Using big data to track marine oil transportation along the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road

China's designation of the "21 st-century Maritime Silk Road"(MSR) region is of extraordinary significance to its maritime rights, transportation security, and socio-economic development. We developed a technical framework allowing the use of "big data" derived from the Automatic Identification System(AIS, an automatic ship-tracking network) for two purposes: the accurate mapping of oil tanker trajectories and the creation of heat maps showing the relative use of oil tanker routes and marine shipping chokepoints. We then applied these methods to 1.5 billion AIS records collected within the MSR in 2014 to statistically identify and analyze busy routes, areas, and chokepoints in this strategic region. Our results demonstrate that the proposed framework can provide an effective analysis of oil movements based on large-scale AIS datasets, helping researchers and policy makers better understand the footprint and strategic implications of maritime oil transportation in the MSR region.

A Vital Maritime Pinch Point:China,the Bab al-Mandeb,and the Middle East

In 2013,Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the proposal of a“New Maritime Silk Road”in conjunction with China’s“Silk Road Economic Belt”project or“One Belt and One Road”(OBOR)initiative to support China’s growing economy and to expand the PRC’s economic influence and network across Eurasia on land and at sea.This article examines the Maritime Silk Road initiative and how it aligns with a larger Chinese maritime strategy to expand China’s maritime presence in the Indian Ocean and Middle East for economic,political,and security reasons.It also looks at how China might soon be well positioned to act as an additional stabilizing force for the broader Middle East.Through an in-depth case study,it will examine China’s increased presence and interest in the world’s most strategic chokepoints:the Bab al-Mandeb.China’s navy has been an important contributor to the Combined Task Force 150 counter-piracy exercises off the Horn of Africa and Arabian Sea and this might bode well for a larger footprint in Djibouti and into the Arabian Peninsula.Understanding China’s increased presence in Djibouti and at the Bab al-Mandeb,in addition to new and emerging regional economic and political partnerships with China,is vitally important for our understanding of future regional security and politics.