Everything Totally Explained


Ask & we'll explain, totally!
Port
Totally Explained


  NEW! All the latest news in the worlds of computer gaming, entertainment, the environment,  
finance, health, politics, science, stocks & shares, technology and much, much, more.  


View this entry using RSS

Everything about Port totally explained

| |- | |- |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- |}
   A port is a facility for receiving ships and transferring cargo. They are usually situated at the edge of an ocean, sea, river, or lake. Ports often have cargo-handling equipment such as cranes (operated by longshoremen) and forklifts for use in loading/unloading of ships, which may be provided by private interests or public bodies. Often, canneries or other processing facilities will be located near by. Harbour pilots and tugboats are often used to maneuver large ships in tight quarters as they approach and leave the docks. Ports which handle international traffic have customs facilities.
   The terms "port" and "seaport" are used for ports that handle ocean-going vessels, and "river port" is used for facilities that handle river traffic, such as barges and other shallow draft vessels. Some ports on a lake, river, or canal have access to a sea or ocean, and are sometimes called "inland ports". A "fishing port" is a type of port or harbor facility particularly suitable for landing and distributing fish. A "dry port" is a term sometimes used to describe a yard used to place containers or conventional bulk cargo, usually connected to a seaport by rail or road. A "warm water port" is a port where the water doesn't freeze in winter. Because they're available year-round, warm water ports can be of great geopolitical or economic interest, with the ports of Saint Petersburg and Valdez being notable examples. A "port of call" is an intermediate stop, for example to collect supplies or fuel. Cargo containers allow efficient transport and distribution by eliminating loading of smaller packages at each transportation point, and allowing the shipping unit to be sealed for its entire journey. Standard containers can easily be loaded on a ship, train, truck, or airplane, greatly simplifying intermodal transfers. Cargo often arrives by train and truck to be consolidated at a port and loaded onto a large container ship for international transport. At the destination port, it's distributed by ground transport.
   Ports and shipping containers are a vital part of modern Just In Time inventory management strategies.
   Ports sometimes fall out of use. Rye, East Sussex, England, UK was an important port in the Middle Ages, but the coastline changed and it's now from the sea. Also in the UK, London on the River Thames, and Manchester, on the Manchester Ship Canal, were once important international ports, but changes in shipping methods, such as the use of containers and larger ships, put them at a disadvantage.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Port'.


External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

    <a href="http://port.totallyexplained.com">Port Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
   As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.



Copyright © 2007-8 totallyexplained.com | Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License | Site Map
This article contains text from the Wikipedia article Port (History) and is released under the GFDL | RSS Version