Ministry for the Ecological Transition

Directorate for statistical data and studies (SDES)

Department for Transport Statistics

Service des données et études statistiques

Tour Séquoia
1 place Carpeaux
92055 Paris-La-Défense Cedex

Maritime transport data refer to gross weight of goods (in tonnes), passenger movements (in number of passengers) as well as for vessel traffic (in number of vessels and in gross tonnage of vessels).

The following classifications are applicable:

Maritime Coastal area: the nomenclature is based on the Geonomenclature (the country nomenclature for the external trade statistics of the Community and statistics of trade between Member States, originally drawn up by the Council Regulation (EEC) N°1736/75) in force in the year to which the data refer (RAMON: https://showvoc.op.europa.eu/#/datasets/ESTAT_Geonomenclature_2021_%28GEONOM_2021%29/data).

Ports: the codes used are the official UN/LOCODEs, when they exist. If a port does not have an official UN/LOCODE a provisional (numeric) code is attributed to the port. As soon as an official UN/LOCODE is attributed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to the port at the request of the competent national authority, the provisional (numeric) code is replaced by the final official one. In exceptional cases (see for example one-port transport or special aggregation for minor ports) permanent numeric codes are attributed to special locations or activities. The code list of UN/LOCODE is available by country through the following link: http://www.unece.org/cefact/locode/service/location.html. According to the relevant directive, Eurostat draws up a list of ports, coded and classified according to countries and maritime coastal areas. The list of ports is included in implementing legal acts and as such is published in the Official Journal of the European Union (the "official" list). The most recent list of ports published in the Official Journal is found in Commission Decision (EU) 2018/1007

Nationality of registration of vessels: the nomenclature used is the Geo-nomenclature (the country nomenclature for the external trade statistics of the Community and statistics of trade between Member States, originally drawn up by the Council Regulation (EEC) N°1736/75) in force in the year to which the data refer (RAMON: https://showvoc.op.europa.eu/#/datasets/ESTAT_Geonomenclature_2021_%28GEONOM_2021%29/data).

The type of ship classification is harmonised with an internationally agreed International Classification of Ship by Type (ICST).

The type of cargo classification, available in Directive 2009/42/EC, has been established in conformity with the United Nation ECE Recommendation N°21.

The data include the carriage of goods and passengers by sea-going vessels, on voyages undertaken wholly or partly at sea.

Main concepts used in this domain are the following and for more information on the concepts and methodology, please consult the Reference Manual on Maritime Transport Statistics.

Port -A place having facilities for merchant ships to moor and to load and/or unload cargo or to disembark and/or embark passengers to or from vessels, usually directly to a pier.
Statistical Port -A statistical port consists of one or more ports, normally controlled by a single port authority, which is able to record ship, passenger and cargo movements.
Reporting Port-A statistical port for which statistics of inward and outward maritime transport flows are compiled.
Main port -A main port is a statistical port which has annual movements of no less than 200 000 passengers or recording more than one millions tonnes of cargo. For ports selected on the basis of only one of these cargo or passenger criteria, detailed statistics are required only for that transport.
Maritime coastal area (MCA) -A maritime coastal area is defined as a contiguous stretch of coastline, together with islands offshore. Within a country, an MCA is defined either in terms of one or more ranges of ports along its coastline, or in terms of the latitude and longitude of one or more sets of extremities of the coastal area. Riverbanks can be included. Normally the coastline of each country is allocated to a single maritime coastal area and the coastlines of more than one country may form a single maritime coastal area. There are some exceptions. For example, the USA is separated into a number of maritime coastal areas to cover its overall coastline. For some countries, two separate stretches of coastline may be counted as one maritime coastal area, as, for example, the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines of Mexico.
Carriage of goods and passengers by sea -The movement of goods and passengers using seagoing vessels, on voyage which are undertaken wholly or partly by sea. The scope of the Maritime Directive 2009/42/EC also includes goods:

1. Shipped to offshore installations;
2. Reclaimed from seabed and unloaded in ports.

Bunkers and stores supplied to vessels shall be excluded from the scope.

