What is a hub port

A hub port is a container port where most of the cargo is transhipped from one ship to another. It works as a node in a network: it concentrates the large ships and redistributes the containers to other ports.

Hub ports sit at the crossroads of the main routes, close to a strait or a canal, where deviating costs little. Their traffic depends on the shipping lines and their alliances, which choose the ports where they concentrate their calls, more than on the consumption or the industry of the region.

The opposite is a gateway port, whose cargo has its origin or destination in the territory behind it. Many large ports combine the two functions in different proportions, and that proportion explains why their figures react differently to the same economic conditions.