The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) initiated by China involves the construction of a new form of regional economic cooperation between China and the associated countries. Priority is given to eliminating maritime bottlenecks and improving maritime connectivity in the shipping network along the MSR. However, such potential bottlenecks have rarely been quantitatively identified. In this paper, we present a recursive spectral bi-partitioning method to detect the bottlenecks in the container shipping network along the MSR. This method identifies the bottlenecks by locating the cuts with the least total link frequency, normalised by the size of the port communities on either side of the cut. The results of the case study show that the proposed method performs well. Four bottlenecks with strategic geographical positions along the key trade lanes are found, namely: Suez Canal, Cape of Good Hope, northern Oceania, and the South China Sea, indicating locations in need of connectivity improvement.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Identifying container shipping network bottlenecks along China’s Maritime Silk Road based on a spectral analysis


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Maritime Policy & Management ; 48 , 8 ; 1138-1150


    Publication date :

    2021-11-17


    Size :

    13 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    Unknown





    Identifying Important Ports in Maritime Silk Road Shipping Network from Local and Global Perspective

    Yang, Yanbin / Liu, Wei / Xu, Xu | Transportation Research Record | 2022


    The Maritime Silk Road and China’s Belt and Road Initiative

    Žarko Koboević / Željko Kurtela / Srđan Vujičić | DOAJ | 2018

    Free access

    Improved Link Prediction Method for Maritime Silk Road Shipping Network Using Composite Index

    Zhu, Junfeng / Yang, Yanbin / Jin, Yuping et al. | Transportation Research Record | 2023


    China's Maritime Silk Road Initiative: A quest for sea power

    Hlongwa, Lungani Nelson | DOAJ | 2020

    Free access