Network evolution of major shipping routes: Perspectives from dominant ports and shipping lines

The four international shipping routes that connect Asia and Europe, Asia and North America, Europe and North America, and intra-Asia have evolved to meet the growing demand for globalization. This study aims to evaluate the network evolution of these four international shipping routes and provide unique characteristics and valuable insights in their network evolution. The network structure and major shipping lines are detected for each route and period using the complex network analysis techniques. The results reveal the geographical and economic characteristics of major shipping routes and contribute three significant insights. First, the expansion of trade with globalization and the global supply chain have facilitated the expansion of intracontinental shipping routes within Asia rather than intercontinental shipping routes. Second, ports maintaining their superiority, such as the geographical advantages of Singapore in Asia–Europe and Busan in Asia–North America, have been the centers of shipping services with greater accessibility to other ports in each period. Finally, shipping lines increase the size of vessels deployed on each shipping route. Dominant shipping lines have maintained and increased their market share for each shipping route through mergers and acquisitions.