Maritime ports are vital to the global economy. Billions of tonnes of cargo move through ports every year; in 2019, EU sea ports handled a total of 3.6 billion tonnes of freight, and the UK alone saw 486.1 million tonnes (equating to 23.5 million cargo units moved). According to the World Bank, in 2019 the US moved 55.5 million cargo units. As the world’s manufacturing hub, China’s ports are consistently the busiest in the world. Shanghai regularly tops the list of the world’s busiest container ports, handling 43.3 million cargo units in 2019.
Like much of the global economy in 2020, the marine cargo industry was affected by the Covid pandemic and is estimated to have plunged by 4.1%. This does not mean that maritime security should move down the list of priorities. If anything it is more important than ever, as companies hit hard by sluggish trading cannot afford the financial losses associated with port-related criminal activity.