodes in the world’s supply chain. In this article, we have highlighted the link between the total and empty container traffic and the global economy. By way of example, we have analysed the empty container traffic in north Adriatic ports in the years before and during the global economic crisis and in a period of stability after the major economic slump. We used a fuzzy multicriteria algorithm to find out how the global crisis, which has affected ports, influences the number of excess empty containers at the terminals. We show that these factors, in particular the change of the global financial and economic situation, have different repercussions to the ports of the north Adriatic: less serious effects upon the ports that are well connected locally and substantial consequences for the ports that are well connected globally.     

The Caribbean basin: adjusting to global trends in containerization

Positioned strategically between major east-west and north-south trading routes, the Caribbean basin has become a locus of new service configurations in container shipping. Over the last decade global shipping lines have been restructuring their service networks in the region in order to integrate local services with the newly rationalized intercontinental connections. By comparing service network structures in 1994 and 2002 at three levels of organization—local, regional and global—we are able to show that although Caribbean ports are well connected to the global system, and while the total number of services has declined between the two years, those mounted by members of global alliances have increased. Moreover, services of the global carriers at the local and regional levels are on the increase. As much as the alliances are reshaping Caribbean networks, the smaller carriers are still playing a role, but at a reduced spatial scale. Parallel with the modifications to network configurations are the changes in the port system. Essentially, traffic of the most important ports in the north and western part of the basin has grown at slower rates than the ports in the south and east. These traffic changes are only partly related to network changes. It is the growth of transshipments that is driving the most important developments in port traffic and bringing to the forefront the development of hub ports. The most important are: Colon, Panama (southwest), Freeport, Bahamas (north), Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (southeast), Kingston, Jamaica and Rio Haina, Dominican Republic (middle), and Cartagena, Colombia and Puerto Cabello, Venezuela (south).     

Why are maritime ports (still) urban,and why should policy-makers care?

Despite ongoing transformations in the maritime transportation industry and the rise of global supply chain systems, most of the world's important container ports remain urban. Ports continue to occupy urban spaces, are embedded in localized knowledge systems, draw on urban labour markets and infrastructure and are subject to local politics and policy concerns. We identify contemporary geographic theories which help us understand the often increasingly urban attachment of core economic activities despite globalization. We explore how these theories may apply to port studies, highlighting both how they have been used by maritime scholars to this point and also why further development and application are warranted. We argue that a central concern of these geographic theories is the articulation of place- and sector-specific processes operating at a variety of spatial scales. This is in contrast to most maritime studies which continue to be dominated by perspectives which emphasize the global logic of the transportation industry and the analysis of space in generalized and abstract terms. We conclude that a re-appreciation in maritime studies of urban economic processes, informed by geographical theory, will provide policy-makers and others with more understanding of why deep connections between ports and urban places still matter.