Port of Alexandria | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | Egypt |
Location | Alexandria |
Coordinates | 31°12′16″N29°52′48″E / 31.2045796°N 29.8800659°E |
UN/LOCODE | EGALY [1] |
Details | |
Operated by | Alexandria Port Authority |
Type of harbour | Coastal breakwater |
Size of harbour | 16 square kilometres (6.2 sq mi) |
Land area | 22.8 square kilometres (8.8 sq mi) |
No. of berths | 67 |
Statistics | |
Annual cargo tonnage | 17,627,762 (2012) |
Annual container volume | 1,442,712 (2012) |
Website Official website |
The Port of Alexandria is located on the northern coast of Egypt, to the West of the Nile Delta. In antiquity Alexandria was built between the Mediterranean Sea and Mariut Lake. The latter was connected to the River Nile via canals, allowing goods at the Port to travel to and from the country's interior.
Alexandria is now considered the second most important city in Egypt and the Port of Alexandria is the main port in the country. It consists of two harbours (East and West) separated by a T-shaped peninsula. The East harbour is shallow and is not navigable by large vessels. The West harbour is used for commercial shipping. The harbour is formed by two converging breakwaters.
Alexandria Port is one of the oldest ports in the world. The earliest port facilities were built in 1900 BC in the then-village of Rhakotis, to service coastal shipping and supply the island of Pharos (now part of the "Ras al-Tin" quarter).
Over the centuries sand and silt deposits made the port unnavigable. It was cleared by forces under the command of Alexander the Great in 331 BC as part of the construction of Alexandria city to be the marine base for his fleet. Alexander's engineer Dinocrat linked the port of Alexandria and the island of Pharos with a bridge 1200 meters long and 200 meters wide, creating two harbour basins for commercial and military shipping. The northeast basin (Portus Magnus, currently the Eastern harbour) was designed for military vessels and the southwest basin (Portus Eunostus, currently the main port of Alexandria) was for commercial use. In the Ptolemy era a second bridge was built to Pharos, further dividing the eastern harbour into two separate inlets.
According to Strabo, Alexandria had an inland harbour on Lake Mareotis as well as the harbours on the Mediterranean. The lake had no mouth connecting it to the sea but was instead connected to the Nile by canals. Strabo describes the lake harbour as being busier than the harbours on the sea. [2] During the period of Roman Egypt, grain was exported in large quantities from the city's Western Harbour, earning it the name "Portus Magnus". The grain was brought down the Nile by barge and stored in large granaries near the shore of Lake Mareotis before shipping. At the height of the Roman Empire, Alexandria was shipping 83,000 tons of grain per year to Rome. By the time of the late Empire, the city was shipping 220,000 tons of grain per year to Constantinople. [3]
Muhammad Ali of Egypt issued the order to restore and partly retrace the freshwater canal from the Nile upon his ascension to power. On its completion in 1820 it was named the Mahmoudiyah Canal. Under Muhammad Ali's rule, Alexandria shipyard was founded.
During World War I, the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that took part in the Gallipoli Campaign used the established port of Alexandria as its main base for troops and supplies bound for the landing at Cape Helles. [4]
By the late 20th century sea trade through the Port of Alexandria was exceeding its capacity. A new port was built at El-Dekheila during the 1980s with facilities for container shipping and infrastructure to serve the nearby steel factory. In addition to the Port of Dekheila and the Western Port of Alexandria, the city's ports include those at Abu Qir and Sidi Krer, as well as Alexandria's old Eastern Port which is no longer used for shipping freight. [5]
The Alexandria Shipyard was originally developed in the 1960s with assistance of the government of the Soviet Union and in 2004 the shipyard ownership was transferred to the Ministry of Defense
Egypt has a total of 15 commercial ports along the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts. Alexandria Port, controlled by the Alexandria Port Authority, is the country's largest and it handles approximately 55% of Egypt's international trade. [6] Overall Alexandria's various harbours handle over three quarters of Egypt's foreign trade, with nearly 80% of the country's imports and exports passing through the city. [7]
The western port is divided into several zones:
Alexandria is the second largest city in Egypt and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile River delta. Founded in c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great, Alexandria grew rapidly and became a major centre of Hellenic civilisation, eventually replacing Memphis, in present-day Greater Cairo, as Egypt's capital. Called the "Bride of the Mediterranean" internationally, Alexandria is a popular tourist destination and an important industrial centre due to its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez.
