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The vulnerability of the global container shipping network to targeted link disruption

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  • Viljoen, Nadia M.
  • Joubert, Johan W.

Abstract

Using complex network theory to describe the relational geography of maritime networks has provided great insights regarding their hierarchy and evolution over the past two decades. Unlike applications in other transport fields, notably air transport, complex network theory has had limited application in studying the vulnerability of maritime networks. This study uses targeted link disruption to investigate the strategy specific vulnerability of the network. Although nodal infrastructure such as ports can render a network vulnerable as a result of labour strikes, trade embargoes or natural disasters, it is the shipping lines connecting the ports that are more probably disrupted, either from within the industry, or outside. In this paper, we apply and evaluate two link-based disruption strategies on the global container shipping network, one based on link betweenness, and the other on link salience, to emulate the impact of large-scale service reconfiguration affecting priority links. The results show that the network is by and large robust to such reconfiguration. Meanwhile the flexibility of the network is reduced by both strategies, but to a greater degree by betweenness, resulting in a reduction of transshipment and dynamic rerouting potential amongst the busiest port regions. The results further show that the salience strategy is highly effective in reducing the commonality of shortest path sets, thereby diminishing opportunities for freight consolidation and scale economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Viljoen, Nadia M. & Joubert, Johan W., 2016. "The vulnerability of the global container shipping network to targeted link disruption," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 462(C), pages 396-409.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:462:y:2016:i:c:p:396-409
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2016.06.111
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    8. Ling Zhang & Jingjing Hao & Xiaofeng Ji & Lan Liu, 2019. "Research on the Complex Characteristics of Freight Transportation from a Multiscale Perspective Using Freight Vehicle Trip Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-20, March.
    9. Laure Rousset & César Ducruet, 2020. "Disruptions in Spatial Networks: a Comparative Study of Major Shocks Affecting Ports and Shipping Patterns," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 423-447, June.
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    17. Zhicheng Shen & Xinliang Xu & Jiahao Li & Shikuan Wang, 2019. "Vulnerability of the Maritime Network to Tropical Cyclones in the Northwest Pacific and the Northern Indian Ocean," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-14, November.
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    20. Nadia M. Viljoen & Johan W. Joubert, 2018. "The Road most Travelled: The Impact of Urban Road Infrastructure on Supply Chain Network Vulnerability," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 85-113, March.
    21. Xinglong Wang & Shangfei Miao & Junqing Tang, 2020. "Vulnerability and Resilience Analysis of the Air Traffic Control Sector Network in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-18, May.
    22. Ducruet, César, 2020. "The geography of maritime networks: A critical review," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    23. Pablo E. Achurra-Gonzalez & Panagiotis Angeloudis & Nils Goldbeck & Daniel J. Graham & Konstantinos Zavitsas & Marc E. J. Stettler, 2019. "Evaluation of port disruption impacts in the global liner shipping network," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.
    24. Zádor, Zsófia & Zhu, Zhen & Smith, Matthew & Gorgoni, Sara, 2022. "A weighted and normalized Gould–Fernandez brokerage measure," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 37794, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    25. Liu, Qing & Yang, Yang & Ng, Adolf K.Y. & Jiang, Changmin, 2023. "An analysis on the resilience of the European port network," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).

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