Vulnerability change of container shipping network on Maritime Silk Road under simulation disruption

Abstract

Under the global background of the New Coronavirus , the container transportation market at home and abroad has been affected to a certain extent, and there have been large fluctuations. The transportation of ocean containers is extremely vulnerable to external influences .If the port nodes cannot function effectively, it will affect the connectivity and efficiency of the shipping network and hinder the trade between countries . Therefore, it is necessary and urgent to assess the vulnerability of the ocean container transportation network .In view of this, in order to explore the impact and changes of container ports along the Maritime Silk Road in recent years . In this paper , the Maritime Silk Road shipping network is constructed based on route data. On the basis of disruption simulation, the vulnerability factors affecting the Maritime Silk Road are explored from the aspects of network and node transmissibility and diversity by using complex network characteristic indicators .The results show that the overall scale of ports and routes in the Maritime Silk Road network shows an obvious expansion trend, with a significant increase. Further research shows that the shipping network structure of the Maritime Silk Road is fragile, and port failure has different effects on network transmissibility and diversity. The dominant port and the vulnerable port have different influencing mechanisms . The research results reveal the vulnerability change mechanism and main influencing factors of the Maritime Silk Road in recent years, which is of great significance for ensuring the connectivity of maritime Silk Road ports and improving the security of maritime transport network .