Transport in Egypt is centered in Cairo and largely follows the pattern of settlement along the Nile. The Ministry of Transportation and other government bodies are responsible for transportation in Egypt, whether by sea, river, land or air.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria, was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. It has been estimated to have been at least 100 metres (330 ft) in overall height. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, for many centuries it was one of the tallest man-made structures in the world.
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the west almost by the Morocco–Spain border. The Mediterranean Sea covers an area of about 2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi), representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar—the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa—is only 14 km (9 mi) wide.
A ship is a large vessel that travels the world's oceans and other navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, based on size, shape, load capacity and purpose. Ships have supported exploration, trade, warfare, migration, colonization, and science. Ship transport is responsible for the largest portion of world commerce.
The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The 193.30-kilometre-long (120.11 mi) canal is a key trade route between Europe and Asia.
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchester and Duluth; these access the sea via rivers or canals. Because of their roles as ports of entry for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories.
Lake Mariout, is a brackish lake in northern Egypt near the city of Alexandria. The lake area covered 200 square kilometres (77 sq mi) and had a navigable canal at the beginning of the 20th century, but at the beginning of the 21st century, it covers only about 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi).
The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary with the North Sea and including any associated docks. Once the largest port in the world, it was the United Kingdom's largest port as of 2020. Usage is largely governed by the Port of London Authority ("PLA"), a public trust established in 1908; while mainly responsible for coordination and enforcement of activities it also has some minor operations of its own.
A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are used for military purposes.
The modern terms short-sea shipping, marine highway and motorways of the sea, as well as the more historical terms coastal trade, coastal shipping, coasting trade and coastwise trade, all encompass the movement of cargo and passengers mainly by sea along a coast, without crossing an ocean.
The Port of Gdańsk is a Polish seaport located on the southern coast of Gdańsk Bay in the city of Gdańsk, extending along the Vistula estuary Martwa Wisła, Port Channel and Kashubia Canal. It is one of the largest seaports on the Baltic Sea.
The Port of Karachi is one of South Asia's largest and busiest deep-water seaports, handling about 60% of the nation's cargo located in Karachi, Pakistan. It is located on the Karachi Harbour, between Kiamari Azra Langri, Manora, and Kakapir, and close to Karachi's main business district and several industrial areas. The geographic position of the port places it in close proximity to major shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz. It is also ideally located to offer gateway services to the maritime trade for the Central Asian Republics (CARs). The administration of the port is carried out by the Karachi Port Trust, which was established in 1857.
Rhacotis was the name for a city on the northern coast of Egypt at the site of Alexandria. Classical sources from the Greco-Roman era in both Ancient Greek and the Egyptian language suggest Rhacotis as an older name for Alexandria before the arrival of Alexander the Great.
A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships.
The Heptastadion was a giant causeway, often referred to as a mole or a dyke built by the people of Alexandria, Egypt in the 3rd century BC during the Ptolemaic period. The Heptastadion was created to link Pharos Island to the mainland coast and given a name based on its length. Overall it was more than three-quarters of a mile long.
The history of Alexandria dates back to the city's founding, by Alexander the Great, in 331 BC. Yet, before that, there were some big port cities just east of Alexandria, at the western edge of what is now Abu Qir Bay. The Canopic (westernmost) branch of the Nile Delta still existed at that time, and was widely used for shipping.
Water resources management in modern Egypt is a complex process that involves multiple stakeholders who use water for irrigation, municipal and industrial water supply, hydropower generation and navigation. In addition, the waters of the Nile support aquatic ecosystems that are threatened by abstraction and pollution. Egypt also has substantial fossil groundwater resources in the Western Desert.
Novorossiysk Sea Port is one of the largest ports in the Black Sea basin and the largest in Krasnodar Krai. At 8.3 km, the NSP berthing line is the longest among all the ports of Russia. The port is located on the Northeast coast of the Black Sea, in the Tsemes Bay. The bay is ice-free and open for navigation all year round. However, in winter the navigation occasionally stops due to the hazardous northeastern bora wind. The Tsemes Bay allows deep-draft vessels up to 19 m, and the inner harbour up to 12.5 m. The liquid bulk terminals depth range from 8.4 to 15.6 m, suitable for tankers with a deadweight of up to 250,000 tons, like Suezmax-class vessels.
In Imperial Rome, Cura Annonae was the logistics system which procured and distributed grain for the cities of Rome and, after its foundation, Constantinople. The term was used in honour of the goddess Annona. The city of Rome imported all the grain consumed by its population, estimated to number 1,000,000 by the 2nd century AD. This included recipients of the grain dole or corn dole, a state-run social welfare program which gave out heavily subsidized and later free grain or bread to about 200,000 of Rome's adult male citizens.