Depends. Most Baltic ports are not warm water, and Midwestern port cities on the Great Lakes freeze. A lot of ports on the Korean peninsula and northern Japan also freeze over. They obviously aren't the important ports like Rotterdam, LA, or Singapore, but they are vital to local economies, especially if it's your only port.

[–] Tak@lemmy.ml 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The great lakes didn't do much freezing this year

[–] BakerBagel@midwest.social 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

They sure didn't, but i was down at Marblehead this weekend and there was still plenty of ice build up along the shore. Not sure how things looked on the upper lakes, but that is where most of the Great Lakes shipping originates from these days.

[–] Tak@lemmy.ml 5 points 9 months ago

I imagine it's pretty regional with climate change for all ports that used to always freeze. Plus depending on the tributaries there's always the Mississippi as a port for much of the same region as the great lakes.