A Network of Networks: Governance and Power in Green Shipping Supply Chains

The decarbonization of maritime shipping is a critical component of global clean energy transitions, yet it remains characterized by high coordination costs, fragmented regulation, and substantial investment risks. In response, a growing number of transnational Green Shipping Networks (GSNs) have emerged to coordinate actors, technologies, and governance across maritime clean energy supply chains. While existing research has examined individual initiatives and regulatory frameworks, little is known about the overall structure, power relations, and governance implications of these networks within the evolving geoeconomic landscape. This paper analyzes Green Shipping Networks as emergent coordination mechanisms at the intersection of clean energy supply chains and geoeconomic competition. Drawing on social network analysis (SNA), the study maps a global network of 90 green shipping initiatives and 1,366 organizational actors, including shipping companies, ports, fuel producers, technology providers, research institutions, and regulatory bodies. By conceptualizing the sector as a bimodal “network of networks,” the analysis identifies central actors, clusters, and bridging nodes that shape coordination and information flows across the maritime decarbonization landscape. The findings reveal a highly fragmented yet structurally coherent governance architecture. A small number of transnational initiatives—most notably Green Shipping Corridors—function as key hubs that connect otherwise specialized and regionally embedded clusters. Private regulatory actors, particularly classification societies, occupy disproportionately central and bridging positions, effectively shaping standards, technological pathways, and access to emerging clean energy supply chains. These actors operate as de facto coordinators of decarbonization, blurring the boundary between market governance and economic statecraft. The paper argues that Green Shipping Networks perform a geoeconomic function by enabling strategic coordination in the absence of fully harmonized state-led industrial policy. Rather than being peripheral governance arrangements, these networks constitute an infrastructural layer of clean energy supply chains, influencing investment patterns, technological lock-in, and competitive positioning across regions. By highlighting the role of networked governance in maritime decarbonization, the paper contributes to debates on geoeconomics, private authority, and economic statecraft in the global energy transition.