Port Port A port is a maritime commercial facility which may comprise one or more wharves where ships may dock to load and discharge passengers and cargo. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, some ports, such as Hamburg, Manchester and Duluth, are many miles inland, with access from the sea via river or canal. Today, by far the greatest growth in port development is in Asia, the continent with some of the world's largest and busiest ports, such as Singapore and the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan. Whenever ancient civilisations engaged in maritime trade, they tended to
Port of Rotterdam Port of Rotterdam The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, located in the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004 it was the world's busiest port, now overtaken first by Singapore and then Shanghai. In 2011, Rotterdam was the world's eleventh-largest container port in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) handled (2009: tenth; 2008: ninth, 2006: sixth). In 2012 Rotterdam was the world's sixth-largest port in terms of annual cargo tonnage. Covering , the port of Rotterdam now stretches over a distance of . It consists of the city centre's historic harbour area, including Delfshaven; the