| Port of Kaohsiung | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Interactive map of Port of Kaohsiung | |
_location_map.svg)  Port of Kaohsiung Location in Kaohsiung | |
Native name | 高雄港 |
| Location | |
| Country |  Taiwan |
| Location | Kaohsiung |
| Coordinates | 22°36′48″N120°16′45″E / 22.61333°N 120.27917°E /22.61333; 120.27917 |
| Details | |
| Opened | 1858 |
| Operated by | Port of Kaohsiung Branch,Taiwan International Ports Corporation |
| Owned by | Ministry of Transportation and Communications |
| No. ofwharfs | 116 |
| Statistics | |
| Annualcontainer volume | 10.27 millionTEU (2017) |
| Website Official website | |
ThePort of Kaohsiung (POK;Chinese:高雄港;pinyin:Gāoxióng Gǎng;Wade–Giles:Kao1-hsiung2 Kang3;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Ko-hiông-káng) is the largestharbor inTaiwan, handling approximately 10.26 milliontwenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) worth of cargo in 2015.[1] The port is located in southern Taiwan, adjacent toKaohsiung City, and surrounded by the city districts ofGushan,Yancheng,Lingya,Cianjhen,Siaogang, as well asCijin. It is operated byTaiwan International Ports Corporation, Taiwan's state-owned harbor management company.[2]
The port was a naturallagoon before eventually developed through into a modern harbor over the period of several hundred years. At the time of 16th century, some villages had already established on the seashore of the present-day Kaohsiung, which was called as "Takau" by natives at that time. The colonists ofDutch East India Company (VOC) arrived at Takau in 1620s and then began to develop the lagoon. The port, historically referred to as the "Takau Port" (Chinese:打狗港;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Tá-káu-káng), developed gradually during theDutch Era,Koxinga Era, and the earlyQing Dynasty.
In 1858, the Qing Dynasty lost theSecond Opium War to the French-British and signed theTreaties of Tianjin. According to the treaties, the Qing's government was asked to open five ports of Taiwan for foreign trade. As one of the five ports, Takao Port had officially opened to the western traders since 1864. Afterward, the Qing's government ceded Taiwan to Japanese in 1895 after losingFirst Sino-Japanese War.
In the earlyJapanese era, the colonial government decided to undertake large projects with the intention to develop the port into a modern harbor. Japanese built the port up in three stages, the first was finished in 1908, the second in 1912, and the third was halted half way at the start ofWorld War II. During World War II, the port was heavily bombed by the westernAllies.
After the war, restarted development of the port. The "second port" was built in 1975 by breaking the land bridge betweenSiaogang andCijin.
At the southern side of the second port entrance, a museum and park currently stands nearby the recently established Intercontinental Terminal (No. 6 Terminal). This museum describes the history and clearance of a significantly sized residential community which was situated nearby to the expanded port.[3]
The port is part of the MaritimeSilk Road that runs from the Chinese coast towards the southern tip ofIndia toMombasa, from there through theSuez Canal to the Mediterranean and there to the Upper Adriatic region ofTrieste with its rail connections toCentral andEastern Europe.[4][5]
In 2017,Taiwan International Ports Corporation has completed the expensive expansion of Port of Kaohsiung and added new facilities to advance both container and passenger throughput.
The Port of Kaohsiung expanded its passenger service facilities with the introduction of a new mobile and adjustable passenger bridge to facilitate passenger embarkation and disembarkation from large cruise ships, such asStar Cruises'SuperStar Virgo. The new passenger three-level bridge can move up and down to match the different heights of cruise ship hatches to a maximum height of eight meters. It has also completed an air-conditioned, enclosed corridor linking the cruise-ship wharf to the International Travel Center.
Ongoing efforts by theTaiwan International Ports Corporation have resulted in growth for the port's cruise business. An estimated 127,000 cruise passengers are expected to visit the Port of Kaohsiung in 2017.
The port's ferry terminal is also being expanded. In 2017, over 530,000 passengers traveled on theBudai–Penghu route during the tourist season, a 5.4 percent increase over the same period in the previous year. In order to accommodate the increase in transit passengers, the port is renovating its existing passenger service center. The ferry pier is also being extended so that it will be able to berth two ferries of over 500mt simultaneously, givingPort of Budai sufficient wharf space to concurrently berth up to nine ferries.[6]
= Industry Area; = Container Docks; = Bulk and Sundry Goods Docks; = Warehouse Exchange Area; = Fishery Harbor; = Commercial Area; =Naval Base
| International | |
|---|---|
| Domestic | |
| Fishing port | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
