Top Ports

The port of Hong Kong, located by the South China Sea, is a deepwater seaport dominated by trade in containerised manufactured products, and to a lesser extent raw materials and passengers. A key factor in the economic development of Hong Kong, the natural shelter and deep waters of Victoria Harbour provide ideal conditions for berthing and handling all types of vessels. It is one of the busiest ports in the world, in the three categories of shipping movements, cargo handled and passengers carried. <br><br> Hong Kong's container port currently has eight container terminals consisting of 18 berths, with an average of 11.5 million TEUs (20-ft equivalent units) throughput capacity per year. The port's impressive efficiency and capacity has won Hong Kong the title as the busiest container port in the world for five consecutive years.

Piraeus boasts Europe's largest passenger port. The port handles 20 million passengers each year including those commuting between Salamina and Perama. The facilities at the port have been recently refurbished and the quality of the amenities improved significantly. These include ATM machines, currency exchange service, restaurants, bars, taxis and a wide range of travel agencies selling ferry crossing tickets. Piraeus has been the port of Athens for thousands of years. The vibrant city, built on top of the ancient city, is a principal nautical and financial hub, with boats linking Athens with the major Greek islands and numerous other countries in the Adriatic. Piraeus is situated southwest of Athens, about 11 km / 7 miles from the town's centre, and is connected to the city by the metro of Athens and bus services. Port of Piraeus Information: Ferry Services- Piraeus, Attica, Greece The port operates ferry crossings to Crete, the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, the eastern part of Greece and a large part of the northern and eastern Aegean. Minoan Lines, Anek Lines, Super Fast Ferries, Blue Star Ferries, and Hellas Flying Dolphins all operate from this port. Hellas Flying Dolphins provides the more expensive and faster services from the Port of Piraeus. These vessels can reach a maximum speed of 42 knots, although during bad weather conditions the service is not always available. Anek Lines provides services from Piraeus to the following: Chania, taking 8 hours, 30 minutes; Rethymnon, taking approximately 9 hours, 30 minutes and Heraklion, taking approximately 8 hours, 30 minutes. Minoan Lines Ferries also provides sailings to Heraklion on board new superior vessels. There is a daily sailing taking seven hours. Other destinations from the Port of Piraeus include the less known islands of Antikythira, Gytheion and Kythira, which are all operated by Anek Lines Ferries. The number of crossings is reduced during the winter months.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) is a bi-state port district, established in 1921 through an interstate compact, that runs most of the regional transportation infrastructure, including the bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the New York?New Jersey Port District. This 1,500 square mile (3,900 km²) District is defined as a circle with a 25 mile (40 km) radius centered on the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

The Port of Shanghai, located in the vicinity of Shanghai, comprises a deep-sea port and a river port. In 2005, with a total of 443 million tons of cargo transported, it became the world's busiest port by cargo tonnage for the first time. <br><br> The Port of Shanghai faces the East China Sea to the east, and Hangzhou Bay to the south. It includes the heads of the Yangtze River, Huangpu River (which enters the Yangtze River), and Qiantang River.

The port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, located in the city of Rotterdam, South Holland, the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004 it was the world's busiest port, now overtaken by Asian ports like Singapore and Shanghai. In 2004 Rotterdam was the seventh-largest port in the world in terms of containers (TEU) handled. <br><br> Covering 105 square kilometers (40.5 sq mi), the port of Rotterdam now stretches over a distance of 40 kilometers (25 mi). It consists of the city center's historic harbor area, including Delfshaven; the Maashaven/Rijnhaven/Feijenoord complex; the harbours around Nieuw-Mathenesse; Waalhaven; Vondelingenplaat; Eemhaven; Botlek; Europoort, situated along the Calandkanaal, Nieuwe Waterweg and Scheur (the latter two being continuations of the Nieuwe Maas); and the reclaimed Maasvlakte area, which projects into the North Sea. <br><br> In the first half of the twentieth century the port activities moved from the centre westward towards the North Sea. The Nieuwe Waterweg was dug from Rotterdam to the North Sea, a canal to disembogue the shallow Rhine and Meuse. The Nieuwe Waterweg was ready in 1872 and all sorts of industrial activity formed on the banks of this canal.

Hamburg (Low German: Hamborg) is the second largest city in Germany and along with Hamburg Harbour, its principal port, Hamburg is also the second largest port city in Europe, ninth largest port in the world, and the largest city in the European Union which is not a national capital.

Barcelona is the capital and most populous city of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,605,602 in 2006. It is located on the Mediterranean coast (41'23''N, 2'11''E), between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, and is limited to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge (512 m/1,680 ft). Barcelona is a major economic centre, with one of Europe's principal Mediterranean ports. <br><br> The Port of Barcelona has a 2000-year history and a great contemporary commercial importance. It is the most important Mediterranean port for general cargo of containers and cruisers. The port is managed by the Port Authority of Barcelona. Its 7.86 km (3 sq mi) are divided into three zones: Port Vell (the Old Port), the commercial port and the logistics port (Barcelona Free Port). The port is undergoing an enlargement that will double its size thanks to diverting the mouth of the Llobregat river 2 km (1 mi) to the south.

The Port of Liverpool is the name for the enclosed dock system that runs from Herculaneum Dock to Seaforth Dock, on the east side of the River Mersey, combined with the facilities built around the Great Float on the west side of the river. The working docks are operated by Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, the docks to the south of the Pier Head are operated by British Waterways.

Cartagena, also known as Cartagena de Indias (Cartagena of the West Indies), is a large city seaport on the northern coast of Colombia. Capital of the Bolívar Department, it has a population of roughly 895,400 (2005 Census). Founded in 1533 by Don Pedro de Heredia, and named after the port of Cartagena in Spain's Murcia region, it was a major center of early Spanish settlement in the Americas, and continues to be an economic hub as well as a popular tourist destination.

The Port of Vancouver became internationally significant after the completion of the Panama Canal, which reduced freight rates in the 1920s and made it viable to ship export-bound prairie grain west through Vancouver. It has since become the busiest seaport in Canada, and exports more cargo than any other port in North America.