This paper examines differences between Northwest Europe and Eastern North America with respect to port commercial activities, port policy, port hinterland access and competition, port governance, and port security. While the volume of traffic on the transatlantic trade route has grown, its share of world trade with Europe has declined slightly. The authors explore the relevant contextual issues the ports on the trade route have experienced in the last decade, and using the Baltazar and Brooks (2001) Environment-Strategy-Structure framework, examine the structure and strategies followed by ports as they seek to deal with the changing environment (context) on all routes, not just the transatlantic.