Seagoing vessel -Floating marine structure with one or more surface displacement hulls. In the context of the Directive, sea-going vessels are vessels other than those which navigate exclusively in inland waters or in waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where port regulations apply.
Nationality of registration of seagoing vessel (Flag state) -Every ship is entered in a registry (i.e. list) of ships. Registries are maintained by many countries, each having a set of rules regarding safety procedures, inspection schedules, manning numbers and nationalities for crew and officers, training requirements, etc. Ship-owners select which registry to use based on the balance between the relative cost implications of the rules of each registry and possible penalties from insurance assessments dependent on these rules.
Type of cargo- The type of cargo classification, set according to the UNECE - Codes for types of cargo, packages and packaging materials, Recommendation 21, Geneva, March 1986, describes how the goods are being transported in terms of the vessels being used and the port facilities required to handle them. It is therefore very different from the categories of goods classification.
Freight container-Special box to carry freight, strengthened and stackable and allowing horizontal or vertical transfers.

Swap bodies are excluded. Although without internal volume flats used in maritime transport should be considered to be a special type of container and therefore are included here. For a fuller description, reference should be made to ISO 668 and 1496.The related term "container cargo" refers to containers, with or without cargo, which are lifted on or off the vessels which carry them by sea.

Ro-Ro unit- This means wheeled equipment for carrying cargo, such as a truck, trailer or semi-trailer, which can be driven or towed onto a vessel. Port or ships' trailers are included in this definition. Classifications should follow United Nations ECE Recommendation No 21 'Codes for types of cargo, packages and packaging materials'. Live animals on the hoof are included. Vehicles being transported as cargo as opposed to a means of transport for freight are recorded in the separate headings of the Ro-Ro cargo classification, when they are rolled on or rolled off a vessel on their own wheels.
Ro-Ro cargo -This means goods, whether or not in containers, on Ro-Ro units, and Ro-Ro units, which are rolled on and off the vessels, which carry them by sea.
Gross weight of goods -The gross weight of each consignment is the weight of the actual goods together with the immediate packaging in which they are being transported from origin to destination, but excluding the tare weight of containers or Ro-Ro units (e.g. containers, swap bodies and pallets containing goods as well as road goods vehicles, wagons or barges carried on the vessel). This measure of quantity is different from that used in trade statistics, namely the net weight of goods and different from statistics collected on other transport modes where the tare weight is included. Where goods are transported in a road goods vehicle, in a container, or other intermodal transport unit, the gross weight of the goods does not include the tare weightof the transport unit.
Gross tonnage -This means the measure of the overall size of a ship determined in accordance with the provisions of the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969.
Passenger Any person who makes a sea journey on a merchant ship. Service staff assigned to merchant ships is not regarded as passengers. Non-fare paying crewmembers travelling but not assigned and infants in arms are excluded.
Cruise passenger -This means a sea passenger making a sea journey on a cruise ship. Passengers on day excursions are excluded.
Cruise ship -This means a passenger ship intended to provide passengers with a full tourist experience. All passengers have cabins. Facilities for entertainment aboard are included. Ships operating normal ferry services are excluded, even if some passengers treat the service as a cruise. In addition, cargo-carrying vessels able to carry a very limited number of passengers with their own cabins are also excluded. Ships intended solely for day excursions are also excluded.
Cruise passenger excursion -This means a short visit by a cruise passenger to a tourist attraction associated with a port while retaining a cabin on board.

The data used in the domain are collected at port level.

Detailed data are provided for ports handling more than one million tonnes of goods or recording more than 200 000 passenger movements annually (Main ports). The other ports are required to provide summary data. However, detailed data may be included also for minor ports on a voluntary basis.

The French data include Martinique, Guadeloupe, Reunion and French Guiana.

1997 was the first year for which data were collected for France.

Not applicable.

