Figure 10.2 reveals that the overall transshipment incidence in South Europe/
Med reached a fairly high 44.6 % in 2008, but transshipment volumes remain
small compared to Asia. In the Mediterranean, extensive hub-feeder container
systems and short sea shipping networks emerged since the mid-1990s to cope
with the increasing volumes and to connect to other European port regions. Quite a
number of shipping lines rely on a hub-and-spoke configuration in the Med, with
hub terminals located close to the main navigation route linking the Suez Canal
with the Straits of Gibraltar. Major ‘‘pure’’ transshipment ports in the region are
Algeciras, Taranto, Cagliari, Marsaxlokk and Gioia Tauro. Such hubs, with a
transshipment incidence of 85–95 %, can only be found in the Mediterranean.