Athens

In the Salamis strait, where an Athenian-led fleet of 380 ships once sank a Persian fleet of more than 1,000 and altered the history of the Western world, the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) is redrawing global trade routes. The strait, just outside the port of Piraeus, is the heart of its cargo business. Container ships arrive around the clock to be loaded or unloaded with pinpoint precision, with whirring motors the quay’s only sounds.