Some of the Italy's main seaports are Gioia Tauro and Naples in the south and Genoa in the north. These seaports are important to commerce. Italy has many important seaports due to its location in an advantageous spot in the Mediterranean.
Italy has a number of seaports, and is an extremely important shipping and passenger hub in the Mediterranean.
- Gioia Tauro: This is the largest container port in Italy and the seventh-largest in Europe. Over one-third of the shipping traffic to Italy flows through this port. It is located on the south-western tip of Italy, making it convenient for shipping traffic that does not want to go up the coast.
- Naples: Just off the Tyrrhenian Sea, this port is Italy's largest passenger seaport, serving local traffic as well as international cruise ship traffic. This port sees over 1.5 million cruise passengers annually.
- Genoa: Serving the most combined traffic, Genoa is second to Gioia Tauro in terms of cargo traffic and second to Naples in terms of passenger traffic. Unlike the other two, this port is located in Northern Italy and not on the peninsula.
