There are a large number of ports built and operating around the world to provide excellent waterway transportation. Ports can be ranked in world ranking based on many criteria like cargo volume, container size, etc. Here is a list of 10 Largest Ports in the World.
10 Largest Ports in the World
What is a Port?
A port is a multipurpose area that is maintained for safe, secure and reliable shipping of ships. A place or location on the coast of the sea which is mainly reserved for the purpose of anchoring ships or for transferring people or cargo is referred to as a port.
Port handling capacity is measured in TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units). Based on this unit of calculation, we have rated 10 ship ports as the largest ports in the world.
Well, most of these rated seaports fall under the Asian continent and on a further narrowing of this statistic, most come from one country – China.
It should be noted that the list of the largest ports in the world is subject to change constantly. This is mainly due to developments taking place in every country around the world, with respect to marine cargo transportation and commercial networks.
Below are the 10 largest ports in the world by cargo volume.
1. Shanghai Port, China
Having a total of five working areas, the port of Shanghai is the largest port in the world, surpassing the Port of Singapore. It is located in Shanghai, China. The port of Shanghai is a major source of economic activity in the Yangtze River area which has helped advance the economic status of regions such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Henan.
It has a cargo handling capacity of approximately 744 million tonnes, which enables the efficient management of 32.5 million containers of the same dimensions as standard TEU containers simultaneously.
It spans an area of 3,619 km² on the delta or convergence of the Yangtze River and the port is owned by the International Port Group in Shanghai (SIPG).
The port includes the three most important container port areas within it which are located in Wusongkou, Waigaoqiao and in Yangshan with a total of 125 berths. The total stretch of the pier is about twenty kilometers.
A quarter of international trade from China is carried out from this port and an average of about 2,000 container ships are served by this port each month.
2. Port of Singapore, Singapore
Once rated as the world’s largest port, Singapore’s port has slipped several places and is now ranked second in the same category. From the perspective of Singapore’s economy, Singapore’s ports play a very important role as they serve the re-export market on a large scale.
The Port of Singapore is connected to more than 600 ports spread across more than 100 countries. In terms of handling, shipping ports handle one-fifth of global cargo containers and are responsible for transiting nearly 50% of global crude oil supplies.
The cargo handling capacity of the Port of Singapore is approximately 537.6 million tonnes. Every year in total, about 140,000 ships are received by this port.
PSA Singapore cooperates with Jurong port to manage the port and various port terminals.
The main port terminal location of the Port of Singapore is at Pasir Panjang, Tanjong Pagar, Sembawang. Keppel, Jurong and Brani. It is home to about two hundred and four dock cranes and many gantry cranes.
Currently, this terminal is under development and is projected to be extended to 15 more docks and start operating in the near future.
3. Tianjin Port, China
The Tianjin port in China is ranked third on the list of the world’s largest ports. Tianjin Port is the third largest port in China and the largest single port in the northern part of the country.
With recent developments in the shipping industry, the number of cargoes increased in aggregate to an average of 5.3% and containers increased by 6.2%.
The cargo handling capacity of this port is such that it can handle around 476 million tonnes of cargo at a time, which is lower than the standard TEU dimension of 12.3 million containers it can transport.
This port, operated by the Tianjin Port Group company, was built at the outlet of the North China river named Haihe River with a combined land and water area of 131 km² and 336 km² respectively to serve as a link between 500 ports from about 189 countries. . Overall, this Chinese port has 159 berths which are interconnected to form an excellent port network.
4. Guangzhou Port
The largest port in South China, Guangzhou port enjoys connectivity with more than 300 ports in nearly 100 countries. The port is the mainstay for the industrial belt found in the Guangxi, Yunnan, Hunan and Jiangxi regions. Huangpu Port is also a part of Guangzhou port.
There is a slight difference between the cargo handling capacity of Tianjin Port and Guangzhou Port. The Guangzhou port can handle even more than 460 million tons of cargo, this cargo handling capacity placing it fourth in the top ranking order.
At an early stage in 1999, the port was built between the Perl River delta.
At the initial stage it was made only to accommodate one hundred million tons of cargo but this capacity experienced growth and expansion so that the total cargo handling capacity reached its current cargo capacity of around 460 million tons which is more than four times the capacity. by 100 million tonnes in 1999. This expansion of port capacity is an invitation for more trade from these ports and increased cargo traffic.
The four main areas of the port which are the busiest port locations are: City Center Port, Xinsha Port, Huangpu Port and Nansha Port Area. If the top order of ports is determined based on loading and unloading, especially for coal, then this port in China ranks at the top.
