Maritime facility where ships may dock to load and discharge passengers and cargo
A
port
is a
maritime
facility comprising one or more
wharves
or loading areas, where ships load and discharge
cargo
and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as
Hamburg
,
Manchester
and
Duluth
; these access the sea via
rivers
or
canals
. Because of their roles as
ports of entry
for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories.
[1]
[2]
Ports are extremely important to the global economy; 70% of global merchandise trade by value passes through a port.
[3]
For this reason, ports are also often densely populated settlements that provide the labor for processing and handling goods and related services for the ports. Today by far the greatest growth in port development is in Asia, the continent with some of the
world's largest and busiest ports
, such as
Singapore
and the
Chinese
ports of
Shanghai
and
Ningbo-Zhoushan
. As of 2020, the
busiest passenger port in Europe
is the
Port of Helsinki
in
Finland
.
[4]
Nevertheless, countless smaller ports do exist that may only serve their local tourism or fishing industries.
Ports can have a wide environmental impact on local ecologies and waterways, most importantly water quality, which can be caused by dredging, spills and other
pollution
. Ports are heavily affected by changing environmental factors caused by
climate change
as most port infrastructure is extremely vulnerable to
sea level rise
and
coastal flooding
.
[3]
Internationally, global ports are beginning to identify ways to improve
coastal management
practices and integrate
climate change adaptation
practices into their construction.
[3]
Historical ports
[
edit
]
Wherever ancient civilisations engaged in maritime trade, they tended to develop sea ports. One of the world's oldest known artificial harbors is at
Wadi al-Jarf
on the
Red Sea
.
[5]
Along with the finding of harbor structures, ancient anchors have also been found.
Other ancient ports include
Guangzhou
during
Qin dynasty
China and
Canopus
, the principal Egyptian port for Greek trade before the foundation of
Alexandria
. In ancient Greece, Athens' port of
Piraeus
was the base for the Athenian fleet which played a crucial role in the
Battle of Salamis
against the Persians in 480 BCE. In ancient India from 3700 BCE,
Lothal
was a prominent city of the Indus valley civilisation, located in the
Bhal region
of the modern state of
Gujar?t
.
[6]
Ostia Antica
was the port of ancient Rome with
Portus
established by
Claudius
and enlarged by
Trajan
to supplement the nearby port of Ostia. In Japan, during the
Edo period
, the island of
Dejima
was the only port open for trade with Europe and received only a single Dutch ship per year, whereas
Osaka
was the largest domestic port and the main trade hub for rice.
Post-classical
Swahili kingdoms
are known to have had trade port islands and trade routes
[7]
with the Islamic world and Asia. They were described by Greek historians as "metropolises".
[8]
Famous African trade ports such as
Mombasa
,
Zanzibar
,
Mogadishu
and
Kilwa
[9]
were known to Chinese sailors such as
Zheng He
and medieval Islamic historians such as the Berber Islamic voyager
Abu Abdullah ibn Battuta
.
[10]
Many of these ancient sites no longer exist or function as modern ports. Even in more recent times, ports sometimes fall out of use.
Rye, East Sussex
, was an important English port in the Middle Ages, but the coastline changed and it is now 2 miles (3.2 km) from the sea, while the ports of
Ravenspurn
and
Dunwich
have been lost to
coastal erosion
.
Modern ports
[
edit
]
Whereas early ports tended to be just simple harbours, modern ports tend to be
multimodal
distribution
hubs
, with transport links using sea, river, canal, road, rail and air routes. Successful ports are located to optimize access to an active
hinterland
, such as the
London Gateway
. Ideally, a port will grant
easy navigation
to ships, and will give shelter from wind and waves. Ports are often on estuaries, where the water may be shallow and may need regular
dredging
. Deep water ports such as
Milford Haven
are less common, but can handle larger ships with a greater draft, such as
super tankers
,
Post-Panamax vessels
and large
container ships
. Other businesses such as
regional distribution centres
, warehouses and freight-forwarders,
canneries
and other processing facilities find it advantageous to be located within a port or nearby. Modern ports will have specialised
cargo
-handling equipment, such as
gantry cranes
,
reach stackers
and
forklift trucks
.
