Red Sea crisis impacts on maritime shipping networks

Abstract

The Red Sea crisis (RSC) is an ongoing military conflict affecting maritime trade. Based on automatic identification system data, this study analyzed the changes in vessel behavior in the Red Sea using the seasonal decomposition method. The number and speed of vessels decreased significantly after the RSC, and many vessels chose to sail away from the Red Sea rather than anchor at its shores. Additionally, the impact of the RSC on maritime shipping networks was analyzed based on metrics in complex networks. Although shipping network structures were changed by the RSC, they still exhibited resilience. Finally, this study analyzed the RSC future impacts on maritime shipping networks based on node attacks and the Markov method. Because of their resilience, only ports in the top 20 % needed to be considered. This study provides valuable insights for maritime transportation authorities to formulate port strategies and route layouts in response to the RSC.

Keywords

• The Red Sea crisis
• Vessel behavior
• Maritime shipping network
• AIS
• Complex network