Commercial Geography

Capt Uday Palsule

 Early European Maritime Expeditions

Cabot (1497)

- 93)
bus (1492
Colom

Ma Gama (1497-99)
ge
llan
(15
19-
22
)

Treaty of Tordesillas Line (1494)

 Roman Road Network, 200 AD

Atlantic
Ocean Black Sea
Ad
r ia
tic
Se
a

Mediterranean Ocean

Re
d
500 km Se
a
 The Silk Road and the Arab Sea Routes
EUROPE

Casp
Turpan Gobi Desert
Rome Black Sea Samarkand Dunhuang

ian
Kashgar rt
Athens Bukhara an Dese
Constantinople imak

Sea
Takl Lanzhou
Antioch
Hamadan Merv Xi’an
Rey Bactra Hotan
Mediterranean Ocean
Tyre
Baghdad PERSIA
Alexandria
CHINA

Pacific Ocean
EGYPT
Re
dS

Muscat Barbaricon Calcutta Guangzhou

ea

Berenike ARABIA Sur Barygaza

Se a
INDIA
Muza Kané Arabian Sea

in a
Bay of Bengal

Ch
u th
Aden
Muziris

So
Mogadishu
SOMALIA Indian Ocean
Malacca
At l
an
ti c

Mombasa
JAVA
Oc

500 Miles
ea
n
Grand Canal System
Beijing
Tonghui Canal
(Yuan)

Yongji Canal
(Sui and Yuan)
Yellow Sea

Old course of
Jiao-Lai Canal
the Yellow River
(Yuan)
(Song)

Yongji Canal Jizhou Canal

(Sui) (Yuan)
Jizhou
Tongji Canal (Sui) East China
Luoyang Kaifeng Sea
Huaiyin
Bian Canal
(Song) Chuzhou
Yangzhou Canal
(Song and Yuan)
Yangzhou

Jiangnan Canal Suzhou

(Sui, Song and Yuan)
400 km

Hangzhou
 Colonial Trade Pattern, North
Atlantic, 18th Century
1) Sugar, Molasses, Slaves
2) Flour, Meat, Lumber digo , Lumber
s, I n
Toba c c o, F ur Europe
s , F ruits
North America , Mola
ss e
Sugar

es
tur
ac
nuf
Ma
1 2 North Atlantic Ocean

Africa
West Indies

Dominant wind Slaves, Go

ld, Pepper
South America
Trade Route
0 500 1,000 2,000 3,000
Miles
Major Global Wind Patterns
January

July
Early European Sailships
Clipper Ships
An Early Steamship, 1845
Bridgewater Canal, Manchester,
1767
Erie Canal, New York, 1829
Maritime Journey from Britain to Australia,
1788-1960

120
Days
100 Speed (Knots)

80

60

40

20

0
1788 1852 1862 1883 1888 1909 1931 1960
Comparison between a
Contemporary and Second World
War Tanker

Modern VLCC (305 m) 1975

T2 Tanker (153 m) 1942
First Containership, Ideal-X, 1956
The Geographical Space of Maritime
Transportation

Str
al

ait
an
aC

of
M
m

al a
na

cc
Pa

a
Gibraltar Suez
 The Geographical Space of Maritime
Transportation

Northwest Gibraltar
M Suez

Malacca
P Panama A I P
Sunda

Magellan
Good Hope
 The Great Circle Distance between New York and Moscow

Moscow

55’45”N 37’36”E
New York

40’45”N 73’59”W Cos (D) = (Sin a Sin b) + (Cos a Cos b Cos |c|)
Sin a = Sin (40.5) = 0.649
Sin b = Sin (55.5) = 0.824
Cos a = Cos (40.5) = 0.760
Cos b = Cos (55.5) = 0.566
Cos c = Cos (73.66 + 37.4) = -0.359
Cos (D) = 0.535 – 0.154 = 0.381
D = 67.631 degrees
1 degree = 111.32 km, so D = 7528.66 km
Geographical Impact of the Suez
Canal

10,000 KM

16,000 KM
Geographical Impact of the Panama
Canal

NORTH AMERICA
Atlantic Ocean

8,000 KM

Panama Canal

Pacific Ocean SOUTH AMERICA

21,000 KM
World Transit Chokepoints
Bulk cargo, and in particular oil, transported by sea generally
follows a fixed set of maritime routes that transit several
geographic "chokepoints," or narrow channels. These include
points such as the Strait of Hormuz (leading out of the Persian
Gulf) and the Strait of Malacca (linking the Indian Ocean with
the Pacific Ocean). Other important maritime "chokepoints"
include the Panama Canal (connecting the Pacific and Atlantic
Oceans), the Suez Canal (connecting the Red Sea and
Mediterranean Sea), and the Bab el-Mandab passage (from the
Arabian Sea to the Red Sea). "Chokepoints" are critically
important to world trade because so much traffic passes through
them, and they should be considered as important areas for
ENC coverage.
World Transit Chokepoints
Crude Oil Traffic
International Seaborne Trade and
Exports of Goods, 1955-2001
7.0
Seaborne Trade (billions of tons of goods loaded)
6.0
Exports of Goods (trillions of $US)
5.0

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0
Domains of Maritime Circulation