The units used depend on the variables collected within each data set and are: gross weight of goods expressed in thousands of tonnes; number of passengers in thousands, number of vessels.

TEUs: Twenty feet equivalent units, expressed in units or in thousands depending on the table. TEU calculation coefficients:
• 20-ft freight units (1 TEU)
• 40-ft freight units (2 TEU)
• Freight units over 20-ft and under 40-ft in length (1.5 TEU)
• Freight units over 40-ft long (2.25 TEU).

Quarters for datasets A1, A2, C1, C2, D1, F1 and F2.
Whole calendar years for datasets A3, B1 and E1.

National Level:

•  Article L5334-6 du Code des Transports
•  Article R5334-2 du Code des Transports
•  Article R5334-2 du Code des Transports
• Arrêté du 24 octobre 2012

European Level:

• The statistics on maritime transport are collected within the framework of within Directive 2009/42/EC and Commission Decision 2008/861/EC, as amended by Commission Decision 2010/216/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 April 2010, by Regulation 1090/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 and by Commission Delegated Decision 2012/186/EU of 3 February 2012.
• The dissemination is based on the terms of Commission Decision 2001/423/EC on arrangements for publication or dissemination of the statistical data collected pursuant to Council Directive 95/64/EC on statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods and passengers by sea.

Not applicable.

National level:

•  Law no.51-711 of 7 June 1951(amended) on legal obligation, coordination and confidentiality in the field of statistics defines statistical confidentiality, its limits and conditions of application.
•  Article L.311-8 of the French Code of Public Relations between the public and general government

European level:

• (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Article 4 of Commission Decision 2001/423/EC mention that: "the highest level of detail in which data may be published or disseminated is the level of port to and from maritime coastal area. The Commission may however publish at more aggregate level if the quality and/or completeness of information are not appropriate in such detail."

According to he Directive 2009/42/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 6 May 2009, the transmission of the results shall take place within five months of the end of the period of observation for data of quarterly periodicity and within eight months for data of annual periodicity, and Eurostat shall disseminate appropriate statistical data with a periodicity comparable to that of the results transmitted.

The calendar is disseminated on the Eurostat website (Publications calendar)

The data are disseminated on Eurostat's databases.

Quarterly maritime transport statistics are published within 10 months after the reference period and annual maritime transport statistics within 16 months after the reference period.

An online news release or news item is accompanying the update of the annual Statistics Explained articles on maritime ports freight and passenger statistics. News releases are issued at 11 a.m. CET on Eurostat's website.

Online publications:

Statistics Explained (SE): Four online articles are updated regularly (one with quarterly figures and three with annual figures):

Maritime transport of goods - quarterly data

Maritime transport statistics - short sea shipping of goods

Please consult free database online

(then select "Maritime transport").

Not available.

Internet address: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Methodological notes are available in the online Statistics Explained articles on Maritime transport statistics and in the Reference Manual on Maritime Transport Statistics.

The whole set of definitions of the terms used in the frame of the statistics on maritime transport is available in the legal acts. Additional elements are available in the "Illustrated Glossary for Transport Statistics - Fifth edition" available on-line.

Data are collected directly from port authorties in compliance with the methodology and classifications specified in the legal framework on European level

Quality assurance framework for the Maritime Transport Statistics is based on the ES CoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice adopted by the Statistical Programme Committee on 24 February 2005 and revised by the European Statistical System Committee in September 2011 and in November 2017. The European Statistics Code of Practice sets the standard for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics, along the lines of the institutional environment, statistical processes and statistical output. 

Statistical authorities, comprising Eurostat, the National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) and Other National Authorities (ONAs) responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European Statistics, are strongly committed to quality – this commitment and high quality awareness are clearly expressed in the Quality Declaration of the ESS that is also included in the Preamble of the CoP.

The  Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (ESS QAF) complements and breaks further down the Code of Practice.

There is a set of validation rules and quality checks put in place, which detect various types of issues. In case of any issues detected, the data providers are contacted to provide explanations or/and revise the data accordingly.

