World's busiest port

The world's busiest ports are commonly ranked by cargo tonnage and by volume of container shipment measured in TEUs. Since the 2000s, the Port of Shanghai has surpassed the Port of Singapore and the Port of Hong Kong to become the world's busiest port by both measures.

Busiest cargo ports

Yangshan Port of Shanghai

Keppel Container Terminal in Singapore

Tsuen Wan port of Hong Kong

• Port of Shanghai, China
  • World's busiest container port since 2010
• Port of Singapore, Singapore
  • World's busiest transshipment port

According to authorities of Zhejiang Province Transportation, the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan surpassed Shanghai in one of the measures to become the World's busiest port by cargo tonnage. In 2012 Shanghai regained the highest volume by cargo tonnage.

Busiest passenger ports

• Port of Piraeus, Greece
  • World's busiest passenger port.

• Port of Miami, United States
  • World's busiest cruise port.

Scientific analysis

A study led by Bernd Blasius of the University of Oldenburg analyzed itineraries from 16,693 cargo ships for the entire year of 2009. They conducted their investigation using data from the Automatic Identification System and Lloyd's Register Fairplay by means of VHF receivers and GPS.

The study concluded Panama Canal to be the busiest in 2009. The Suez Canal came in second and Shanghai third.