Singapore keeps its crown

It was neck-and-neck all the way, but Singapore appears to have again won the three-way race for the title of World's Busiest Container Port. Container traffic at the thriving seaport reached 27.9 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2007. That's a 12.7-percent increase from the previous year's total of 24.8 million TEUs.

This may be the last time Singapore will be able to claim that distinction. Its two rivals, Hong Kong and Shanghai, had not released year-end figures at press time, but Shanghai clearly is closing in on the title. China's largest port boosted traffic by 20.5 percent to 23.9 million TEUs in the first 11 months of 2007, while Hong Kong reported volume of 21.7 million TEUs during that same period.