Resilience assessment of the liner shipping network with community structure

The liner shipping network (LSN) is vulnerable to disruptions due to the complexity and vulnerability of global supply chains. This study employs the clique percolation method to identify port community structure using Automatic Identification System (AIS) data from January to September 2020. A resilience assessment framework based on percolation theory is applied to the LSN with community structure. The analysis explores how the community structure influences the resilience of the LSN. The results show changes in the community structure of the LSN and its structural resilience during the COVID-19 disruption window. The overall resilience of the LSN declines from February to June, experiences fluctuations in between, and recovers from July to September. Among the identified port communities, the East and Southeast Asia community exhibits the highest and most stable resilience, whereas the Pacific coast of the Americas community exhibits the lowest resilience. When approximately 40% of the latter community’s ports are removed, its giant component nearly vanishes, indicating a process closely resembling a phase transition.