Whenever a port authority is unable to provide the needed data some estimations are produced which can have a negative impact on data quality.

The Maritime Transport Statistics covers the information needs of different groups of users, among wich are different organizations, Public Administration, territorial administrations, private companies, media, researchers and universities, private enterprises and individuals.

Due to the importance of maritime traffic in the economical area, this information is requiered for commercial and strategical purposes, but also is interesting in relation to their own evolution and their influence in the area where the ports are located.

Eurostat conducts two types of evaluations that assess Eurostat's performance in general, and one of them are the User Satisfaction Surveys. These surveys are carried out monthly, and can be consulted here.

SDES is committed in understanding who the users of the statistics it produces are, what their data needs are, whether they match production and if the statistics produced fulfill the needs of users.

To this aim SDES is constantly in contact with main users of the statistics (including national authorities, port authorities, professional organizations for french transport and maritime services companies) discussing results and new needs from both sides.

All data requested by Regulation 1090/2010 and Directive 2009/42/EC are transmitted.

The overall accuracy is considered to be good. When data are compared with other sources, such as statistics compiled by local port authorities or the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), discrepancies are usually found to be resulting from differences in the methodology, scope or definitions used in the various data collections. However, some errors may occur in the statistics due to coverage errors, measurement errors or processing errors (see section 13.3).

Not applicable for maritime transport data collection.

a) Coverage errors

Data collection is not mandatory for small ports with only limited maritime transport activity (handling less than 1000 tonnes of goods or 200 passenger movements annually) for the basic annual data collection covering all EU and EEA ports. The detailed quarterly data collection is only mandatory for main EU and EEA ports, handling more than 1 million tonnes of goods or 200 000 passenger movements annually. In addition to these known coverage issues, lack of harmonization in the preparation of the national lists of maritime ports (non-exhaustiveness of the list or non-harmonized use of the concept of statistical port) can cause errors in the statistics.

b) Measurement errors

No estimates of measurement errors are available. However, some measuring errors may occur as a result of codification errors by port authorities, shipping agents and other respondents. A large share of so-called “unknown codes” instead of specific codes for type of cargo, type of goods, partner port, type of vessel, etc. is also a factor which will reduce the accuracy of the maritime statistics on the more detailed levels. The degree of such “unknown” codes on each level of detail is available in the disseminated tables.

c) Processing errors

Between data collection and the beginning of statistical analysis for the production of statistics, data must undergo a certain processing: coding, data entry, data editing, imputation, etc. In addition, some countries will need to use various estimation or modelling techniques in order to combine data sources available on national level, such as when matching customs data on goods with the type of cargo classifications used in the maritime transport statistics. There are no estimates available on the share of such processing errors in the European maritime transport statistics.

See also section 15.4 on internal coherence for more examples of possible causes for errors in the data collection.

Quarterly data should be transmitted by Member States to Eurostat within five months of the end of the period of observation; annual data within eight months. The Commission (Eurostat) shall disseminate appropriate statistical data with a periodicity comparable to that of the results transmitted (Directive 2009/42/EC).

The deadlines for transmission are usually met.

Geographical comparability is obtained via the application of common concepts and validation rules. The harmonised interpretation of the methodology is enhanced by the organisation of regular meeting of the Working Group on Maritime Transport Statistics, where all reporting countries are represented.

Methodology has been originally settled down in the now repealed Council Directive 95/64/EC on statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods and passengers by sea, which was completed and amended by Commission Decisions 98/385, 2000/363 and 2005/366. Therefore, no major changes in the methodology used to collect and process the data have taken place in this domain. The major change implemented is the specific data collection on cruise passengers and cruise ships, introduced by Commission Decision 2005/366.

Cross domain data comparison (for different modes of transport) is not always possible. For instance, maritime transport statistics are not yet teritorialised like the other modes of transport (IWW, road, railway, aviation). A consultation of the member states has been conducted by Eurostat in 2020 within the framework of the WG on Maritime trasnport statistics in order to get their views on the use of a specific method based on a distance matrix and the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ).

