Ports and shipping in Hampshire

Portsmouth and Southampton are amongst the most important ports in the country. Respectively, they handle 95,000 and 55,000 shipping movements annually.

Portsmouth is the UK’s second busiest Continental ferry port (Dover is first), with a throughput of 3.4 million passengers and 1 million vehicles. It is also important for the import of fruit and vegetables, which form a significant part of the 540,000 tonnes of cargo which is imported. Around 640,000 tonnes of cargo are exported.

Portsmouth provides the main ferry services to the Isle of Wight, handling 48,000 ferry movements annually carrying 4.7 million passengers and 900,000 vehicles. In addition there are18,000 hovercraft movements annually to and from the Isle of Wight.

Southampton is the UK’s second largest container port, handling more than one million containers a year.It handles around 35 million tonnes of cargo each year, which represents 7% of all seaborne trade in the UK. This also includes over 50% of all containerised trade with the Middle and Far East. Southampton is the UK’s top port for the import and export of vehicles, handling more than half a million cars each year. It is also the UK’s premier cruise port, with 150 liner visits and more than 300,000 passengers per year. It is one of the UK’s leading ports for liquid bulk cargoes, including 25 million tonnes of oil per year. Southampton also handles 35,000 ferry movements to and from the Isle of Wight, moving around 2.5 million passengers and 500,000 vehicles per year.