Maritime transport or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used throughout recorded history. The advent of aviation has diminished the importance of sea travel for passengers, though it is still popular for short trips and pleasure cruises. Transport by water is cheaper than transport by air or ground, but significantly slower for longer distances. Maritime transport accounts for roughly 80% of international trade, according to UNCTAD in 2020.
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchester and Duluth; these access the sea via rivers or canals. Because of their roles as ports of entry for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories.
Jurong Port Pte Ltd is a port operator headquartered in Singapore. Jurong Port, which operates the only multi-purpose port in Singapore, handles bulk, break-bulk and containerised cargo. It handled over 40,000 vessel-calls annually in 2019.
A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships.
China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited is a major conglomerate based in Hong Kong and is involved in a range of businesses such as port operations, general and bulk cargo transportation, container and shipping business, air cargo, logistics park operations and paint products. China Merchants Port is considered as a Red Chip company as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing. The company has port facilities in mainland China and Hong Kong, and the predecessor was founded in 1991. The predecessor of the parent company was established in 1872 and was the preeminent industrial and commercial group in mainland China. Before changing its name to China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited, the company was formerly known as China Merchants Holdings (International) Company Limited.
Essar Shipping Ltd., now Essar Shipping Ports & Logistics Limited, is an Indian shipping corporation for the global energy business. Established in 1945, Essar Shipping was formally incorporated in 2010 and is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Headquartered in Mumbai, it operates as a subsidiary of the Essar Group.
Mitsui & Co., Ltd. is one of the largest sogo shosha in Japan; it is part of the Mitsui Group.
Asciano Limited was an Australian freight logistics company, operating in railway freight and shipping. Asciano was demerged from Toll Holdings in 2007, and owned Patrick Corporation and Pacific National as subsidiary companies. Asciano specialised in bulk and container shipping and transportation, with port and train operations across Australia. It had over 8,000 employees. It was an ASX 50 company.
The Port of Yingkou is an international seaport in Yingkou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest port in northeast China and the tenth-largest nationwide. It includes two separate dockland areas, the Yingkou old port at the mouth of the Daliao River, and the Bayuquan port located directly on Liaodong Bay on the Bohai Sea.
Mercator Limited is an Indian company. It was earlier known as Mercator Lines Ltd. The Mercator group of companies has diversified business interests in Coal, Oil & Gas, Commodity Transportation, and Dredging. Mercator Limited is the parent company and was the second largest private sector shipping company in India, and it is based in Mumbai. It was amongst the highest wealth creators in the Indian stock exchanges between 2000 -2010.
In 1961 China established a state-run maritime shipping company and subsequently signed shipping agreements with many countries, laying the foundation for developing the country's ocean transport. That organization developed into the present-day China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO). The Chinese government also invested heavily in water transport infrastructure, constructing new ports and rebuilding and enlarging older facilities.
Bahri, formerly known as the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, is a transportation and logistics company, positioned as the national shipping carrier of Saudi Arabia.
The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is an autonomous agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia that owns The Port of Virginia, a group of facilities with their activity centered on the harbor of Hampton Roads, Virginia.
The Port of Odesa or Odesa Sea Port, located near Odesa, is the largest Ukrainian seaport and one of the largest ports in the Black Sea basin, with a total annual traffic capacity of 40 million tonnes, the only port of Ukraine capable of accepting Panamax class vessels. The port has an immediate access to railways allowing quick transfer of cargo from sea routes to ground transportation. Along with its younger satellite ports of Chornomorsk (1958) and Yuzhne (1973), the Port of Odesa is a major freight and passenger transportation hub of Ukraine.
Transport Corporation of India Limited is an Indian logistics and supply chain management company headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, India. It was founded in 1958 by Prabhu Dayal Agarwal at Kolkata, India.
The Port of Ploče is a seaport in Ploče, Croatia, near the mouth of the Neretva river on the Adriatic Sea coast. It was formally opened in 1945 after a railway was built as a supply route to connect the site with industrial facilities in the Sarajevo and Mostar areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was then part of Yugoslavia. As of 2010, it ranked as the second largest cargo port in Croatia—after the Port of Rijeka—with a cargo throughput of 4.5 million tonnes, consisting mostly of general cargo and bulk cargo, including 20,420 TEU Containers. In 2008, the Port of Ploče recorded 2,555 ship arrivals. It is managed by the Port of Ploče Authority.
Mundra Port is India's first private port, largest container port and largest commercial port, located on the northern shores of the Gulf of Kutch near Mundra, Kutch district, Gujarat. Formerly operated by Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Limited (MPSEZ) owned by Adani Group, it was later expanded into Adani Ports & SEZ Limited (APSEZ) managing several ports. In FY 2020–21, Mundra Port handled 144.4 million tonnes of cargo. The port currently handles over 155 MT, which constitutes nearly 11 per cent of India’s maritime cargo. The port also handles nearly 33 per cent of India’s container traffic.
Cikarang Dry Port (CDP) is a dry port in Kota Jababeka at Cikarang, West Java, Indonesia. With a total area of 200 hectares, CDP was founded in 2010. It is operated as Indonesia's first and only Integrated Customs Services Zone by PT Cikarang Inland Port, a division of the publicly traded PT Jababeka Tbk. As an inland dry port model, CDP acts as a port extension, that addresses ongoing traffic jams and delays at Tanjung Priok, a significant import/export gateway. The primary goal is to reduce the dwelling time from 3.2 days to the government-mandated 2.5 days.
The Indonesian Sea and Coast Guard Unit is an agency of Government of Indonesia which main function is to ensure the safety of shipping inside the Indonesian Maritime Zone. KPLP has the task of formulating and execute policies, standards, norms, guidelines, criteria and procedures, as well as technical guidance, evaluation and reporting on patrol and security, safety monitoring and Civil Service Investigator (PPNS), order of shipping, water, facilities and infrastructure of coastal and marine guarding. KPLP is under the Directorate General of Sea Transportation of the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation. Therefore, KPLP reports directly to the Minister of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia. KPLP is not associated or part of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. KPLP, however often conduct joint-exercise and joint-operations with the Indonesian Navy.
The Military Sealift Command, is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the Indonesian Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all Indonesian military services as well as for other government agencies. It first came into existence on 1 July 1961 when the Naval Transport Department was established as the sole service responsible for the Ministry of Defense's ocean transport requirements for both peacetime and war.
