There is no such port in the Bahamas. Shipping in the Bahamas doesn't even compare to our ,inor ports of Charleston or Savannah.
The largest is LA Long Beach.
Here are the others
Top 20 Foreign Ports:
1) Hong Kong 2) Shanghai, China 3) Singapore 4) Kaohsiung, China 5) Rotterdam, Netherlands 6) Pusan, Republic of Korea 7) Bremerhaven, Germany 8) Tokyo, Japan 9) Genoa, Italy 10) Yantian, China 11) Antwerp, Belgium 12) Nagoya, Japan 13) Le Havre, France 14) Hamburg, Germany 15) La Spezia, Italy 16) Felixstowe, United Kingdom 17) Algeciras, Spain 18) Kobe, Japan 19) Yokohama, Japan 20) Laem Chabang, Thailand
There is no such port in the Bahamas. Shipping in the Bahamas doesn't even compare to our ,inor ports of Charleston or Savannah.
You are correct that the "world's largest container port" is not in the Bahamas (I believe that honor goes to Hong Kong at 20 million TEUs in 2003), but there is a large one in Freeport, Freeport Container Port (FCP) which is owned by Hutchinson-Whampoa.
FCP's throughput was over 1,000,000 TEUs in 2003, which would put it in throughput squarely among the top 10 container shipping ports in the U.S. (as you point out, it would be a bit behind Charleston and Savannah, but it would be more than either Seattle or Tacoma):
U.S. Waterborne Foreign Trade |
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Containerized Cargo |
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Top 30 U.S. Ports |
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Calendar Year 2003 |
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(Thousand Teu's) |
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U.S. Ports | Total | Export | Import |
Los Angeles | 4,664 | 1,022 | 3,642 |
Long Beach | 3,091 | 723 | 2,368 |
New York | 2,803 | 838 | 1,965 |
Charleston SC | 1,250 | 529 | 721 |
Savannah | 1,124 | 529 | 595 |
Norfolk | 1,093 | 460 | 633 |
Oakland | 1,064 | 548 | 517 |
Houston | 933 | 483 | 450 |
Tacoma | 931 | 337 | 594 |
Seattle | 815 | 329 | 486 |
Miami | 764 | 336 | 428 |
PT Everglades | 423 | 236 | 187 |
Baltimore | 307 | 115 | 192 |
New Orleans | 237 | 139 | 98 |
Portland OR | 210 | 147 | 63 |
Wilmington DE | 195 | 29 | 166 |
San Juan | 185 | 39 | 147 |
Gulfport, MS | 179 | 71 | 108 |
West Palm Beach | 140 | 106 | 34 |
Jacksonville | 113 | 72 | 42 |
Philadelphia | 103 | 9 | 95 |
Boston | 93 | 34 | 58 |
Newport News | 80 | 32 | 48 |
Chester PA | 72 | 28 | 44 |
Wilmington NC | 72 | 28 | 44 |
San Diego | 53 | 9 | 44 |
Freeport TX | 50 | 23 | 28 |
Richmond VA | 41 | 20 | 21 |
Honolulu | 37 | 18 | 19 |
PT Bienville, MS | 25 | 23 | 2 |
Top 30 U.S. Ports | 21,148 | 7,312 | 13,836 |
All Other | 141 | 77 | 64 |
Total | 21,289 | 7,389 | 13,899 |
Top 30% of Total | 99.3% | 99.0% | 99.5% |
Source: Port Import/Export Reporting Services (PIERS) |
As the original poster pointed out, the Chinese do have a "world's largest" in the Bahamas:
Grand Bahama Airport (GBA)
GBA is the largest privately owned airport in the world. The airport has an 11,000-foot runway capable of handling the world's largest aircraft.
China is interested in the Bahamas, and has established formal diplomatic relation, having recently signed an agreement:
Ocean Shipping Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, signed in Nassau on April 10, 2003, by Vice-Minister of Communications Hong Shanxiang and Foreign Minister Mitchelle on behalf of their respective governments.
There was what I think was a misleading article from NewsMax back in 2000 titled "Chinese Company Completes World's Largest Port in Bahamas", which seems to have at least that fact incorrect. I don't think it is largest in terms of containers (which is what it is designed to be, a transshipment point for containers), nor is it physically anywhere near the size of any of the great ports of the world, nor is it greatest in tonnage. Also, the article makes more than I would out of a few Chinese signatures for visitors at the port.
The point that China is operating so boldly in the Western Hemisphere is bad enough without NewsMax overstating what has happened.
Although I have been lucky enough to see some of the great shipping ports and even participate in a bit of shipping, shipping is not my area at all and I am sure that an enterprising freeper could help shed further light.