Ports usually have specialised functions: some tend to cater mainly for
passenger ferries
and
cruise ships
; some specialise in
container
traffic or general cargo; and some ports play an important military role for their nation's navy. Some third world countries and small islands such as
Ascension
and
St Helena
still have limited port facilities, so that ships must anchor off while their cargo and passengers are taken ashore by
barge
or
launch
(respectively).
In modern times, ports survive or decline, depending on current economic trends. In the UK, both the ports of
Liverpool
and
Southampton
were once significant in the transatlantic passenger liner business. Once airliner traffic decimated that trade, both ports diversified to container cargo and cruise ships. Up until the 1950s the
Port of London
was a major international port on the
River Thames
, but changes in shipping and the use of containers and larger ships have led to its decline.
Thamesport
,
[11]
a small semi-automated container port (with links to the
Port of Felixstowe
, the UK's largest container port) thrived for some years, but has been hit hard by competition from the emergent London Gateway port and logistics hub.
In mainland Europe, it is normal for ports to be publicly owned, so that, for instance, the ports of
Rotterdam
and
Amsterdam
are owned partly by the state and partly by the cities themselves.
[12]
Even though modern ships tend to have bow-thrusters and stern-thrusters,
[
citation needed
]
many port authorities still require vessels to use
pilots
and
tugboats
for manoeuvering large ships in tight quarters. For instance, ships approaching the Belgian
port of Antwerp
, an inland port on the
River Scheldt
, are obliged to use Dutch pilots when navigating on that part of the estuary that belongs to the Netherlands.
Ports with international traffic have
customs
facilities.
Types
[
edit
]
The terms "port" and "seaport" are used for different types of facilities handling ocean-going vessels, and
river port
is used for river traffic, such as
barges
and other shallow-draft vessels.
Inland port
[
edit
]
An
inland port
is a port on a navigable lake, river (
fluvial
port), or canal with access to a sea or ocean, which therefore allows a ship to sail from the ocean inland to the port to load or unload its cargo. An example of this is the
St. Lawrence Seaway
which allows ships to travel from the Atlantic Ocean several thousand kilometers inland to Great Lakes ports like
Toronto
,
Duluth-Superior
, and
Chicago
.
[13]
The term
inland port
is also used for
dry ports
.
Seaport
[
edit
]
A
seaport
is a port located on the shore of a sea or ocean. It is further categorized as commercial and non-commercial:
[14]
- Commercial ones includes "
cruise ports
" and "
cargo ports
". Additionally, "cruise ports" are also known as a "home port" or a "port of call"; and "cargo port" is also further categorized into a "bulk" or "break bulk port" or as a "container port".
Cargo port
[
edit
]
Cargo ports
are quite different from cruise ports, because each handles very different cargo, which has to be loaded and unloaded by a variety of mechanical means.
Bulk cargo ports
may handle one particular type of cargo or numerous cargoes, such as grains, liquid fuels, liquid chemicals, wood, automobiles, etc. Such ports are known as the "bulk" or "break bulk ports".
Ports that handle
containerized
cargo are known as
container ports
.
Most cargo ports handle all sorts of cargo, but some ports are very specific as to what cargo they handle. Additionally, individual cargo ports may be divided into different operating terminals which handle the different types of cargoes, and may be operated by different companies, also known as terminal operators, or
stevedores
.
[15]
Cruise port
[
edit
]
A
cruise home port
is the port where cruise ship passengers board (or
embark
) to start their cruise and
disembark
the cruise ship at the end of their cruise. It is also where the cruise ship's supplies are loaded for the cruise, which includes everything from fresh water and fuel to fruits, vegetables, champagne, and any other supplies needed for the cruise. "Cruise home ports" are very busy places during the day the cruise ship is in port, because off-going passengers debark their baggage and on-coming passengers board the ship in addition to all the supplies being loaded. Cruise home ports tend to have large
passenger terminals
to handle the large number of passengers passing through the port. The busiest cruise home port in the world is the
Port of Miami
,
Florida
.
