11 Busiest Ocean Trade Routes in the World

Which ocean is the busiest ocean and why, and which are the busiest ocean trade routes in the world? Let’s find out.

You have probably guessed the answer to the first question here. It is, of course, the Atlantic. But why is the Atlantic Ocean the busiest ocean in the world? This ocean had established routes since the ancient times, connecting Europe, Africa, Asia and in newer times (historically speaking) the Americas. Some of the historically important routes since the “discovery” of Americas were in the Atlantic Ocean, for shipping goods but also for trading slaves from Africa as well. Nevertheless, taking in mind the amount of goods nowadays (for example oil) some of the routes with the most cargo transferred are actually in the Indian and Pacific oceans (also having in mind developing and leading economies such as Chinese and Japanese).

Surely where the busiest ocean trade routes in the world start and end are the ports, but that is now the whole new subject, which you can see in more detail in 11 Busiest Shipping Ports in the World. Canals are also important parts of ship routes, connecting oceans and seas and very often represent shortcuts, like Panama or Suez canals for example. Panama Canal is also the busiest ship canal in the world. And in the end, on the similar topic, as we have here today, you can check out our earlier article on the 10 busiest shipping lanes in the world.

Now, on the matter of the busiest ocean trade routes we have looked on places such as Quora, Geopolitical Futures, Geography and Maps blog, etc. From the World Shipping Council, we’ve gotten the insight in the amount of goods and services occurring on major ocean routes. We have tried to make our ratings according to the number of vessels operating daily on certain routes, as shown on this amazing visualization of shipping routes provided by the UCL Energy Institute.

There are many busy straits in the seas and rivers, for example, Strait of Dover being the busiest sea route in the world, but we here have focused on those taking place wholly or partly in oceans. So let’s see some of the major ocean routes of the world which are also among the busiest ocean trading routes:

11. Asia – Australia

A route connecting Australia with Asian coast, predominantly Chinese is one of the important ocean trade routes in the world, as China is among the top trading Australian partners.

10. Asia – South America

As we will see a bit further on the list, this route is being the part of the Cape Route which major role was connecting Europe with Asian ports and going around Africa, thus connecting a good portion of the world actually. This Asia-South America Route, connecting Indian and Atlantic oceans is a developing and busy ocean trade route.

9. North America – South America

Being solely Atlantic Ocean route, this trading route represents one of the busiest ocean routes which connects ports of South and North America.

8. Strait of Hormuz

Route of Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean (i.e., Middle East and Asia), and represents the most important route considering the transport of oil in the world.

7. Strait of Malacca

Having in mind the amount of oil shipped, Strait of Malacca route is probably among the most important routes in the world connecting ports of Pacific Ocean, which also the largest ocean in the world and the Indian Ocean.

6. South Atlantic Route

The South Atlantic Route connects West Indies, Brazil and Argentina on one side and Europe on the other. Although it is not considered as one of the major routes, it is among the busiest ocean trade routes in the world.

5. Trans – Pacific Route

The Trans-Pacific Route connects ports of North America and eastern Asian coast, with important ports in Hawaii as well, and represents one of the major busiest ocean trading routes in the world.

4. Cape Route

Even though before construction of the Suez Canal, ship trade between Europe and Asia was carried out through this route, it still is one of the most important and busiest routes, now not oriented much towards Europe, but connecting coasts of Africa and also South America and Asia as we have seen.

3. Panama Canal Route

Construction of Panama canal in 1913 had made a journey from Atlantic to Pacific Oceans much easier, which makes traveling from New York to Auckland much shorter.

2. Suez Canal Route

Suez Canal Route is the route connecting Mediterranean Europe with the Indian Ocean, i.e., Asia. Its construction made a journey from Europe to Asia for around 9000 km shorter, so it is no wonder that it is among the busiest ocean trade routes in the world today.

1. North Atlantic Route

Being the busiest ocean trade route in the world, the North Atlantic route connects important European and North American ports such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, Montreal on one side and London, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Oslo, Antwerp on the other, just to name some.