Conceptualizing maritime security for energy transportation security

Since the projected shift of future energy flow can significantly influence the transportation of energy commodity, the analysis on maritime security is of significant importance to evaluate energy security in a more comprehensive manner. This paper addresses the conceptualization of maritime security for energy transportation security based on quantitative analysis. We review related literatures from which maritime security framework is developed and a set of maritime security indicators are proposed including chokepoints, piracy and ship loss. We derive a composite maritime security index with equal indicator weight to evaluate the maritime security vulnerability of 17 main shipping routes. Furthermore, this paper conducts sensitive analysis to identify the sensitive indicator which has the highest impact on maritime security index for different shipping route. Based on the present conceptualization and the in-depth analysis on maritime security, energy security could be analyzed more precisely by including the fuel supply instability as a generic approach.