Maritime transportation routes in the Mediterranean

Description

Another strong traditional economic sector in the Mediterranean is transport, specifically maritime transport. The Mediterranean Sea is among the world’s busiest waterways, accounting for 15 % of global shipping activity by number of calls and 10 % by vessel deadweight tonnes (dwt). More than 325.000 voyages occurred in the Mediterranean Sea in 2007, representing a capacity of 3.800 million tonnes. Almost two-thirds of the traffic was internal (Mediterranean to Mediterranean), one-quarter was semi-transit voyages of ships mainly of small size, while the remainder was transit voyages, mainly by large vessels travelling between non-Mediterranean ports through the Mediterranean’s various straits: the Straits of Gibraltar, the Straits of the Dardanelles, and the Suez Canal (data provided by REMPEC).