A trip around the world's biggest seaports
Freight ports play a key role in the global transport of goods. It is here - in the container terminals - that products are loaded and unloaded, to be shipped to consumers across the world.
Hamburg
Germany's biggest port, located in Hamburg, shipped 137.8 million tons of cargo in 2015. And it handled 8.8 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) standard containers. This makes Hamburg the third-largest container port in Europe and the 19th biggest worldwide.
Antwerp
Antwerp is home to Belgium's largest port, with TEU container volumes amounting to about 9.6 million. Measured in terms of cargo volume, it is Europe's second biggest and stands 15th in global rankings. Antwerp is the world's largest transshipment center for package freight. Furthermore, the port of Antwerp houses the second-largest chemical industrial complex in the world after that in Houston.
Rotterdam
The port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe and ranked 12th in the world. The entire port area has a length of 42 kilometers. The number of containers handled at the port rose 1.2 percent in 2016 to 12.4 million TEU. An increasing amount of freight was shipped to East Asia and North America.
Los Angeles/Long Beach
The port of Los Angeles is located on San Pedro Bay, about 30 kilometers south of the city center. Located adjacent to it is the port of Long Beach - blurring the geographic boundaries between the two. Together, the two ports occupied 10th spot worldwide in 2015, handling some 15.3 million standard containers.
Dubai
The Jebel Ali Port in Dubai is the biggest and busiest international port in the Middle East. It was built in the late 1970s and in 2015 it shipped nearly 15.6 million standard containers, placing the port in the ninth place worldwide.
Guangzhou
The port of Guangzhou, ranked 7th in the world, is one of the six Chinese ports that are among the top ten ports worldwide in terms of container volume. Over 17.5 million standard containers were handled by the Guangzhou port in 2015.
Busan
Busan is, after the capital Seoul, the second largest metropolis in South Korea, and it is the East Asian country's most important hub for international trade. In 2015, 19.4 million standard containers were loaded and unloaded in this port surrounded by a scenic mountain chain. Busan houses the sixth biggest port in the world.
Hongkong
Hong Kong's harbor has benefited from the territory's strategic location facing the South China Sea. With a capacity to handle over 20 million standard containers, Hong Kong's port ranks the fifth largest in the world.
Singapore
Singapore's port handles nearly 31 million standard containers annually and therefore secures the second spot in global rankings. The city-state always strives to maintain top notch facilities at its port, jealously guarding its reputation as the most important transshipment point between Europe and Southeast Asia.
Shanghai
Shanghai's port, by a wide margin, has occupied the top slot worldwide since 2010. The port handled around 36.5 million standard containers in 2015, over three times as many as in Hamburg.