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L'économie mondiale, la sécurité alimentaire et l'approvisionnement en énergie sont de plus en plus menacés par les vulnérabilités des principales routes maritimes. L'Etude sur les transports maritimes 2024 révèle que les passages maritimes critiques - tels que le canal de Panama (reliant les océans Pacifique et Atlantique), la mer Rouge et le canal de Suez (reliant la mer Méditerranée à l'océan Indien via la péninsule arabique), et la mer Noire (une plaque tournante importante pour les exportations de céréales) - sont soumis à de fortes tensions. Une combinaison de facteurs géopolitiques, d'impacts climatiques et de conflits a ébranlé le commerce mondial, menaçant le fonctionnement des chaînes d'approvisionnement maritimes.

What CO2 savings are potentially attainable through a better choice of the ship's route? What is the role of waves and currents in an optimal route? The new web tool GUTTA-VISIR for ferry eco-routes shows how least-CO2 ferry routes could reduce the environmental footprint of the maritime transport in the Adriatic Sea.

The 21st-century Maritime Silk Road initiative by the Chinese government has garnered growing global attention. As pivotal facilitators of international trade, the maritime routes and ports along this route are attracting the interest of various stakeholders. There is a pressing need for extensive research to augment the existing theoretical frameworks. This paper introduces a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) neural network-based methodology for port function clustering, applied to 24 major ports spanning from the South China Sea to the ASEAN region in 2023. The clustering outcomes are cross-validated against port rankings derived from Principal Component Analysis. The study reveals several key insights: (1) Singapore Port, Hong Kong Port, Shenzhen Port, and Guangzhou Port emerge as the principal shipping hubs within the region; (2) The relationship between China and Singapore is identified as a linchpin for the sustainable development of the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road; (3) Guangdong Province is highlighted as a central economic and logistical node. Finally, the recommendations for the accelerated development of the Hainan Free Trade Port and Fujian Coastal Port is concluded.

Port and maritime studies dealing with containerization have observed traffic concentration and dispersion throughout the world. Globalization, intermodal transportation, and technological revolutions in the shipping industry have resulted in both network extension and rationalization. However, lack of precise data on inter-port relations prevent the application of wide network theories to global maritime container networks, which are often examined through case studies of specific firms or regions. This paper presents an analysis of the global liner shipping network in 1996 and 2006, a period of rapid change in port hierarchies and liner service configurations. While it refers to literature on port system development, shipping networks, and port selection, it is one of the only analyses of the properties of the global container shipping network. The paper analyzes the relative position of ports in the global network through indicators of centrality. The results reveal a certain level of robustness in the global shipping network. While transhipment hub flows and gateway flows might slightly shift among nodes in the network, the network properties remain rather stable in terms of the main nodes polarizing the network and the overall structure of the system. Additionally, mapping the changing centrality of ports confirms the impacts of global trade and logistics shifts on the port hierarchy and indicates that changes are predominantly geographic.

Boosting Maritime Security & Trade Around The Indian Ocean.

Global maritime trade grew by 2.4% in 2023, recovering from a 2022 contraction, but the recovery remains fragile. Key chokepoints like the Suez and Panama Canals are increasingly vulnerable to geopolitical tensions, conflicts and climate change. These disruptions are extending shipping routes, straining supply chains and raising costs, with profound impacts on food security, energy supplies and the global economy, as over 80% of world trade volume is carried by sea. Vulnerable economies, especially small island developing States and least developed countries, are hit hardest by rising shipping costs from rerouted vessels. The Review of Maritime Transport 2024 highlights these challenges, calling for urgent action to strengthen industry resilience, accelerate decarbonization and support vulnerable economies. It underscores the need for new infrastructure that is sustainable and resilient, a faster transition to low-carbon shipping and a crackdown on fraudulent ship registrations to safeguard global trade.

