Centrality and vulnerability in liner shipping networks: revisiting the Northeast Asian port hierarchy

Abstract

This article is essentially an empirical investigation in the network analysis of inter-port traffic flows. Based on a database of vessel movements, it applies conventional techniques of network analysis to the graph of Northeast Asian liner networks in 1996 and 2006. Such an approach proves particularly helpful for analyzing the changing position of major hub ports and for revealing their respective tributary areas within the region. Despite rapid traffic growth at Chinese ports during the period under study, the latter seem to remain polarized by established hubs such as Korean ports and Hong Kong. This research reveals the strong relation between local port policies and the evolution of shipping network design.

Time Efficiency at World Container Ports

“…A port can be "topologically" central in the graph without necessarily handling large traffic volumes, especially in the case of regional hubs. This was particularly stressed by the work of Ducruet et al (2010) on Northeast Asian liner shipping networks, in which Hong Kong, Busan, and Incheon witnessed strong (and increasing) betweenness centrality despite lower traffic volumes (and growth), and conversely, Chinese ports went through rapid traffic growth in volume but not in centrality. Lastly, the variable for vessel age (age-vessels) shows that older vessels imply less traffic volumes.…”

“…While larger traffic ports are often centrally located in the global shipping network as demonstrated elsewhere (Deng et al, 2009;Hu and Zhu, 2009;Ducruet and Notteboom, 2012a), discrepancies remain, as seen for instance with Shanghai's imbalance between high traffic volume and poor centrality (Ducruet et al, 2010). In addition, different centrality measures express different dimensions (Figure 1).…”

Functional Differentiation and Sustainability: A New Stage of Development in the Chinese Container Port System

“…Previous research faced a pitfall as mainly illustrative and operational research using container throughput data [42][43][44][45] and Gini coefficient [46][47][48] to quantify concentration or de-concentration. Ngonly focused on critical review study on port geography over a half century [9].…”

A Review of the Maritime Container Shipping Industry as a Complex Adaptive System

“…Scholars have mainly addressed sub-networks of the GCSN, such as Ducruet et al [24], who have analysed the Asian trade shipping network, McCalla et al [25] the Caribbean sub-network, Cisic et al [26] the Mediterranean liner transport system, and Helmick [27] the North Atlantic liner port network. However, two recent articles [5,7] examine the main characteristics of the complete global network, giving us a view of the macroscopic properties of the global maritime network.…”