Port

[[Image:Lorrain.seaport.jpg|thumb|250px|Seaport, a painting by Claude Lorrain, 1638]] A port is a facility at the edge of an ocean, river, or lake for receiving ships and transferring cargo and persons to them. Ports have specially-designed equipment to help in the loading and unloading of these vessels. Cranes and refrigeration storage may be provided by private interests or public bodies. Often, canning or other processing facilities will be located very close by. The term seaport is used for ports that handle ocean-going vessels, and river port is used for facilities that handle river traffic. Sometimes a port on a lake or river also has access to the ocean, and is then referred to as an inland port. A fishing port is a type of port or harbor facility particularly suitable for landing and distributing fish. While the term ''airport'' is derived from ''port'', such places are never referred to as ports. Critical to the functioning of seaports and river ports are: * Presence of deep water channels (40 feet or 12 meters minimum) and berths * Protection from wind, wave, and surge * Access to intermodal transportation (trains and trucks) Typical equipment used at a container seaport includes: * Berth Gantry - large berth side craned used for the loading and unloading of vessels. * Yard Gantry - smaller gantries found throughout the container yards. Can be Rail Mounted Gantry (RMG) or Rubber Tired Gantry (RTG). * Trucks - used to carry containers between Gantries with use of attached chassis. Also called "bomb carts" or "Ottawas" * Stratle Carriers - used in place of Trucks, this purpose built vehicle "straddles" a container and moves it to its destination. * Top Picks - Used to move empty containers. Grabs containers from the top. * Racks - Used to move empty containers. Grabs containers from the side. Containerized cargo allows for quicker transport and distribution as individual products, boxes or bulk cargo need not be "debussled" or paletized at each transportation point. Cargo can be sealed at point of origin, transported via intermodal, stacked and loaded on purpose ships, and ultimately opened at final point of resale or destination. This is a vital part of modern retailing "Just in Time Delivery" strategies. Standard Containers are measured in Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). Standard container sizes are 20', 40', and 45' units. Heights are either 8.5' or 9.5'. Standard containers may weight up to 50,000 pounds. Seaports and river ports are often equipped with large cranes for the loading and unloading of containers from container ships. These are usually operated by stevedore. Pilot (shipping)s and tugboats are also used to safely maneuver the ships in tight quarters. ==Major ports== World Port Rankings (volume in millions of TEUs)(2004): #Port of Hong Kong China | 21.9 #Port of Singapore Singapore| 20.6 #Port of Shanghai China | 14.6 #Port of Shenzhen China | 13.7 #Port of Pusan South Korea | 11.3 #Port of Kaohsiung Taiwan | 9.7 #Rotterdam#Harbour Netherlands | 8.3 #Port of Los Angeles USA | 7.3 #Port of Hamburg Germany | 7.0 #Port of Dubai United Arab Emirates | 6.4 #Port of Antwerp Belgium | 6.0 #Port of Long Beach USA | 5.8 #Port Klang Malaysia | 5.2 #Port of Qingdao China | 5.1 #Port Authority of New York and New Jersey USA | 4.4 Source: [http://www.westportmalaysia.com.my/06_statistics.htm Port of Klang website world port ranking] == See also == * Bandar * Fishing * List of seaports * Ship transport * Transport ==External links== * [http://www.aapa-ports.org/industryinfo/statistics.htm Port rankings from the AAPA] * [http://www.aapa-ports.org/pdf/WORLD_PORT_RANKINGS_2002.xls World Port Rankings 2002, by metric tons and by TEUs, American Association of Port Authorities] (Microsoft Excel format, 26.5kb) Commercial item transport and distribution Transportation fa:بندر

Port

Hong Kong is not considered part of mainland China, and Hong Kong is responsible for its own economic, immigration and trade affairs, which are not the business of Peking and have nothing to do with the government in Peking. PRC claims over Taiwan and numerous islands, but has never exercised any power over them. "Mainland China" would be a better way to reflects which's in part of which. -- 19:52, December 7, 2004 (UTC) : Hong Kong is definitely part of People's Republic of China. The uses of the terms have already been discussed elsewhere. I noted that you have attempted to start a discussion anyway and please refrain from changing it all over wikipedia as that article says. -User:Hlaw 04:25, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC) ::In terms of sovereignty Hong Kong is part of PRC, like Guam and Puerto Rico are to the United States. Nonetheless under special arrangements of "One Country, Two Systems" of being an "SAR". PRC's ministries in Peking have no jurisdiction and power over Hong Kong affairs. Hong Kong is effectively an independent entity on economic, immigration, trade and many other affairs. In this sense, listing Hong Kong under PRC would induce confusions. Rather, "mainland China" and "Hong Kong" would be much more clear and convenience to readers. -- 09:19, December 8, 2004 (UTC) ::: Your understanding above is flawed. Hong Kong is part of PRC in every aspect. Article 1 of the Basic Law : HKSAR is an inalienable part of the PRC, fullstop. It is meaningless to say this is only the case for foreign affairs and defence. Hong Kong should be listed under the PRC as a general rule. ::: Hong Kong's separate participation in international organizations where memberships are not limited to states, as authorized under Chapter VII of the Basic Law of the HKSAR of the PRC, would ''not'' defy the constitutional, practical and widely accepted fact that Hong Kong is part of PRC. ''Only'' in the specific circumstances when enumerating a list of membership for such organizations where Hong Kong participate as a separate entity should Hong Kong not listed under China. ::: Regardless of the above, edits should not be made to change the names of PRC and ROC with your own style, and to strip reference China as the country over Hong Kong, without any regard to the conventions that others have discussed and reached over the years. See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Chinese) etc. It is such edits that cause inconsistencies and confusions -User:Hlaw 10:10, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC) ::::Your understanding is flawed. Hong Kong is part of the PRC in terms of sovereignty. But Hong Kong and the mainland, and Macao, are functioning as different entities. Hong Kong has its own trade, immigration and customs policies and regulations. ::::Such changes are to avoid confusions, and to make the descriptions clear, accurate and easily understandable. ::::Discussion continues on other talk pages. -- 14:42, December 8, 2004 (UTC)

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