In shipping tonnage is the total number of tons registered or carried, or the total carrying capacity. Gross tonnage is a measurement of total capacity expressed in volumetric tons of 100 cubic feet; it is calculated by adding the under deck tonnage and the internal volume of tween-decks and deck space used for cargo. The measurement is used in assessing harbor dues and canal transit.
The UK's ports and harbors are vital gateways for trade and travel. Over 388 million tonnes of international freight and 177 million tonnes of domestic freight moved through UK ports in 1999. Thirty-two million international passengers use UK ports each year. Another 38 million use them for domestic journeys, including river crossings. Even India's economy needs a thriving ports industry. Singapore has one of the world's busiest shipping tonnage ports. The Port of Singapore Authority oversees all shipping activity and operates a number of terminals on the island.
The island has a well-developed network of roads and highways, but traffic congestion frequently is a serious problem. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the government opened a light-rail mass-transit system that links the major population centres in the housing estates with employment centres and the central business district. Singapore is linked by rail to Peninsular Malaysia via the connecting causeway at Johor. Singapore's international airport, Changi, at the eastern end of the main
island, is a major regional and overseas air hub.
The North Sea is also one of the busiest shipping tonnage ports in the world, not only because of vessels moving to and from its ports but also because of transit traffic with the Baltic. Merchant vessels share space with fishing vessels,offshore oil and gas platforms. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom are among the top-ranked countries in the world.
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The world's busiest shipping tonnage ports is contested by several ports around the world, as there is as yet no standardized means of evaluating port performance and traffic. Most keenly fought over this for the past decade was between the Port of Rotterdam and the Port of Singapore, with both ports claiming the busiest shipping tonnage ports title. The former based its measurement on cargo tonnage handled that is the total weight of goods loaded and discharged, while the latter ranks in terms of shipping tonnage handled that is the total volume of ships handled. Since 2005, the Port of Shanghai has exceeded both ports to take the title in terms of total cargo.
The port of Hong Kong, was the World's busiest shipping tonnage ports from 1992 to 2005. Hong Kong and Singapore have been in the list for the title of world's top port for some time now. In the recent past, Singapore held the lead in cargo tonnage, while Hong Kong held the lead in container throughput. However, Singapore surpassed Hong Kong in terms of both measures in 2005 and 2006 according to their port authorities' statistics. Even so, Shanghai claims its port exceeded Singapore's in
terms of cargo tonnage in 2005.
Shanghai Port has handled 537 million tons of cargo in 2006, hanging on to its world number one spot, according to port administration figures released on Sunday. Shanghai Port handles 90 million tons more of cargo than Singapore port, which ranked second. According to the Shanghai Port Administration, the port's annual handling capacity topped 100 million tons in 1984 and the figure rose to 200 million tons in 2000 and 300 million tons in 2003.The figure was 21.2 percent more than that
for last year and accounted for 12 percent of China's total for 2006.
Shanghai Port handled 21.71 million twenty-foot-equivalent unit (TEU) containers this year, up 20.1 percent from last year and accounted for 24 percent of the country's total for this year. A record 55,000 ships, including 23,000 container ships, berthed at the port this year. The port handles shipping routes reaching more than 300 ports worldwide.
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