A topological perspective of port networks from three years (2017-2019) of AIS Data

Complex network analysis is a fundamental tool to understand non-trivial aspects of graphs and networks and is widely used in many fields. In this paper, we apply complex network techniques to study port networks, in which nodes are ports and edges are maritime lines between ports. In particular, we study the temporal evolution of several topological features of a network of ports, including connected components, shortest paths, and clustering coefficients. We built the network with three years of Automatic Identification System data from 2017 to 2019. We highlight several interesting trends and behaviors that differentiate long-range vessels from short-range vessels.