5. Ningbo Port, China
Established as a collaborative venture between Ningbo port and Zhoushan port in 2006, Ningbo-Zhoushan port is the second largest sea port in the world.
Serving three rivers – Yangtze, Yong and Qaintang, the port expects a major upgrade due to the construction of a new terminal.
Ningbo Port, Zhejiang, with a handling capacity of more than 453 million tons of cargo is next in line to the largest port worldwide with a value of 15.6 million TEUs.
The main port areas of this port are Beilun, Ningbo, Zhenhai, Chaunshan and Daxie port areas and these ports are operated by Ningbo Port Group. It consists of 309 berths connecting a large number of ports (around 600 in total) among 100 countries.
The recent merger of this port and Zhoushan Port resulted in an increase in the combined TEU capacity of the two ports to a value of 16.83 million TEUs.
6. Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands
The Port of Rotterdam holds the first two titles as the largest port in Europe and the second from the sixth largest port in the world.
It safely handles 441.5 million tons of cargo. The estimated stretch of this port reaches 12426 hectares with a length of 42 kilometers. The port has an industrial complex in the vicinity.
It is owned, managed and operated by PoRA, the outstanding port authority of Rotterdam.
The Port of Rotterdam is the deepest port in northwestern Europe and allows deep docking of ships. The local government is undertaking a port development program which roughly doubles its cargo handling capacity.
The European port was the largest port in the world for 42 years between 1962 and 2004 before being surpassed by Singapore and Shanghai. The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in all of Europe.
7. Suzhou Port, China
After reaching a cargo handling capacity of 428 million tons, the Port of Suzhou is the seventh largest port in the world. The port also ranks highly when it is ranked according to its business and it is placed in the category of the busiest inland river port worldwide.
The Suzhou City Government owns and manages the port function. It is built on the Yangtze River in its lower reaches with the main port areas being the ports of Changshu, Zhangjiagang and Taicang.
This port area consists of 224 berths and transacts with more than hundreds of national and international shipping routes. The port is used primarily for the transportation of various building materials and coal. The Suzhou Port Administration Department manages all activities above the port.
8. Qingdao Port, China
The world’s largest iron ore port or “Qingdao Port” was established at the entrance of Jiaozhou Bay on the Shadong Peninsula and occupies the eighth position in the ranking of the world’s largest ports by cargo capacity.
The port is managed by a state port group called Qingdao City Port Group and is independent in handling cargoe of around 400 million tons or more. It not only holds the rank of the eighth largest port but also the largest Chinese port for crude oil transportation.
This port was developed by combining three ports, namely the Huangdao oil port, the Old Qingdao Port and the new Qianwan port. This port connects about 130 countries around the world through a network of about 450 ports. It is the only well-equipped port with all high-tech facilities as well as a well-established Industrial estate in its territory.
9. Dalian Port, China
In the top ten largest ports in the world, the ninth position is secured by a port in China’s Liaoning province, called Dalian Port, which handles more than 303 million tons of cargo.
The Dalian Port Company owns this port and is responsible for all port activities concerned. There are about eighty berths and seven important areas of Dalian Port are Daliangang, Ganjinzi, Dalianwan, Nianyuwan, Xianglujiao, Dayaowan, Heizuizi and Si’ergou which connect more than ninety-nine shipping lanes around the world.
Moreover, it is a regional port and is responsible for almost all regional transportation in the vicinity
10. Busan Port, South Korea
Busan Port doubles as South Korea’s largest port and second largest city. The 10th largest port in the world, the port of Busan is located on the Naktong River.
The port’s handling capacity is around 298 million tons of cargo.
The Busan port authority manages, operates and is responsible for the proper functioning of this port. Gamcheon and Dadaepo ports along with South and North ports are the main ports comprising Busan Port.
This is the main port of South Korea as a major part of the country’s fishery production, the export of bulk cargo and container cargo is served by this port alone. The catchment area where the port is opened is 840,000 m² and can handle 169 vessels simultaneously.
Conclusion
It is not wrong to say that China is at the top in port development and management because there are 7 Chinese ports in the list of ten largest ports worldwide according to their respective cargo capacities.
The Chinese port of Shanghai topped the list because of the highest cargo carrying capacity among all the ports developed to date. This port ranking is based on container handling capacity in million tons.
These ports have cargo handling capacities ranging from 298 million tons to 744 million tons. This is one of the bases for ranking the world’s top ten ports whereas they can also be ranked by other standards such as standard cargo dimensions in TEUs.