Maritime Networks and Port Efficiency

Focuses on the quantitative analysis of shipping and port dynamics taking place in the Mediterranean region over 2009–16, and examines major trends in recent and current patterns of maritime flows for port hierarchy and network connectivity. The Mediterranean is a major shipping crossroad and key segment of the round-the-world trunk line (the optimal shipping route), yet it has its own features in its maritime forelands (the distribution of overseas connectivity) because of its physical geography and long-term trading inheritance; containerization remains particularly strategic in the region. The share of intra-Mediterranean traffic in total Mediterranean traffic rose from 49 percent in 2009 to about 58 percent in 2016. Six port clusters grouped according to traffic trajectory point to several trends that reveal the internal diversity of Mediterranean ports: early growth and stability (cluster 1); stability (cluster 2); slow decline (cluster 3); early and fast growth (cluster 4); rapid decline (cluster 5); and late and fast growth (cluster 6).