Big AIS data based spatial-temporal analyses of ship traffic in Singapore port waters

This study develops a tangible analytical approach to analyze ship traffic demand and the spatial-temporal dynamics of ship traffic in port waters using big AIS data. By applying the developed approach to the Singapore port waters, we find that the origin-to-destination pairs and navigation routes in the Singapore port waters keep stable over time. Furthermore, there are several hotspot areas in the Singapore Strait where ship sailing speeds are relatively high and ship sailing speeds in a few water areas vary greatly. More interestingly, we find that these hotspot areas well coincide with the spatial distribution of ship accidents. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.