Port of call
[
edit
]
A
port of call
is an intermediate stop for a ship on its sailing itinerary. At these ports, cargo ships may take on supplies or fuel, as well as unloading and loading cargo while cruise liners have passengers get on or off ship.
Fishing port
[
edit
]
A
fishing port
is a port or
harbor
for landing and distributing fish. It may be a recreational facility, but it is usually commercial. A fishing port is the only port that depends on an ocean product, and depletion of fish may cause a fishing port to be uneconomical.
Marina
[
edit
]
A
marina
is a port for recreational boating.
Warm-water port
[
edit
]
A
warm-water port
(also known as an ice-free port) is one where the water does not freeze in winter. This is mainly used in the context of countries with mostly cold winters where parts of the coastline freezes over every winter. Because they are available year-round, warm-water ports can be of great geopolitical or economic interest. Such settlements as
Narvik
in Norway,
Dalian
in China,
Murmansk
,
Novorossiysk
,
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
and
Vostochny Port
[16]
in Russia,
Odesa
in Ukraine,
Kushiro
in Japan and
Valdez
at the terminus of the
Alaska Pipeline
owe their very existence to being ice-free ports. The
Baltic Sea
and similar areas have ports available year-round beginning in the 20th century thanks to
icebreakers
, but earlier access problems prompted Russia to expand its territory to the
Black Sea
.
[
citation needed
]
Dry port
[
edit
]
A
dry port
is an inland
intermodal
terminal directly connected by
road
or
rail
to a seaport and operating as a centre for the
transshipment
of sea cargo to inland destinations.
[17]
Smart port
[
edit
]
A smart port uses technologies, including the
Internet of Things
(IoT) and
artificial intelligence
(AI) to be more efficient at handling goods.
[18]
Smart ports usually deploy cloud-based software as part of the process of greater automation to help generate the operating flow that helps the port work smoothly.
[19]
At present, most of the world's ports have somewhat embedded technology, if not for full leadership. However, thanks to global government initiatives and exponential growth in maritime trade, the amount of intelligent ports has gradually increased. This latest report by business intelligence provider Visiongain assesses that Smart Ports Market spending will reach $1.5 bn in 2019.
[20]
Environmental issues
[
edit
]
| This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
December 2020
)
|
Ports and their operation are often a cause of environmental issues, such as sediment contamination and spills from ships and are susceptible to larger environmental issues, such as human caused climate change and its effects.
[21]
Dredging
[
edit
]
Every year 100 million cubic metres of
marine sediment
are dredged to improve waterways around ports. Dredging, in its practice, disturbs local ecosystems, brings sediments into the water column, and can stir up pollutants captured in the sediments.
[21]
Invasive species
[
edit
]
Invasive species
are often spread by the
bilge water
and species attached to the hulls of ships.
[21]
It is estimated that there are over 7000 invasive species transported in bilge water around the world on a daily basis
[22]
Invasive species can have direct or indirect interactions with native sea life. Direct interaction such as predation, is when a native species with no natural predator is all of a sudden prey of an invasive specie. Indirect interaction can be diseases or other health conditions brought by invasive species.
[23]
Air pollution
[
edit
]
Ports are also a source of increased
air pollution
as a result of ships and land transportation at the port. Transportation corridors around ports have higher exhaust emissions and this can have related health effects on local communities.
[21]
Water quality
[
edit
]
Water quality around ports is often lower because of both direct and indirect pollution from the shipping, and other challenges caused by the port's community, such as trash washing into the ocean.
[21]
Spills, pollution and contamination
[
edit
]
Sewage from ships, and leaks of oil and chemicals from shipping vessels can contaminate local water, and cause other effects like nutrient pollution in the water.
[21]
Climate change and sea level rise
[
edit
]
Ports and their infrastructure are very
vulnerable to climate change
and sea level rise, because many of them are in low-lying areas designed for status quo water levels.