Once the use of this method will be approved it will be possible to include maritime transport in modal split indicators and thus enable cross domain comparisons.

The quality checks include intra-dataset checks, inter-datasets checks, time series checks and mirror checks (see details under point 18.4). These quality checks detect data that could possibly be in error. Some errors are corrected before publications. Other errors, which require further investigations, are corrected later (see item 19).

Some possible explanations of mirror discrepancies have been identified so far:

1. A transport operation could start at the end of year N and could finish at the beginning of year N+1;

2. Change of ownership/registration of a ship (this concerns discrepancies related to the variable "nationality of registration of vessels");

3. The port of unloading may change during the course of a voyage if the cargo has been traded after the departure, or because of bad weather or congestion in the original unloading port (this is one of the arguments that lead to a "preference" for inwards declarations in case of discrepancies, when calculating "transport" aggregates for example);

4. Lack of harmonization in the preparation of the list of ports (non-exhaustiveness of the list and non-harmonized use of the concept of statistical port) - These problems have been identified and solutions found: these are under implementation and should improve the problem of mirror discrepancies in the medium-long term;

5. Heterogeneous interpretation of the classification by type of cargo (this concerns discrepancies related to the variable "type of cargo") - These problems have been identified and solutions found: these are under implementation and should improve the problem of mirror discrepancies in the medium-long term;

6. Excessive use of "unknown variables" in various classifications;

7. Non-harmonized interpretation of the concept of port of loading/unloading (port of embarkation/disembarkation) - This problem has been identified and solutions found: these are under implementation and should improve the problem of mirror discrepancies in the medium-long term;

8. Inconsistencies in vessel-related information (for the variable "nationality of registration of vessels");

9. Missing data: missing declaring ports (for example, some regional ports in Spain were not part of the system: they have started declaring data in 2010), missing declarations (particularly for "national transport", where custom documents are not available);

10. Omissions (for example: some bulk cargo loaded in ships may not have been registered in a loading port) and codification errors of other nature;

11. Estimation of weight of goods transported in Ro-Ro traffic. In transport by ferry, information about the weight of goods loaded on vehicles is often not available from original sources of information. As a result, in these cases the weight is estimated on the basis of the number of vehicles carried (subdivided by types). Different methods in the compilation of these data by different countries may result in mirror inconsistencies.

12. Inconsistencies between the Eurobase tables can be observed because the source for the breakdowns of data (e.g. by type of goods, by type of vessels etc) is different in the process of data collection.

The cost of compiling maritime transport statistics is high because France has many main ports, volume of maritime transport. Also the burden of compiling maritime transport statistics is high because the data are compiled using various Port Authorities Information Systems which do not guarantee the consistency and accuracy of data. Even if the compilation process is partly automated many checks on the micro data are not automated and thus can be very time consuming.

SDES revision policy is reported at the following link: https://www.statistiques.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2020-07/politique_revision_sdes_0.pdf

The datasets transmitted quarterly can be revised once a year when annual datasets are transmitted.

Data are collected by SDES using port authorities' information systems as a data source.

Quarterly and annual.

Data collection using a template spreadsheet and transmission using a dedicated functional mailbox with restricted access.

Data are validated using semi-automated programs : consistency over time, intra datasets, inter datasets and mirror checking at a national level.

When compiling the data, estimation methods light be used when needed. For example if a main port is unable to provide us with the required data some estimations are being processed using data collected on a monthly basis.
The main problem of these estimations is the fact that the data they rely on are much less detailed than expected which results in the substantial use of unknown variables especially for type of cargo.

Not applicable.

Data declared by France take into account goods and passenger handled in ports of the French overseas departments (Départements d'Outre Mer): Réunion, Guyane, Guadeloupe, and Martinique. Transport between those territories and mainland France is part of national transport.

Please note that the French port activity figures have been estimated by Eurostat for a number of French ports for various periods based on partial data reported by France (in period 2009 - 2015).