Foreland determination for containership and general cargo ports in Europe (2007–2011)

• A method for calculating the foreland of a port given is clearly established.
• General cargo market seems to have resisted better the impact of the demand crisis.
• Despite decreases in throughput, port connectivity has increased during the last years.
• Mediterranean Sea ports are improving connectivity better than other European areas.

Monitoring maritime cargo worldwide transport routes is currently a strategic aspect of any port authority activity. These types of vessels carry by-products from the transformation of raw materials, which used to be transported by the world fleet of bulk carriers. These cargoes are handled in different ways when loaded/unloaded, depending on the logistic modes: containerised or uncontainerised.Regardless of the advantages and drawbacks inherent to both choices, it can be deduced that the signing of a charter party depends largely on the value of the cargo being shipped. It can thus be observed that there is a correlation between the transport flow dynamics and the type of cargo being shifted.This article analyses the maritime cargo routes that affect the European Continent port system. The aim of this research is to describe how connectivity evolved between the difficult period from March 2007 to March 2011. Information of relevance to the way in which the world maritime traffic of uncontainerised (general cargo hereinafter) and containerised cargo evolved will be shown for that period.It was decided to use Graph Theory techniques additionally with statistical techniques, so it would be possible to describe the relative importance of each port in the world transport context.