[3]
Variable weather, coastal erosion, and sea level rise all put pressure on existing infrastructure, resulting in
subsidence
,
coastal flooding
and other direct pressures on the port.
[3]
Reducing impact
[
edit
]
There are several initiatives to decrease negative environmental impacts of ports.
[24]
[25]
[26]
The
World Port Sustainability Program
points to all of the
Sustainable Development Goals
as potential ways of addressing port sustainability.
[27]
These include
SIMPYC
, the
World Ports Climate Initiative
, the
African Green Port Initiative
,
EcoPorts
and
Green Marine
.
[26]
[28]
World's major ports
[
edit
]
Africa
[
edit
]
- The port of
Tangier Med
is the largest port on the Mediterranean and in Africa by capacity and went into service in July 2007.
- The busiest port in Africa is
Port Said
in Egypt.
Asia
[
edit
]
The
port of Shanghai
is the largest port in the world in both
cargo tonnage
and activity. It regained its position as the
world's busiest port by cargo tonnage
and the
world's busiest container port
in 2009 and 2010, respectively. It is followed by the ports of
Singapore
,
Hong Kong
and
Kaohsiung
,
Taiwan
, all of which are in
East
and
Southeast Asia
.
The port of Singapore is the world's second-busiest port in terms of total shipping tonnage, it also
transships
a third of the world's
shipping containers
, half of the world's annual supply of
crude oil
, and is the world's busiest
transshipment port
.
Europe
[
edit
]
Europe's busiest container port and biggest port by cargo tonnage by far is the
Port of Rotterdam
, in the Netherlands. It is followed by the Belgian
Port of Antwerp
or the German
Port of Hamburg
, depending on which metric is used.
[29]
In turn, the Spanish
Port of Valencia
is the busiest port in the Mediterranean basin, while the Portuguese
Port of Sines
is the busiest atlantic port. The
Port of Trieste
,
Italy
, is the main port of the northern Adriatic and starting point of the
Transalpine Pipeline
.
North America
[
edit
]
The largest ports include the
South Louisiana
,
Houston
,
Port of New York/New Jersey
,
Los Angeles
in the U.S.,
Manzanillo
in Mexico and
Vancouver
in Canada.
[
citation needed
]
Panama
also has the
Panama Canal
that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, and is a key conduit for international trade.
Oceania
[
edit
]
The largest port in Oceania is the
Port of Melbourne
.
South America
[
edit
]
According to
ECLAC
's "Maritime and Logistics Profile of Latin America and the Caribbean", the largest ports in South America are the
Port of Santos
in Brazil,
Cartagena
in Colombia,
Callao
in Peru,
Guayaquil
in Ecuador, and the
Port of Buenos Aires
in Argentina.
[30]
See also
[
edit
]
Other logistics hubs
[
edit
]
Lists
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Caves, R. W. (2004).
Encyclopedia of the City
. Routledge. pp.
528
.
ISBN
9780415252256
.
- ^
John Gerring; Brendan Apfeld; Tore Wig; Andreas Forø Tollefsen (2022).
The Deep Roots of Modern Democracy: Geography and the Diffusion of Political Institutions
. Cambridge University Press. p. 45.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Asariotis, Regina; Benamara, Hassiba; Mohos-Naray, Viktoria (December 2017).
Port Industry Survey on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation
(PDF)
(Report). UN Conference on Trade and Development.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 2020-11-25.
- ^
"Maritime ports freight and passenger statistics"
(PDF)
.
Eurostat
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 2017-07-22
. Retrieved
18 June
2020
.
- ^
Rossella Lorenzi (12 April 2013).
"Most Ancient Port, Hieroglyphic Papyri Found"
.
Discovery News
. Retrieved
21 April
2013
.
- ^
Rao, S. R. Rao (1985).
Lothal
. Archeological Survey of India.
- ^
"Eastern and Southern Africa 500?1000 AD"
. Metmuseum.org
. Retrieved
21 April
2009
.
- ^
"Tanzanian dig unearths ancient secret by Tira Shubart"
.
BBC News
. 17 April 2002
. Retrieved
21 April
2009
.
