HONG KONG, the world's busiest container port in the late 1990s, dropped to tenth place by 2023, handling 14.4 million TEU, reports UK's Seatrade Maritime News.
This decline appears to be continuing as major shipping lines reduce their deepsea calls to the port.
According to analysts at Sea-Intelligence, the network overview of the Gemini Cooperation between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, starting in February 2025, reveals no direct deepsea calls at Hong Kong.
The new alliance is focusing on critical hubs where the two lines have a vested interest in terminals, which is not the case in Hong Kong.
In the Ocean Alliance's updated 2024 network, the number of direct calls to Hong Kong decreased to six from 11 previously.
Looking ahead to the Alliance's transpacific network for 2025, Hong Kong is served by only one Asia-US east coast service, with calls from the Pacific Northwest and Southwest services dropped.
The decline of Hong Kong's dominance as a container port over the last two decades has coincided with the ascendance of mainland Chinese terminals, which now occupy six of the top 10 positions globally.