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The resilience evolution and dynamic process identification of the global shipping network

Author

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  • Qin, Yafeng
  • Guo, Jianke
  • Wu, Shasha

Abstract

The port and shipping industry has experienced unprecedented market fluctuations, resulting in a volatile environment characterized by congestion, soaring freight rates, loading delays, and disruptions in maritime supply chains. Therefore, ensuring the stability and resilience of shipping networks is crucial for ensuring industrial and supply chain security. This study adopts an interdisciplinary approach, integrating geography transportation engineering perspectives, to develop a theoretical framework and identification model combining static indicators and dynamic scenarios to assess shipping network resilience. Using global shipping data from 2018 to 2022, the model's feasibility was verified, revealing patterns in the evolution and dynamic processes of global shipping network resilience. The resilience index—0.620, 0.612, 0.587, 0.576, and 0.597—showed an initial decline followed by recovery. Port resilience exhibited spatial imbalance and regional clustering, with high-resilience ports such as Singapore, Port Kelang, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Compared to previous studies, the proposed framework better captures the complexity and dynamic nature of resilience. Notably, resilience under specific strategies (node degree and risk probability) was generally lower than that in random node strategies. In 2020, the rate of decline was relatively high, while the recovery rate remained low. These findings offer insights and theoretical guidance for maritime supply chain security and sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Qin, Yafeng & Guo, Jianke & Wu, Shasha, 2025. "The resilience evolution and dynamic process identification of the global shipping network," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:174:y:2025:i:c:s0967070x25003944
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2025.103851
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