- ^
Newitt, M.D.D. (1995).
A History of Mozambique
. Indiana University Press.
ISBN
9780253340061
.
- ^
"Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa 1325?1354"
. Fordham.edu. 21 February 2001. Archived from
the original
on 13 May 2011
. Retrieved
21 April
2009
.
- ^
"Welcome"
.
London Thamesport
. Retrieved
6 September
2018
.
- ^
"Organisation"
.
Port of Rotterdam
. 2015-06-15
. Retrieved
2020-10-07
.
- ^
"Seaway System"
.
greatlakes-seaway.com
.
- ^
Different types of Ports.
- ^
Khan, Khalil U. (15 September 2014).
"Stevedoring & The Role of Stevedores in Shipping"
. International Institute of Marine Surveying
. Retrieved
7 April
2021
.
- ^
"Vostochny Port JSC, Geography, Location"
.
Vostochny Port website
. 2007. Archived from
the original
on 29 November 2012
. Retrieved
13 December
2012
.
Vostochny Port is located in the south of Primorsky Region, in the southeast of Nakhodka bay, in Vrangel bay. This is unique natural harbor is no ice restrictions even in severe winters.
- ^
"Feasibility Study on the network operation of Hinterland Hubs (Dry Port Concept) to improve and modernise ports' connections to the hinterland and to improve networking"
(PDF)
. InLoc. January 2007. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2008-04-13
. Retrieved
2008-03-10
.
- ^
"Smart Ports of the Future: A Digital Tomorrow"
.
Port Technology International
. 2019-09-17. Archived from
the original
on 2019-10-11
. Retrieved
2019-10-11
.
- ^
"Ports in the Cloud: The Next Step in Automation?"
.
Port Technology International
. 2018-11-09
. Retrieved
2019-10-11
.
- ^
"
'Smart Ports Market spending will reach $1.5bn in 2019', says Visiongain"
.
Visiongain
(Press release). 2019-09-05
. Retrieved
2019-09-09
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
OECD (2011-02-17). Braathen, Nils Axel (ed.).
Environmental Impacts of International Shipping: The Role of Ports
. OECD.
doi
:
10.1787/9789264097339-en
.
ISBN
978-92-64-09682-0
.
- ^
"What are California Marine Invasive Species?"
.
wildlife.ca.gov
. Retrieved
2021-05-13
.
- ^
Fisheries, NOAA (2021-05-07).
"Invasive and Exotic Marine Species | NOAA Fisheries"
.
NOAA
. Retrieved
2021-05-13
.
- ^
Hossain, Tahazzud; Adams, Michelle; Walker, Tony R. (2020).
"Role of sustainability in global seaports"
.
Ocean & Coastal Management
.
202
: 105435.
doi
:
10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105435
.
- ^
Hossain, Tahazzud; Adams, Michelle; Walker, Tony R. (2019). "Sustainability initiatives in Canadian ports".
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.
106
: 103519.
doi
:
10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103519
.
S2CID
164819617
.
- ^
a
b
Walker, Tony R. (2016). "Green Marine: An environmental program to establish sustainability in marine transportation".
Marine Pollution Bulletin
.
105
(1): 199?207.
Bibcode
:
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.
doi
:
10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.02.029
.
PMID
26899158
.
- ^
"Areas of Interest ? World Port Sustainability Program"
.
sustainableworldports.org
. Retrieved
2020-12-19
.
- ^
EOS magazine, 6, 2012
- ^
"World Port Rankings 2011"
(PDF)
.
Agencia Nacional de Transportes Aquaviarios
. Antaq, Brazil. 2011.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 2012-12-02
. Retrieved
6 September
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.
- ^
"Los 10 mayores puertos de America Latina y Caribe en trafico de contenedores"
.
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(in Spanish).
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, Spain: Asociacion de Ingenieros Navales y Oceanicos de Espana. September 28, 2016
. Retrieved
May 3,
2017
.
External links
[
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]
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Assets
and
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Concepts
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and
ideas
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Fields
of study
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