Aport is amaritime facility comprising one or morewharves or loading areas, where ships load and dischargecargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such asHamburg,Manchester andDuluth; these access the sea viarivers orcanals. Because of their roles asports 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 theworld's largest and busiest ports, such asSingapore and theChinese ports ofShanghai andNingbo-Zhoushan. As of 2020, thebusiest passenger port in Europe is thePort of Helsinki inFinland.[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 otherpollution. Ports are heavily affected by changing environmental factors caused byclimate change as most port infrastructure is extremely vulnerable tosea level rise andcoastal flooding.[3] Internationally, global ports are beginning to identify ways to improvecoastal management practices and integrateclimate change adaptation practices into their construction.[3]
Wherever ancient civilisations engaged in maritime trade, they tended to develop sea ports. One of the world's oldest known artificial harbors is atWadi al-Jarf on theRed Sea.[5] Along with the finding of harbor structures, ancient anchors have also been found.
Other ancient ports includeGuangzhou duringQin dynasty China andCanopus, the principal Egyptian port for Greek trade before the foundation ofAlexandria. InAncient Greece, Athens' port ofPiraeus was the base for the Athenian fleet which played a crucial role in theBattle 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 theBhal region of the modern state ofGujarāt.[6]Ostia Antica was the port of ancient Rome withPortus established byClaudius and enlarged byTrajan to supplement the nearby port of Ostia. In Japan, during theEdo period, the island ofDejima was the only port open for trade with Europe and received only a single Dutch ship per year, whereasOsaka was the largest domestic port and the main trade hub for rice.
Ostia Antica (lit.'Ancient Ostia') is anancient Roman city and the port ofRome located at the mouth of theTiber. It is near modernOstia, 25 km (16 mi) southwest ofRome. Due tosilting and the invasion of sand, the site now lies 3 km (2 mi) from the sea.[7] The nameOstia (the plural ofostium) derives from Latinos 'mouth'. Ostia is now a largearchaeological site noted for the excellent preservation of its ancient buildings, magnificentfrescoes and impressivemosaics. The city's decline after antiquity led to harbor deterioration, marshy conditions, and reduced population. Sand dunes covering the site aided its preservation. Its remains provide insights into a city of commercial importance. As inPompeii, Ostia's ruins provide details about Romanurbanism that are not accessible within the city of Rome itself.[8] Post-classicalSwahili kingdoms are known to have had trade port islands and trade routes[9] with the Islamic world and Asia. They were described by Greek historians as "metropolises".[10] Famous African trade ports such asMombasa,Zanzibar,Mogadishu andKilwa[11] were known to Chinese sailors such asZheng He and medieval Islamic historians such as the Berber Islamic voyagerAbu Abdullah ibn Battuta.[12]
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 ofRavenspurn andDunwich have been lost tocoastal erosion.
Themaritime republics (Italian:repubbliche marinare), also called merchant republics (Italian:repubbliche mercantili), were Italianthalassocraticport cities which, starting from theMiddle Ages, enjoyed political autonomy and economic prosperity brought about by their maritime activities. The term, coined during the 19th century, generally refers to four Italian cities, whose coats of arms have been shown since 1947 on the flags of theItalian Navy and the Italian Merchant Navy:[13]Amalfi,Genoa,Pisa, andVenice. In addition to the four best known cities,Ancona,[14][15]Gaeta,[16]Noli,[17][18][19] and, inDalmatia,Ragusa, are also considered maritime republics; in certain historical periods, they had no secondary importance compared to some of the better known cities.
