Global Maritime Container Shipping Networks 1969–1981: Emergence of Container Shipping and Reopening of the Suez Canal

Abstract

This study applied graph theory to conduct an empirical analysis of the evolution of global maritime container shipping networks, mainly focusing on the 1970s. In addition to analyzing the change in overall structures of the networks over the long term (from the 1970s to the present) and midterm (in the 1970s), the authors examined the changes in the container shipping networks before and after the reopening of the Suez Canal in 1975. As a result, it was confirmed that the initial single polar network structure, in which New York and other North American ports were placed at the center, changed to a multipolar structure, finally forming a hub-and-spoke structure. Subsequently, the authors confirmed discontinuous changes in inter-regional density from 1975 to 1976 caused by an increase in the average number of ports of call in 1976, because the recession caused by the first oil crisis in 1973 decreased the maritime container shipping demand, and the reopening of the Suez Canal caused a surplus of containerships. This study would contribute to accumulating empirical knowledge on the vulnerability analysis of the present and future maritime container shipping networks.