Types of Maritime Routes

There are three major types of maritime routes:

• Port-to-port. Involves a more or less regular service between two ports, often moving back and forth, but very likely the flow of freight is unidirectional. This system has the disadvantage of offering limited connectivity and mainly represents movements of raw materials, notably oil and minerals, between zones of extraction and industrial regions.
• Pendulum. Involves a regular itinerary between a sequence of ports, often serviced by geographical proximity. A set of ports along one seaboard are serviced and then an ocean is crossed and the process is repeated along another seaboard. This is notably the case between Western Europe and the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. This type of route is characterizing containerized cargo.
• Round-the-World. Involves servicing continuously a sequence of ports, often in both directions, so that sequence enables a round trip around the world. A limited amount of ports per continent are serviced. This type of maritime route strictly concerns container shipping.