Uniformly scattered across the Italian peninsula, the maritime republics were important not only for the history of navigation and commerce: in addition to precious goods otherwise unobtainable in Europe, new artistic ideas and news concerning distant countries also spread. From the 10th century, they built fleets of ships both for their own protection and to support extensive trade networks across the Mediterranean, giving them an essential role in reestablishing contacts betweenEurope,Asia, andAfrica, which had been interrupted during the early Middle Ages. They also had an essential role in theCrusades and produced renowned explorers and navigators such asMarco Polo andChristopher Columbus.[20]
Over the centuries, the maritime republics — both the best known and the lesser known but not always less important — experienced fluctuating fortunes. In the 9th and 10th centuries, this phenomenon began with Amalfi and Gaeta, which soon reached their heyday. Meanwhile, Venice began its gradual ascent, while the other cities were still experiencing the long gestation that would lead them to their autonomy and to follow up on their seafaring vocation. After the 11th century, Amalfi and Gaeta declined rapidly, while Genoa and Venice became the most powerful republics. Pisa followed and experienced its most flourishing period in the 13th century, and Ancona and Ragusa allied to resist Venetian power. Following the 14th century, while Pisa declined to the point of losing its autonomy, Venice and Genoa continued to dominate navigation, followed by Ragusa and Ancona, which experienced their golden age in the 15th century. In the 16th century, with Ancona's loss of autonomy, only the republics of Venice, Genoa, and Ragusa remained, which still experienced great moments of splendor until the mid-17th century, followed by over a century of slow decline that ended with theNapoleonic invasion.
Whereas early ports tended to be just simple harbours, modern ports tend to bemultimodal distributionhubs, with transport links using sea, river, canal, road, rail and air routes. Successful ports are located to optimize access to an activehinterland, such as theLondon Gateway. Ideally, a port will granteasy 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 regulardredging. Deep water ports such asMilford Haven are less common, but can handle larger ships with a greater draft, such assuper tankers,Post-Panamax vessels and largecontainer ships. Other businesses such asregional 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 specialisedcargo-handling equipment, such asgantry cranes,reach stackers andforklift trucks.
Ports usually have specialised functions: some tend to cater mainly forpassenger ferries andcruise ships; some specialise incontainer 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 asAscension andSt Helena still have limited port facilities, so that ships must anchor off while their cargo and passengers are taken ashore bybarge orlaunch (respectively).
In modern times, ports survive or decline, depending on current economic trends. In the UK, both the ports ofLiverpool andSouthampton 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 thePort of London was a major international port on theRiver Thames, but changes in shipping and the use of containers and larger ships have led to its decline.Thamesport,[21] a small semi-automated container port (with links to thePort 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 ofRotterdam andAmsterdam are owned partly by the state and partly by the cities themselves.[22]
Even though modern ships tend to have bow-thrusters and stern-thrusters,[citation needed] many port authorities still require vessels to usepilots andtugboats for manoeuvering large ships in tight quarters. For instance, ships approaching the Belgianport of Antwerp, an inland port on theRiver Scheldt, are obliged to use Dutch pilots when navigating on that part of the estuary that belongs to the Netherlands.
Ports with international traffic havecustoms facilities.
The terms "port" and "seaport" are used for different types of facilities handling ocean-going vessels, andriver port is used for river traffic, such asbarges and other shallow-draft vessels.
Aninland 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 theSt. Lawrence Seaway which allows ships to travel from the Atlantic Ocean several thousand kilometers inland to Great Lakes ports likeToronto,Duluth-Superior, andChicago.[23] The terminland port is also used fordry ports.
Aseaport is a port located on the shore of a sea or ocean. It is further categorized as commercial and non-commercial:[24]
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 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".
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, orstevedores.[25]
Acruise home port is the port where cruise ship passengers board (orembark) to start their cruise anddisembark 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 largepassenger terminals to handle the large number of passengers passing through the port. The busiest cruise home port in the world is thePort of Miami,Florida.
Aport 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.
Afishing port is a port orharbor 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.
