Shipping in peripheral seas : the case of Baltic Sea region and Adriatic sea

International audienceWorld trade has changed in the twenty years such that container traffic flows are oriented towards more parts of the European continent. The European container port system is not a homogeneous set of ports; instead it consists of several big ports (e.g., Rotterdam, Hamburg, Algeciras...) and a large number of medium and small ports.The main focus of the paper is on the container network in two peripheral seas, the Baltic Sea Region and in the Adriatic Sea, studying contemporary changes and organization, as well as explaining the main driving forces of this situation. The geographical configurations of the region naturally place both seas away from major global shipping lines. This situation is accentuated by the organization of maritime regular lines, centred in Northern European ports or Mediterranean transhipment hubs. So, the idea is to compare flows and networks in these two European peripheral seas having welcomed a remarkable growth during the last decade.The Baltic Sea is a transport corridor between Eastern and Western Europe. Over the last decade maritime transport in the Baltic Sea area has changed significantly. The disintegration of the Soviet Union forced Russia to start developing its own Baltic ports and terminals and to find new routes to export its oil and gas. The Adriatic Sea looks also like a transport corridor between Southern and Central Europe. Adriatic ports, Rijeka, Koper, Trieste, Venice and Ravenna..., are small ports. Each of these ports have different development plans but in varying degrees’ common hinterlands and costumers