1. Definition and role of seaports

1.1 Definition

A port is a geographical location through which goods and/or passengers transit.

A seaport is a port that welcomes seagoing vessels, and is a meeting point for these vessels and all the various modes of land transport. It is also necessarily a teleport through which all the computerized data essential to facilitating the transit of both ships and goods is transmitted.

Inland ports that handle seagoing vessels, such as Antwerp on the Scheldt and Rouen on the Seine, are also, of course, seaports.