Awarm-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 greatgeopolitical oreconomic interest. Such settlements asNarvik in Norway,Dalian in China,Murmansk,Novorossiysk,Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky andVostochny Port[26] in Russia,Odesa in Ukraine,Kushiro in Japan andValdez at the terminus of theAlaska Pipeline owe their very existence to being ice-free ports. TheBaltic Sea and similar areas have ports available year-round beginning in the 20th century thanks toicebreakers, but earlier access problems prompted Russia to expand its territory to theBlack Sea.[citation needed]
Adry port is an inlandintermodal terminal directly connected byroad orrail to a seaport and operating as a centre for thetransshipment of sea cargo to inland destinations.[27]
A smart port uses technologies, including theInternet of Things (IoT) andartificial intelligence (AI) to be more efficient at handling goods.[28] 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.[29] 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 number of intelligent ports has gradually increased. A report by business intelligence provider Visiongain assessed that Smart Ports Market spending would reach $1.5 bn in 2019.[30]
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.[31]
Every year 100 million cubic metres ofmarine 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.[31]
Invasive species are often spread by thebilge water and species attached to the hulls of ships.[31] It is estimated that there are over 7000 invasive species transported in bilge water around the world on a daily basis[32] 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.[33]
Ports are also a source of increasedair 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.[31]
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.[31]
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.[31]
Ports and their infrastructure are veryvulnerable 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 insubsidence,coastal flooding and other direct pressures on the port.[3]
The port of Singapore is the world's second-busiest port in terms of total shipping tonnage, it alsotransships a third of the world'sshipping containers, half of the world's annual supply ofcrude oil, and is the world's busiesttransshipment port.
Europe's busiest container port and biggest port by cargo tonnage by far is thePort of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. It is followed by the BelgianPort of Antwerp or the GermanPort of Hamburg, depending on which metric is used.[39] In turn, the SpanishPort of Valencia is the busiest port in the Mediterranean basin, while the PortuguesePort of Sines is the busiest atlantic port. ThePort of Trieste,Italy, is the main port of the northern Adriatic and starting point of theTransalpine Pipeline.
^Gates, Charles (2011).Ancient cities: the archaeology of urban life in the ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome (2nd ed.). London [u.a]: Routledge. pp. 367–370.ISBN978-0-203-83057-4.
^The International Geographic Encyclopedia and Atlas,Ancona (p. 27), Springer, 1979. ISBN 9781349050024.
^Peris Persi, inConoscere l'Italia, vol. Marche, Istituto Geografico De Agostini, Novara 1982 (p. 74); AA.VV.Meravigliosa Italia, Enciclopedia delle regioni, edited by Valerio Lugoni, Aristea, Milano; Guido Piovene, inTuttitalia, Casa Editrice Sansoni, Firenze & Istituto Geografico De Agostini, Novara (p. 31); Pietro Zampetti, inItinerari dell'Espresso, vol. Marche, edited by Neri Pozza, Editrice L'Espresso, Rome, 1980
^Touring Club Italiano,Lazio Touring Editore, 1981 (p. 743); Giovanna Bergamaschi,Arte in Italia: guida ai luoghi ed alle opere dell'Italia artistica, Electa, 1983 (p. 243); Salvatore Aurigemma, Angelo de Santis,Gaeta, Formia, Minturno.
^Giovanni Murialdo,Dinamiche territoriali e commerciali nella Noli signorile e comunale..., in: Mauro Darchi, Francesca Bandini,La repubblica di Noli e l'importanza dei porti minori del Mediterraneo nel Medioevo, Firenze, All'Insegna del Giglio, 2004 (p. 9)
^Bohun Lynch,The Italian Riviera: Its Scenery, Customs, and Food, with Notes Upon the Maritime Alps, Doubleday, Doran, 1927 (p. 159).
^AA. VV.,Medioevo latino, bollettino bibliografico della cultura europea da Boezio a Erasmo (secoli VI – XV), volume 28, Sismel Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2007, (p. 1338); Giuseppe Gallo,La Repubblica di Genova tra nobili e popolari (1257–1528), edizioni De Ferrari, 1997, p. 44
^"Vostochny Port JSC, Geography, Location".Vostochny Port website. 2007. Archived fromthe original on 29 November 2012. Retrieved13 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.
^"World Port Rankings 2011"(PDF).Agência Nacional de Transportes Aquaviários. Antaq, Brazil. 2011.Archived(PDF) from the original on 2012-12-02. Retrieved6 September 2018.
