Disruptions: Global Maritime Risk Alerts for Ports and Chokepoints

PortWatch monitors global maritime infrastructure by intersecting GDACS natural hazard alerts with a database of ports and chokepoints. This dataset tracks disruptions from earthquakes, cyclones, floods, and geopolitical tensions as of March 2026.

Use Cases

• Assessing maritime trade vulnerability by intersecting cyclone alerts with specific port locations
• Quantifying the frequency of disruptions at maritime chokepoints using the geopolitical tension labels
• Visualizing the geographic distribution of tsunami risks to coastal infrastructure using the GEOJSON coordinates

Strengths

• Integrates real-time alerts from the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS)
• Available in both GEOJSON and CSV formats for geospatial analysis
• Covers diverse disruption categories including natural hazards and geopolitical tensions

Limitations

• Lack of detailed column metadata or data dictionary in the primary source
• Potential for reporting bias based on GDACS alert thresholds

Provenance

Source

PortWatch and Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS)

Collection Method

Automated intersection of GDACS hazard alerts with maritime infrastructure databases

Freshness

Updated as of March 2026

Geography

Global