Global shipping network dynamics during the COVID-19 pandemic's initial phases

Abstract

Catastrophic incidents can significantly disrupt supply chains, but most of these disruptions remain localized. It was not until the onset of COVID-19 that a disruption in our lifetimes achieved a global magnitude. In order to contain the pandemic, governments around the world resorted to closing borders, shutting down manufacturing plants, and imposing lockdowns, which resulted in disrupted production capabilities and weakened consumer spending. The effects of these measures have been clearly visible in global transport networks, where disruptions ripple through the system and serve as a precursor to the disruptions in the broader economy. In this study, we use liner shipping schedule cancellations, a form of serious transport network disruption, as distress signals of the pandemic's impact on global supply chains. Our study applies a three-stage approach and provides insights into operator behaviors when under distress. We show that the pandemic challenged service network integrity and that network disruptions first clustered in Asia before rippling along main trade routes. Agile liner shipping operations, aided by planned service suspensions, prevented the collapse of the global maritime transport networks and indicated the maritime industry's ability to withstand even major catastrophic incidents.

Data analytics and throughput forecasting in port management systems against disruptions: a case study of Busan Port

“…Approximately 50% of global container flows take place in this region, thereby directly and indirectly increasing competition for hub port positions among Asian ports (Lam and Notteboom 2014 ). Such competition takes place in various fronts, ranging from the production of the port service to attracting transshipment cargo (Dirzka and Acciaro 2021 ).…”

The Impact of Covid-19 on Maritime Trade and Transportation: An Estimation of the Maritime Trade Post-Covid-19

“…Cancellation of public events and school closures are the most effective in the pacification of the Covid-19 spread and are less costly in terms of their effect on economic activity (Deb et al, 2022). Dirzka et al (2022) have researched carriage geography and reverting management by network theory and investigated the precaution suggested to mitigate the reverting effects during the Covid-19. According to the analysis, the Covid-19 (at least in its beginning phases) has been a geographically constrained reverting: A single local source spreading to a limited number of additional clusters within the liner transportation network (Dirzka et al 2022).…”

Impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic on carbon emissions from international shipping

“…Meanwhile, the COVID-19 epidemic also contributes to carbon emissions through the macroeconomic fluctuations ( Dirzka and Acciaro, 2022 ; Gavalas et al, 2022 ; Zhou et al, 2022 , Zhou et al, 2022 , Zhou et al, 2022 ). Different from the previous studies, we conducted a combined investigate on the COVID-19 epidemic and carbon emissions from the international shipping in this study.…”