We have just been in the port in Santos, Brazil, and it reminds me that the ports we encounter are interesting in different ways.
Some ports are designed and used exclusively for passengers on cruise ships. The newest have ramps that connect to the cruise ships like jetways connect to planes, and the terminals are sparkling, with lots of tourism information, shops and dining places within – you barely have to leave the cruise ship to experience some of the local culture. If you look online for images of the Barcelona cruise ship passenger terminal you will see that it looks like a beautiful new shopping mall.
Other ports are primarily commercial shipping ports – big, noisy, gritty, and organized around mountains of containers that carry goods round the world. When a cruise ship docks there, the bright lights and noise of the port can be enjoyed all night by the passengers – not so great for sleep. As a cruise ship passenger, you are bundled off the ship and shuttled by bus around the edges of the port to a safe gateway into the host city.
Attached is a short video from the port in Valparaiso, Chile. There were huge numbers of trucks lined up to catch container after container being mechanically unloaded from enormous cargo ships. I took just about a minute or two for each container to be taken from the cargo ship and deposited onto the waiting truck.
And then there are ports like Santos, Brazil, which hosts both commercial cargo ships and cruise ships carrying passengers, without very clear separate areas for each. These mixed-use ports are fascinating to observe because you are close to the action of the cargo movement, but you are carefully shuttled by bus through the port so that you don’t get hurt by a big truck or container – no walking around is permitted. The passenger shuttle buses weave around the forklifts, the trucks, and the other vehicles – sometimes for miles- getting passengers to the safety of the port exit. You can see the workers and the details that go into the action. Again, a quick online search of Santos, Brazil shipping port will give you aerial shots and others that capture some of the scope of this incredible port.
Santos is the largest port in Latin America when it comes to cargo – it serves as the export gateway for massive amounts of dry goods and liquid goods from Brazil.
Soy beans are the biggest export by far (to China) but sugar, coffee, corn and citric juices are also big business here. Oranges were formerly one of the big exports, but local business owners discovered that they could process the oranges into juice (a value-add) and it was more profitable. This change in the nature of the product flowing through the port generated growth in the surrounding area, so now the city of Santos has more industry (and profit) than before. Most of the orange juice goes to Belgium but that doesn’t mean Belgians drink it all – from its entry there it is distributed throughout Europe.
While docked in Santos we have visited the city, and the large city of São Paulo (about 80 km/ 50 miles away). More about our excursions in Brazil later.
MA
Mary Anne McDonald
Ports are fascinating places. So much different activity.
Barb