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Oceans as vital elements in globalisation - Coggle Diagram
Oceans as vital elements in globalisation
Global trade
EU:
greatest % share of trade
China:
major exporter of agriculture products and fuel and mining products but is a major exporter of manufactured goods
USA:
major exporter of agricultural products, fuel and mining products, importer & exporter of manufactured goods
Russia & Saudi Arabia:
major exporters of fuel & mining products to EU & China, Asia (China, S.Korea & Japan) - flows to Russia to EU likely significantly reduced 2022 due sanctions following Ukraine conflict
Agricultural products:
36% into EU
37% out of EU
8% into USA
10% out of USA
5% out of Brazil
9% into China
9% out of China
Fuel & mining products:
30% into EU
16% out of EU
12% into USA
5% out of USA
13% into China
9% out of Russia
6% out of Saudi Arabia
4% out of Australia
Manufactured goods:
33% into EU
38% out of EU
14% into USA
10% out of USA
9% into China
17% out of China
EU, China and USA are nearly half of world trade
Role of technology (marine tech):
Size:
capacity of ships increased 2x since 1970 (1,000TEU to 24,000TEU)
larger vessels reduce the shipping costs per load unit for crew, fuel, insurance servicing & ship maintenance
Speed:
average speed of a merchant ship about 15 knots / 25kmh
newer ships capable of 23-30 knots (45-55kmh)
Design:
originally ships built from timber, but this has progressed to steel to vessels mainly aluminium & composite materials
aimed at requiring fuel construction & construction costs while increasing safety the same time
Automation:
use of self-loading / unloading systems
use computerised navigation
use of GPS
these have reduced the number of crew (reducing costs) & improved safety standards
by 1858, reached around Atlantic & rest of the world
Shipping route factors
frequency of trade (high frequency = more ships)
nature (currents, winds)
distance
physical constraints (coasts, reefs shallow waters)
avoiding piracy
vessels often take the safest & most cost-effective route, imbalance of traffic on some routes
sea routes like Suez Canal, Panama Canal etc are core routes, linking major continents, passing through countries with high import or export demands
some places have high traffic surges because they are points of passage for ships (acting as chokepoints)
Global shipping routes & choke points
Facts & figures:
11b tonnes of goods transported by ship each year, including (2b tonnes of crude oil, 1b tonnes of iron ore, 350m tonnes grain)
2019: total value of global shipping trade, $14 trillion
shipping is a relatively cheap method of transport (of a $2.50 cup of coffee, 0.3p of that is for global transport)
the size of the shipping industry has quadrupled since 1970
3 global hubs of shipping:
East Asia
Europe
North America
Chokepoints:
the Strait of Malacca
the Panama Canal
the Suez Canal
the English Cannel
Gulf of Aden (Babel-Mandab)
Strait of Hormuz (UAE/Iraq, between)
Danish Straits (Denmark, Germany, Sweden)
East-west corridor
- linking North America, Europe, and East Asia through the Suez Canal, the Strait of Malacca, and the Panama Canal
Secondary routes
- exist such as between Europe and eastern South America, and between Brazil and South Africa and beyond to Asia
Indian Ocean traffic
- primarily traffic between East Asia and Europe following clearly defined routes between the Strait of Malacca and the Suez Canal
Pattern of principle ocean shipping routes:
Profitable routes - exchange of high demand expensive goods EU, China, UK & USA (Trans-Atlantic routes)
East-west routes: EU and Asia - role of Suez Canal as a shorter cost effective route (rather than Cape of Good Hope)
Routes across the Pacific via the Panama Canal (so no Cape Horn longer route): cost effectiveness & safety (less piracy)
Exporting raw materials e.g. Saudi Arabia, Russia oil and raw materials to consumer markets supply and demand
Exporting of agricultural; products to manufacturing bases and exporting of manufacturing good to markets.
New Arctic routes - NW and NE passages, Trans-polar route; China, Russia & Japan to Europe; shorter routes to markets
Growth in world shipping trade
globalisation
china's economic opening to the outside world was also very significant - its exports quadrupled within 5 years of being admitted to WTO in 2001
the appetites of the industrial nations and newly-industrializing emerging economies, particularly China and India, for energy and mineral resources led to increasing quantities of goods being transported from far-distant countries
the information and communications technology revolution dramatically reduced the costs of mobility and accessibility, allowed new network connections and production processes such as just-in-time production, outsourcing and offshoring, and provided a tremendous stimulus to logistics
as a result of rising demand, transportation costs fell, ships increased in size, economies of scale were exploited
Oceans & globalisation
oceans are a vital element in the process of globalisation
key aspect: time-space compression
(a set of processes leading to a shrinking world: reduction in the relative distance between places e.g. the cutting of journey times for people and goods)
technology, communications and transport play a key role - more trading of goods, movement of people (tourism & migration) and increasing interconnections (both physical e.g. cables, and abstract e.g. social & connections)
Importance of seafloor cables
currently 99% of the data traffic that is crossing oceans is carried by undersea cables (97% of internet traffic)
reliability of submarine cables is high, especially when multiple paths are available in the event of a cable break
more reliable than satellites and possess a much larger capacity
the total carrying capacity of submarine cables is in the terabits per second, while satellites typically offer only 1,000 megabits per second
however, a typical multi-terabit, transoceanic submarine cable system costs several hundred million dollars to construct Submarine cables are important to the modern military as well as private enterprise
e.g. US military, uses the submarine cable network for data transfer from conflict zones to command staff in the USA
Containerisation
Change overtime:
started in 1956
in 1966, first Trans Atlantic
1968, first container ship
1980s, 90% of manufactured goods containerised
now, shift towards more sustainable fuel, electric ships (proposed) etc
the setting of a global "containerised highway" involving continuity between inland and maritime transport systems
Northern hemisphere (bulk of economic activity occurs) this would involve 3 major rings of circulations: the equatorial ring, the middle ring, and the speculative Arctic ring
most important ring of circulation, the middle ring, comprises two large continental rail land bridges linked by transatlantic and transpacific connectors
North American landbridge, is fully operational, while the other, the Eurasian landbridge, is still a concept
middle ring requires a full-fledged maritime-land interface with major gateways and corridors
arctic ring is problematic as a full ring of circulation, but specific maritime bridges could be established (e.g. Narvik - Churchill), which would complement the middle ring
Advantages:
standardisation (ISO standard - modes and equipment-, unique identification number and size type code)
flexibility (commodities, manufactured goods, liquids and refrigerated goods)
costs (low transport costs, economies of scale at modes and terminals)
velocity (fast transshipment operations)(low terminal turnaround times)
warehousing (own warehouse; simpler and less expensive packaging)(stacking capability)
security & safety (contents unknown to carriers)(reduced spoilage and losses)
Drawbacks:
site constraints (large consumption of terminal space)(draft issues with larger containerships)
capital intensiveness (container handling infrastructures and equipment are important investments)
stacking (complexity of arrangement of containers, both on the ground and on modes)
repositioning (divergence between production and consumption; repositioning. 20% of all containers)
theft & losses (high value goods vulnerable to thefts, particularly between terminal and final destination)
illicit trade (illicit trade of goods, drugs and weapons, as well as for illegal immigration)