The Arctic is among the most rapidly-changing regions on Earth. Diminishing levels of sea-ice has increased opportunities for maritime activities in historically inaccessible areas such as the Northern Sea Route and Northwest Passage. Degradation of Arctic marine ecosystems may accompany expanding vessel operations through introduced underwater noise, potential for large oil spills, among other things; and may compound stressors already effecting biological populations due to climate change. Assessments are needed to track changes in vessel traffic patterns and associated environmental impacts. We analyzed Arctic-wide vessel Automatic Identification System data 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017 to quantify the amount and spatial distribution of vessel operations, assess possible changes in these operations, and establish a baseline for future monitoring. Nearly 400,000 vessel transits were analyzed. Number of trips, hours of operation, and amount of sea surface exposed to vessel traffic were used to compare operations between 14 delineated waterways. Operations were extensive and diverse: an average of 132,828 trips were made annually by over 5,000 different vessels. Transits were made in all areas studied and all months of the year. Maritime activities were intensive in some areas, but ice-limited in others. Amount of sea surface exposed to vessel traffic exceeded 70% in all but three areas. Bulk carriers, cargo ships, passenger/cruise ships, research survey ships, and vessels supporting oil/gas-related activities were represented. However, fishing vessels, primarily in the BARENTS, BERING, and Norwegian Seas, surpassed operations of all other vessel types and comprised about one-half of all voyages each year. We observed no overt increasing or decreasing trends in vessel traffic volume in our limited study period. Instead, inter-year variation was evident. While the number of unique vessels and transits increased year-to-year, hours of operation declined in the s

Les routes maritimes arctiques ouvertes.

The accelerated melting of Arctic sea ice has established the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as an emerging alternative for international shipping. However, increased maritime activities pose significant environmental risks to this sensitive region. This study evaluates the economic implications of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) environmental regulations on Arctic shipping through a well-to-wake assessment framework. Using a multi-scenario economic analysis model, we compare transportation costs between the NSR and the traditional Suez Canal Route (SCR) under various IMO environmental policy scenarios. Our findings reveal: (1) Without carbon taxation, the NSR generally offers lower unit transportation costs than the SCR. However, the IMO's prohibition of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in Arctic waters creates a 12-15% cost advantage for vessels using HFO on the SCR compared to those using clean fuels on the NSR. (2) However, the IMO's prohibition of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in Arctic waters creates a 12-15% cost advantage for vessels using HFO on the SCR compared to those using clean fuels on the NSR. (3) In unilateral carbon tax scenarios, the NSR consistently remains less economically viable than the SCR using HFO, primarily due to mandatory clean fuel requirements in Arctic waters. (4) The environmental benefits of LNG propulsion demonstrate considerable technological sensitivity, with life-cycle emission reduction efficiency heavily dependent on engine selection and methane slip mitigation. Our analysis indicates that current Arctic environmental regulations lack policy coordination. To simultaneously achieve ecological protection and economic viability, we recommend implementing a dynamic carbon tax threshold mechanism linked to clean fuel technology standards.

MSC Rules Out Northern Sea Route.

As an important component of new western land-sea corridor, the construction of Pinglu Canal will effectively alleviated waiting time and congestion costs and enhance the reliability and resilience of the regional maritime transport network in the post-pandemic era in particular. From the perspective of competition and cooperation game, this paper investigates typical transportation routes from the port of Jakarta in Indonesia to the port of Nanning in China from the key factors of the changes in freight volume and the evolution of profits and subsidies, considering local government subsidies, environmental costs, marine emissions and other critical factors. The results demonstrated that in the centralized strategies adopted by two transport route operators, as the volume of goods transported through Pinglu Canal increased, so the corresponding profits increased. The increase in subsidies also contributed to generating the volume of freight through Pinglu Canal, but the social welfare under the decentralized strategy adopted by both transport route operators was more effective than that of the centralized strategy.

Coast Guard proposes BERING Strait shipping route.

Northern Sea Route Opens Earlier than Last Year.

Container Shipping Is Coming to the Arctic along Russia's Northern Sea Route.

There is no ice left on Northern Sea Route.

Russia Presses For Northern Sea Route.

The Hellenic Trench is core habitat for the eastern Mediterranean sperm whale sub-population, which is believed to number no more than two to three hundred individuals. The Mediterranean sperm whale population is listed as "Endangered" by the IUCN and is at risk mainly from driftnet entanglement and ship strikes. Major shipping routes running on or very close to the 1000 m depth contour along the Hellenic Trench are causing an unsustainable number of ship-strikes with sperm whales.

Port cities vie for Arctic trade route title.

Russia says high ice melt opens Arctic trade routes.

Satellite measurements show we are heading for another year of below-average ice cover in the Arctic. As sea ice melts during the summer months, two major shipping routes have opened in the Arctic Ocean.