Changes in world trade over approximately the last decade have included the significant expansion of container traffic flows into Europe. The largest ports of Europe are well known - Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, etc. - but there are also a large number of thriving medium and small sized ports, and not without impact are those of the northern Adriatic (NA), which we will analyse in this paper, examining the container flows and market characteristics, market shares in general and throughput in regard to these ports.