World Busiest 6 Transshipment ports(hubs) in the world 2023

Transshipment is a very important concept in maritime transportation. This blog helps you to identify the world’s busiest transshipment ports while simple explanation of the transshipment concept and other details.

What is transshipment?

Also called Transshipment and trans-shipment. The simple meaning is a movement of goods from one place to another place which is not the final destination but the intermediate point of the transportation process.

Transshipment is unloading cargo or container from one ship and loading in another ship to the destination port. Commonly transshipment is used in sea transportation. In the transshipment port relevant transshipment cargo is calculated two times for port performance because one ship is unloading that items or cargo after that loaded goods to another ship.

An example of transshipment is below,

What is cargo transit?

Cargo in transit meaning is the transportation of cargo from the origin point by passing through another country’s border. Those cargoes are called transit cargo.

What is a transshipment hub?

It is an intermediate port of the shipment delivery process and where the place handles many goods by loading and unloading one ship to another. In another hand where the place involves a large number of vessels. As well as other modes of transportation like trains and trucks, and also airplanes.

What is transshipment cargo?

Goods are unloaded from a ship for the purpose of loading for another ship. It is the meaning of transshipment cargo in sea transportation.

Why do transshipments?

The main reason for Transshipment is when the destination port is not available for direct shipping access.

What are the advantages of transshipment

It may be an affordable shipping option

It may be direct shipment cost is higher than the transshipment cost. At that time transshipment is the best option. That’s why transshipment is famous.

What are the disadvantages of transshipment?

More time-consuming than direct shipping
There is a risk related to delays in ports. Because of loading and unloading goods from one vessel to another.

What is the difference between direct shipment and transshipment?

Use one ship from the origin port to the final port of destination. Loading is done by the origin port and unloading goods is when the vessel receiving at the last port.

But transshipments shipment is loaded into the ship in the port of origin while unloading the cargo in the intermediate port then load the cargo to another ship.

Direct shipment	Transshipment
Use one ship	Use more than one ship
Loading at the origin port	Loading at the origin port and transshipment hub
unloading at the final port	Unloading at transshipments port and also final port

Examples of famous transshipment ports in the world in 2023

There are many transshipment hubs in the world. But here I would like to mention 10 major transshipment hubs.

1. Port of Singapore

Port of Singapore: sourced by www.mpa.gov.sg

The world’s number one transshipment port is the port of Singapore. So it is the largest transshipment hub in the world. So it is considered the busiest port in the world.

123 countries 600 ports are connected with the port of Singapore.
There are facilities for refrigerator containers it is the world’s biggest capacity in the world for refrigerator containers.
operated by -The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA)
Available berths-67(2019)
website- https://www.mpa.gov.sg
There are 6 terminals available -located at Jurong, Keppel, Tanjong Pagar, Brani, Sembawang, and Pasir Panjang. Those terminals have more than 200 cranes

2. Port of Shanghai, China

The Port of Shanghai is the world’s number 1 container throughput handling port for 12 years.

The Port of Shanghai included a deep sea port with a river port.

Port of Shanghai: sourced by en.portshanghai.com.cn

located in Shanghai, china
Operated by Shanghai International Port Company Ltd
website: https://en.portshanghai.com.cn/
port area: 3,619km2
quay length is more than 20km
125 wharves including 19 terminals
There is an ability for 2000 container vessels can be served per month
Through the cruise ship terminal, 1 million people arrive to visit shanghai annually

3. Port of Busan, South Korea

Port of Busan: sourced by https://www.busanpa.com

Located at the Korean peninsula

owned by the government of South Korea

Hnadle over 21 million TEU s in 2020

Port of Busan

4. Port of Shenzhen, China

port area -more than 240 km coastline including 140 berths
connecting more than 100 countries through over the 300 shipping routes
Shenzhen is famous for its technological development, so world technological leading companies are headquartered in this metropolitan area. such as Huawei,Tencent
owned by the Shenzhen government