Identifying recovery coupling in port-maritime-trade networks: empirical analysis from the global container shipping market

The shipping industry currently faces a myriad of perturbation challenges, posing threats such as port service paralysis, route disruptions, trade blockages, jeopardising the stabilisation of the global supply chain. Recovery coupling emerges as a crucial interdependent interaction mechanism activated in the aftermath of network damage. To enhance the resilience and sustainability of the port-maritime-trade system, this paper formulates a recovery coupling framework across three network layers, elucidating responses to disruptions within and between them. Subsequently, a data-driven empirical analysis is conducted for the global container market datasets mapping different network layers. This study reveals prevalent nonlinear relationships and the recovery coupling mechanism, emphasising interdependencies among the maritime network layer (MNL), port network layer (PNL), and trade network layer (TNL). Notably, during sudden disruptions, TNL displays a delayed response to PNL failures, while MNL responds promptly. The derived findings propose six managerial insights tailored for port operators, ocean carriers, and trading enterprises.