View source for Container port

{{Short description|Facility handling shipping containers}}
[[File:Haven van Rotterdam 2023 (04).jpg|thumb|[[Port of Rotterdam]] is the largest container port in [[Europe]]]]
[[File:Intermodal terminal 02.jpg|thumb|Intermodal terminal in [[Garden City, Georgia]] at the [[Port of Savannah]].]]

[[File:Port of Shanghai, Yangshan Deep-water Harbour Zone, 02.jpg|thumb|[[Shanghai Port]] is [[List of world's busiest container ports|the world's busiest maritime container port]]]]

A '''container port''', '''container terminal''', or '''intermodal terminal''' is a facility where [[Intermodal container|cargo containers]] are [[transshipment|transshipped]] between [[Intermodal freight transport|different transport vehicles, for onward transportation]]. The transshipment may be between [[container ship]]s and land vehicles, for example [[train]]s or [[truck]]s, in which case the terminal is described as a ''maritime container port''. Alternatively, the transshipment may be between land vehicles, typically between train and truck, in which case the terminal is described as an ''inland container port''.

In November 1932, the first inland container port in the world was opened by the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] company in [[Enola, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="logistica2014a" >{{Cite journal|author=Krzysztof Lewandowski|title=Czechoslovak activity to prepare European norms for containers before the Second World War|journal=Acta Logistica|volume=1|year=2014|issue=4|pages=1–7|issn=1339-5629|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270794211|format=PDF|doi=10.22306/al.v1i4.25|doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[Port Newark-Elizabeth]] on the [[Newark Bay]] in the [[Port of New York and New Jersey]] is considered the world's first maritime container port. On April 26, 1956, the [[Ideal X]] was rigged for an experiment to use standardized cargo containers that were stacked and then unloaded to a compatible truck chassis at Port Newark. The concept had been developed by the McLean Trucking Company. On August 15, 1962, the [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]] opened the world’s first container port, Elizabeth Marine Terminal.<ref>{{cite news|title=History|publisher=Port Authority of New York and New Jersey|url=http://www.panynj.gov/port/history.html|access-date=2014-12-23}}</ref>

Maritime container ports tend to be part of a larger [[port]], and the biggest maritime container ports can be found situated around major [[harbours]]. Inland container ports tend to be located in or near major cities, with good rail connections to maritime container ports.

It is common for cargo that arrives to a container port in a single ship to be distributed over several modes of transportation for delivery to inland customers. According to a manager from the [[Port of Rotterdam]], it may be fairly typical way for the cargo of a large 18,000 [[Twenty-foot equivalent unit|TEU]] container ship to be distributed over  19 container trains (74 TEU each), 32 barges (97 TEU each) and 1,560 trucks (1.6 TEU each, on average).<ref>Port of Rotterdam senior business manager Arwin Stehouwer, quoted in [https://www.railexpress.com.au/rail-port-shuttles-growing-trend-in-europe/ Rail port shuttles growing trend in Europe], ''Rail Express'', July 24, 2015</ref> The further container terminal, in April 2015, such [[APM Terminals|APM Terminal]] Maasvlakte II, that adapts the advanced technology of [[Remote control|remotely-controlled]] STS [[gantry crane]]s and conceptions of [[sustainability]], [[renewable energy]], and zero [[Greenhouse gas emissions|carbon dioxide emission]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/apm-opens-most-advanced-container-terminal|title=APM Opens Most Advanced Container Terminal|access-date=2016-09-21}}</ref>

Both maritime and inland container ports usually provide storage facilities for both loaded and empty containers. Loaded containers are stored for relatively short periods, whilst waiting for onward transportation, whilst unloaded containers may be stored for longer periods awaiting their next use. Containers are normally stacked for storage, and the resulting stores are known as container stacks.

In recent years methodological advances regarding container port operations have considerably improved, such as [[container port design process]]. For a detailed description and a comprehensive list of references see, e.g., the operations research literature.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Dirk Steenken |author2=Stefan Voß |author3=Robert Stahlbock |date=1 January 2004 |title=Container terminal operation and operations research - a classification and literature review |journal=OR Spectrum |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=3–49 |publisher=Springer-Verlag |location=Berlin / Heidelberg |doi=10.1007/s00291-003-0157-z |s2cid=18626905 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Robert Stahlbock |author2=Stefan Voß |date=1 January 2007 |title=Operations research at container terminals: a literature update |journal=OR Spectrum |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=1–52 |publisher=Spring-Verlag |doi=10.1007/s00291-007-0100-9 |s2cid=62878597 }}</ref>

== Container Port Operators ==
This is a list of the world's top 10 largest container port operators in 2024 according to [[Lloyd's List]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-02 |title=Top 10 box port operators 2024 |url=https://www.lloydslist.com/LL1151157/Top-10-box-port-operators-2024 |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=Lloyd's List}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!#
!Port Operator
!Country
|-
|1
|[[PSA International]]
|{{Flag|Singapore}}
|-
|2
|[[China Merchants Port|China Merchants Port Holdings]] (China Merchants Port and 49% of Terminal Link) 
|{{Flag|China}}
|-
|3
|[[COSCO Shipping Ports]]
|{{Flag|China}}
|-
|4
|[[APM Terminals]]
|{{Flag|Netherlands}}
|-
|5
|[[DP World]]
|{{Flag|United Arab Emirates}}
|-
|6
|[[Hutchison Port Holdings]]
|{{Flag|Hong Kong}}
|-
|7
|[[Mediterranean Shipping Company|MSC]] (Terminal Investment Limited and Africa Global Logistics)
|{{Flag|Switzerland}}
|-
|8
|[[International Container Terminal Services]]
|{{Flag|Philippines}}
|-
|9
|[[CMA CGM]] (CMA Terminals Holding and 51% of Terminal Link)
|{{Flag|France}}
|-
|10
|[[Yıldırım Holding]] (Yilport)
|{{Flag|Turkey}}
|}

==See also==
*[[Container port design process]]
*[[Containerization]]
*[[Container on barge]]
*[[Container ship]]
*[[Dock (maritime)]]
*[[List of container ports]]
*[[List of largest container shipping companies]]
*[[Warehouse]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* ''[http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/video-on-demand/maritime-nation/destiny-of-a-maritime-nation-10014388?t=1720&autoplay=1&view=embed Destiny of a Maritime Nation]'', a 2018 documentary by [[Channel NewsAsia]], discusses [[Port of Singapore|Singapore]]'s 1960s shift to container traffic and interviews port workers present at the time.  (Sequence covering containerization begins near time index 28:40)

{{commons category|Container terminals}}
{{Intermodal containers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Container Terminal}}
[[Category:Water transport]]
[[Category:Container terminals| ]]