Abstract
This article considers how the Japanese ports interact with the ports of China and along the 21st century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) while they are embedded in the global port network, especially in the context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. At a port level, it primarily uses connectivity analysis to analyze the port relations and significances in the maritime network. In contrast, at the network level, it applies the methods from network sciences to analyze the significances of these maritime networks and the interactions among the maritime networks of Japan, China, and MSR. This article extracts a large-scale maritime network from ports and vessels’ profiles and data of vessels’ Automatic Identification System (AIS). It then examines the relations among the networks (including Japan, China, MSR, and global ports) after defining the maritime networks, network generation schemes, and port network analysis tools. Based on the analysis results and findings, this study draws some implications for regional ports and shipping development and the global supply network.
Highlights
A maritime system consists of ports and shipping lines [1]
China initiated the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) comprising of the 21st century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) and the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) in 2013 [3]. ey can be taken as maritime networks consisting of the ports and vessel flows along the BRI or MSR. e ports, countries with ports, and regional port systems are interweaved in the complicated global port and shipping networks. us, this study attempts to raise and answer a research question: how do the maritime networks represent the country- and region-level interactions embedded in the global maritime network?
We addressed the research question: how do the maritime networks represent the country- and regionlevel interactions in the context of the global maritime network? We examined the interactions between Japanese port set (Japan) marine ports and the MSR by a data system and analysis tools
Summary
A maritime system consists of ports and shipping lines [1]. A global maritime network undertakes 80–90% cargo trade in the world, and its traffic is even estimated to increase by 240–1,209% by 2050 [2]. is article considers a maritime country as a network of ports. Is article considers a maritime country as a network of ports. China initiated the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) comprising of the 21st century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) and the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) in 2013 [3]. Ey can be taken as maritime networks consisting of the ports and vessel flows along the BRI or MSR. Japan is an ancient maritime country with numerous maritime ports and advanced maritime transport [6]. It locates near one end of the MSR. Us, the methods in network science can be used and tuned to analyze the shipping, cargo, and trade relations in the port, country, region, and global levels with different granularities of stakeholders We formulate the countries and regions as maritime networks and their interactions. us, the methods in network science can be used and tuned to analyze the shipping, cargo, and trade relations in the port, country, region, and global levels with different granularities of stakeholders
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