TRAFFIC IN SEAPORTS

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

Sources and methods of data collection

The Croatian Bureau of Statistics carries out the statistical survey on the traffic in seaports using the databases of the Croatian Integrated Maritime Information System. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics takes over a part of the database from the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, after which it performs further processing.

The Croatian Integrated Maritime Information System (CIMIS) has been used as a uniform platform for the recording of arrivals and departures of ships. Among other data, ships submit information on the traffic of goods and passengers to CIMIS through authorised maritime agents and shippers. The accuracy and completeness of the data in the official registration procedure is verified by the harbour master’s offices.

The detailed notes on methodology are issued in the publication entitled "Methodological Basics for Statistical Survey Traffic in Seaports", which is also available on the website of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Coverage

The statistical survey includes all ships under the national and foreign flags that arrived in or departed from the seaports in the Republic of Croatia, regardless of the activities they perform in the port.

Data on the traffic in seaports include ships that arrived as well as departed ships, embarked and disembarked passengers and loaded and unloaded goods and relate to activities in all public seaports in the Republic of Croatia.

Data on the traffic of passengers include passengers on cruise ships who disembarked for a visit to a port or a city and then re-embarked to continue their cruise.

Data on each statistical port also include data on all ports under the authority of the statistical port concerned.

Data on cargo are published for selected seaports, which include all ports that had the total annual traffic of goods greater than or equal to 1 million tonnes in the last three years.

Definitions

Ships are vessels with the length of more than 12 m and of over 15 GT or those authorised to carry more than 12 passengers.

Gross tonnage (GT) is a unit of measurement that expresses the volume of the total enclosed space of a ship in accordance with the decisions of the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships from 1969.

Statistical port consists of one or more ports, normally controlled by harbour master’s branch offices able to record ship, passenger and cargo movements.

Sea passenger is 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 crew members travelling but not assigned and infants in arms are excluded.

National traffic of passengers refers to the traffic between two national ports.

International traffic of passengers includes the traffic between a port of embarkment of passengers in the Republic of Croatia and a port of disembarkment of passengers abroad and vice versa.

Cruise passenger means a sea passenger making a sea journey on a cruise ship. Passengers on day excursions are excluded.

Cruise ship 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 as well as ships intended solely for day excursions are also excluded.

Cruise passenger excursion is a short visit by a cruise passenger to a tourist attraction associated with a port while retaining a cabin on board.

Gross weight of goods is the total weight of goods carried, including packaging but excluding the tare weight of the transport unit (e.g., containers, swap bodies and pallets containing goods as well as road goods vehicles, wagons or barges carried on the vessel).

Goods loaded are goods placed on a merchant ship for transport by sea. Transhipment from one merchant ship to another is regarded as loading after unloading. Goods loaded include national goods, transhipment goods (national or foreign goods arriving in a port by sea) and land transit goods (foreign goods arriving in a port by road, rail, air or inland waterway).

Goods unloaded are goods taken off a merchant ship after transport by sea. Transhipment from one merchant ship to another is regarded as unloading before re-loading. Goods unloaded include national goods, transhipment goods (national or foreign goods leaving a port by sea) and land transit goods (foreign goods leaving a port by road, rail, air or inland waterway).

Container is a special box to carry freight, strengthened and stackable and allowing horizontal or vertical transfers.

TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) is a standard unit for counting containers of various capacities and for describing the capacities of container ships or terminals. One 20-foot ISO container equals 1 TEU. One 40-foot ISO container equals two TEU.

Mobile (Ro-Ro) unit is wheeled equipment for carrying goods, such as a lorry, trailer or semi-trailer, which can be driven or towed onto a vessel or train. Port or vessels’ trailers are included in this definition.

ABBREVIATIONS

ISO      International Organization for Standardization

m         meter