Spatial and temporal change assessment of marine ecological security in regions along the Maritime Silk Road

• Made regional large-scale marine ecological security assessments. • In-depth analysis of marine ecological security using an interdisciplinary approach. • Identify key factors and driving mechanisms affecting marine ecological security. • Relevant suggestions were made to enhance marine ecological security. • Providing scientific basis for transnational cooperation and sustainable development. The Maritime Silk Road presents not only great opportunities for development but also enormous challenges to marine ecological security. While, there lacks a systematic assessment of the state of marine ecological security at the regional multi-country scale, which leads to the limited understanding of the marine ecological security from integrated dimensions. This study considered 30 countries along the Maritime Silk Road, constructed marine ecological security assessment indicator system based on Environment-Economy-Society (EES) model, and combined with fuzzy object element model, assessed the spatial and temporal changes of marine ecological security of each country from 2013 to 2019. The results showed that Tanzania has the best state of marine environmental security and Bahrain has the worst state of marine environmental security in terms of marine environmental security. In terms of marine economic security, from 2013 to 2019, there is an upward trend in marine economic security in South Asia. In terms of marine social security, Philippines has the best marine social security, with a security index of 0.787. From the comprehensive assessment results, the marine ecological security situation of the countries along the Maritime Silk Road generally shows an upward trend during the 2013–2019 period. Factors such as the construction of marine protected areas, marine industry, port construction, coastal population numbers, and the number of foreign tourists have significant impacts on marine ecological security. Countries along the Maritime Silk Road should take measures in the areas of marine infrastructure construction, marine ecological restoration and protection, and transboundary cooperation and management in order to promote the sustainable development of marine ecological security in the future.