Ports are the transportation chain interfaces in the maritime transport system and are often multifunctional hubs, as they not only realize the modal shift but often also provide cargo handling and storage functions.

There are several logistics requirements on seaports which are shown in the figure "Logistics requirements on seaports". 

For the export of goods, seaports are handling the goods from the trucks, trains and inland waterways which are arriving at different times. They have a collecting and buffering function, as they store the goods until the vessel is arriving. After the arrival of the vessel, the terminals are loading those goods to the vessel as mass transportation medium. 

For the import of goods, the terminals are unloading the vessel and store the goods, until the means of transport for the last leg is picking up the goods from the seaport.

There are different port types, which can be differentiated depending on the responsible stakeholder for the port management, ownership management, ownership suprastructure and service provision. The four port types service port, tool port, landlord port and private port are described in the figure "Different kind of ports". 

In Northwestern Europe, the most common port type is the Landlord Port. In a Landlord port, the Port Authority is responsible for the port management and the Public (government) is the owner of the infrastructure. This infrastructure is leased to private companies. The suprastructure, e.g. cranes, is owned by private companies or the public while the provision of services is carried out by private companies.

Container Terminal 

A container terminal is a terminal specialised in the loading and unloading of container vessels. 

The following figure "Container terminal layout" shows an example of a container terminal layout and its different areas.

Waterside handling area 

On the waterside handling area, ship-to-shore (STS) gantry cranes are running on rails and are used for loading on and unloading off the container vessels. Containers can be stored temporarily during unloading and pre-sorted for loading under the STS.

Container yard 

The container yard is the area of a container terminal, where the containers are stored before the loading of the container vessel or before the pick up of the import containers by truck, train or vessel.

At the container yard, different equipment is used. 

Rail-Mounted-Gantry-Crane (RMG):

A RMG is a rail-mounted stacking crane, which is used in the storage area of a container terminal. They are stacking and unstacking the containers and can operate with a higher span width than RTGs.

 

Rubber-Tyred-Gantry-Crane (RTG):

A RTG is a rubber-tyred stacking crane, which is stacking and unstacking the containers at the container yard. The RTGs are more flexible than the RMGs, as they are able to change the storage blocks.

Horizontal transport 

The transport between the waterside and the container yard is called horizontal transport. In case a RTG and a RMG can‘t load or unload a truck or train directly, horizontal transport is necessary for transporting the containers to the truck or train loading and unloading area.

For the horizontal transport, different equipment is used. 

Straddle carrier:

A straddle carrier can be used for the horizontal transport, for stacking the containers at the container yard and for the loading and unloading of trucks and trains.

 

Reach stacker:

A reach stacker can be used for the loading and unloading of trucks and trains and can stack containers up to the third layer.

 

Automated guided vehicles (AGV):

AGVs are automated vehicles to move containers between the ship and the container yard. They can‘t handle the containers themselves, so equipment for loading and unloading the AGV is needed.

 

Terminal tractor:

A terminal tractor is used to transport the container between the waterside and the container yard or to transport the container between the container yard and the rail loading area. Terminal tractors can‘t handle a container, so equipment for loading and unloading the terminal tractor is needed.

On a container terminal, there are usually also areas for a

As you learned before, there are different kinds of vessels for different kinds of goods. Same as for the vessels, besides the already presented container terminals, there are also other kind of terminals in maritime transport.

 

Bulk Cargo Terminals 

Bulk Cargo Terminals are used for loading and unloading break bulk like oil, gas or grain.

General cargo terminals are used for loading and unloading of general cargo. 

Ro-Ro terminals are used for loading and unloading the rolling goods like cars or trucks.

 

Offshore terminals are used for mass break bulk in huge amounts (raw materials).

The relation between ports and goods is called accession. 

International transport chains are always multimodal transport because the location of consignor and consignee are usually not on logistic nodes, like ports or air ports (exception for example: steel plants).

This logistic nodes are often gateways to large Hinterland regions.