St. Lawrence / Great Lakes Rhine / Ruhr / Danube Yangtze

Bosporus Chang Jiang
Gibraltar
Suez Perl
Mississippi Hormuz

Bab el-Mandab
Panama Mekong
Nile
Malacca

Amazon

Good Hope

Magellan
 Types of Maritime Routes

Port-to-Port Pendulum Round-the-World

Channel Depth at Selected North
American Ports, 1998 (in feet)
Jacksonville 38
40
New York 40
42
Oakland 42
46
Baltimore 50
50
Halifax 60
76
Seattle

0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175

 Evergreen Round-the-World Route,
Westbound

New York
Norfolk Pusan Tokyo
Charleston
Los Angeles Hong Kong Osaka
Hakata
Laem Chabang Kaohsiung

Colon
Columbo
Thamesport Hamburg
Rotterdam
Zeebrugge
Le Havre
 Pendulum Route: OOCL Container
Services on the North Atlantic, 1997

Atlantic Ocean

Boston
New York
Norfolk
Bremenhaven
Savannah Felixstowe
Jacksonville
Houston
Miami
Rotterdam NAX-1
Le Havre NAX-2
Cabotage and Pendulum Service
Country 1
A D

B E

Cabotage
C F
Country 2
 Maritime Enclaves and Accessibility

Less than 700 km

More than 700 km
Maritime Enclave
Registered World Fleet, 1914-2000
600,000 Number of ships 7

Average Tonnage (in 1,000 tons)

500,000 Total gross tonnage
(1,000s)
5
400,000 Average tonnage
4
300,000
3
200,000
2
100,000 1

0 0
1910 1930 1950 1970 1990
Liner Transatlantic Crossing Times, 1838
– 1952 (in days)
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1830 1855 1880 1905 1930 1955
Maritime Traffic per Continent and
Ocean, 1960-1990
31%

18%
60% 15%
13% 16%
10%
9%

8% 15%
3%

1960 Percentage of the global maritime transport

per continent

28%

16% 40% 15% 25%

8% 15%

8%

6% 25%
4%

Percentage of the global

1990 maritime transport per ocean
Tons Shipped by Maritime Transportation,
1981-2000 (in millions)
6000
Other
5000 Grain
Ore/coal/minerals
4000 Oil

3000

2000

1000

0
Ton-miles Shipped by Maritime Transportation,
1970-2001 (in billions)

2001

2000

1995
1990
Oil
1985 Iron Ore
1980 Coal
Grain
1970 Containers and other

0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000

 Maritime Shipping Characteristics
  Tramping Liner Shipping
  Transportation Demand
Number of shippers Few Many
Quantity Large Small
Density High (weight) Low (volume)
Unit value Low High
Regularity Low High
  Transportation Supply
Contract Vessel Freight (bill of lading)
Vessels Liquid and bulk General cargo
Frequency Low High
  Implications
Freight Liquid and main bulk commodities Minor bulk and general cargo (containerized)
Services supply / demand regulation Prior to demand
Freight elasticity Low Low
Markets Developing / developed countries Developed / developed countries
  Share in Maritime Transport (2000)
Tons 70% 30%
Value 20% 80%
Vessel Size Groups (in dead weight
tons)
Handy
Crude Oil Tankers
Handymax
Dry Bulk Carriers
Panamax

Capesize

Aframax

Suezmax

VLCC

ULCC

0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000 400,000 450,000 500,000
Merchant Fleet of the World, Tonnage
Registered per Ship Size, 1985-2000
600,000

500,000 Over 100,000

400,000 50,000- 99,999
20,000- 49,999
Gross Tons

300,000 10,000- 19,999

4,000-9,999
200,000
500-3,999
100,000 100-499

0
1985 1990 1995 2000
Maritime Engagement of the 15 largest Traders, 2000 (in %)
Singapore
Share of world fleet in terms of dwt
Taipei, Chinese
Share of world trade (exports + imports)
Korea, Rep. of
Mexico
Belgium
Netherlands
Hong Kong, China
Italy
China
Canada
France
United Kingdom
Japan
Germany
United States

0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0%

Tonnage by Country of Registry,
2003
China Tanker
Hong Kong Dry Bulk
Norway (NIS) Container
Singapore
Other
Cyprus
Malta
Bahamas

Greece
Liberia
Panama

0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 160,000 180,000 200,000
Length of the Major Inland Waterway
Systems, 2000
Less than 2.75 m
Western Europe
More than 2.75 m

United States

China

Russia

0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,00 120,00 140,00

0 0 0
Inland Waterway Traffic, Western Europe,
1970-2000 (in billion ton-kms)
140
120
100 UK
Netherlands
80 Germany
60 France
Finland
40
Belgium
20
0
1970 1980 1990 1995 2000
Channel length (in km)

Panama

Suez

St Lawrence

Grand Canal

0 500 1000 1500 2000

 The St. Lawrence / Great Lakes
System
Sault Ste. Marie Welland Kingston Montreal Quebec (A) Lake Ontario
Canal
Duluth Detroit (B) Lake Erie
(C) Lake Huron
Seaway Channel (D) Lake Superior
(E) Lake Michigan

Great Lakes St. Lawrence

1645 km 2055 km

D C B A River Estuary & Gulf

E
Chicago
World Maritime Routes
Greenland and Canada
Birthplace of Icebergs
U.S. Eastern Seaboard
South America
West Coast North America
Artic Circle Northwest Passage
Scandinavia and the Baltic
UK and the Channel
Mediterranean Sea
Africa and WAG, India West
Far East and Australasia