Ports: gateways of trade

Ports are the gateways of international trade. They provide facilities for docking, loading and unloading ships, and storing cargo. The amount of cargo a port handles shows how developed its hinterland (the area it serves) is.

Ports can be classified in several ways.

By the cargo handled:

• Industrial ports specialise in bulk cargo: grain, sugar, ore, oil, chemicals.
• Commercial ports handle general cargo (packaged goods and manufactured items) and passengers.
• Comprehensive ports handle both bulk and general cargo in large volumes. Most of the world's great ports are of this kind.

By location:

• Inland ports lie away from the coast, linked to the sea by a river or canal: Manchester (by a ship canal), Memphis (on the Mississippi) and Kolkata (on the Hugli).
• Out ports are deep-water ports built away from the main port, to serve it by receiving ships too large for it: Piraeus, in Greece, is the out port for Athens.

By function:

• Oil ports handle petroleum: Maracaibo in Venezuela and Abadan in Iran.
• Ports of call grew up as stopping points on main sea routes, where ships could refuel, take on water and food: Aden, Honolulu and Singapore.
• Packet stations (ferry ports) carry passengers and mail across short stretches of water: Dover in England and Calais in France, across the English Channel.
• Entrepot ports are collection centres where goods from many countries are brought for re-export: Singapore for Asia, Rotterdam for Europe, and Copenhagen for the Baltic region.
• Naval ports serve warships and have repair workshops: Kochi and Karwar in India.