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|  Ports are the link between maritime and land-based trade. Traditionally ports were located where the geography was favourable. In some cases this meant that the coastline at that point provided a sheltered anchorage ? Sydney and Freetown in Sierra Leone are examples. Other ports were located near the mouths of rivers, enabling river and sea traffic to meet: Hamburg, Rotterdam, Shanghai, London and New Orleans are examples. Others are to be found on straits between landmasses ? like Istanbul ? or where major trade routes pass ? such as Singapore. | | |  These advantages resulted in many ports becoming major cities. The convergence of land and sea trade encouraged the growth of industrial and commercial activities in the port, so that many ports became major economic and industrial centres. The Hanseatic towns of northern Europe and Venice and Genoa in Italy were all major powers in their day. Later cities like London, Amsterdam, New York and Calcutta flourished. | | |  During the last fifty years, however, ports have changed. As trade and industry grew, so the traditional city-centre ports became too small and congested to cope with demand. Ships grew in size and many ports were too small to accommodate the larger ships coming into service. Container ships, bulk carriers and oil tankers all demanded huge land areas for storing and handling cargoes. Inevitably, the demand for more land and deep water meant that ports had to be re-located further down river, often well away from the traditional centre. This encouraged and indeed necessitated the provision of new road and rail links.
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1076 Topics - 5135 Related Knowledge - 2534 Members - 34 Editors |
generationTime:2005/01/13 14:40:05 |
