# Puerto De Bilbao (ES BIO)

**UN/LOCODE:** ES BIO  
**Country:** Spain  
**Water Body:** Bay of Biscay; North Atlantic Ocean  
**Harbor Size:** Medium  
**Harbor Type:** Coastal (Breakwater)  
**GPS:** 43.3500, -3.0500

Bilbao (ES BIO) moved 17.32 million tonnes in the first half of 2026, up 12.3 percent and its strongest start to a year since 2004, confirming its role as northern Spain's main industrial seaport on the Bay of Biscay. Liquid bulk and containers drove the increase, helped by new direct container services to Canada and the west coast of South America launched between late 2025 and January 2026; two new MSC strings alone added about 120,000 tonnes in January. On 22 July 2026 the MSC Ruby, with capacity up to 13,000 TEU, became the largest containership ever to berth at the port. Annual throughput was around 32.8 million tonnes in 2024, with container traffic near half a million TEU against terminal capacity above 900,000 TEU. Cargo spans containers, liquid and dry bulk, steel, chemicals, iron ore, project cargo and roll-on/roll-off. Container handling centres on CSP Iberian Bilbao Terminal (COSCO Shipping Ports) and Noatum facilities, with three berths, about 1,100 metres of quay and depths to 21 metres; in June 2026 CSP commissioned the largest quay crane on the Atlantic Arc, a super-post-Panamax unit from ZPMC. Short-sea services accounted for 188,317 TEU in 2024, roughly half of full containers, and as an EU customs port Bilbao clears imports and exports under Union rules, linked by rail and road to the dry ports of Azuqueca de Henares, Coslada and Villafría (Burgos) and to Madrid some 400 km away. For pure deep-sea flows to Asia many shippers still route via Valencia or Algeciras, while Santander is the nearby regional alternative.

## Transit Times & Routes

- [Barcelona → Shanghai](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/barcelona-shanghai)
- [Barcelona → Shenzhen](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/barcelona-shenzhen)
- [Barcelona → Guangzhou](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/barcelona-guangzhou)
- [Barcelona → Hong Kong](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/barcelona-hong-kong)
- [Barcelona → Tokyo](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/barcelona-tokyo)
- [Barcelona → Busan](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/barcelona-busan)

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*Freight Academy — Seaport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/puerto-de-bilbao-port-es-bio](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/puerto-de-bilbao-port-es-bio)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/seaports/en/puerto-de-bilbao-port-es-bio](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/seaports/en/puerto-de-bilbao-port-es-bio)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/seaports/puerto-de-bilbao-port-es-bio/llm-summary?lang=en*