Port of Taiwan

Brief History of the Port - Keelung

Keelung was opened as a commercial port in 1863 and a naval defense headquarters was set up here in 1872. In the Ching Dynasty, China's last reigning house, Liu Ming-chuan, Governor of Taiwan, initiated progress for harbor development and constructed a railroad linking Keelung with Taipei. Under his management the first wharf in Keelung Harbor was completed in 1886. It has already been more than one hundred years since the port began to operate.

During the half century of Japanese occupation (1895-1945), a five-stage plan was initiated for the subsequent port development, but because of the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the final stage of the plan was not completed. During the war, the harbor area was heavily bombed and almost all of the port facilities were completely destroyed.

On Nov. 9, 1945 Keelung Harbor Bureau was formally established. The bureau immedistely exerted every effort to remove all ship wreckages and carried out necessary dredging and other worker to restore the functions of the port. Since then, Keelung Harbor has made great progress and ranks now as one of the major ports of the world.

Keelung Harbor is located at Lat.25°9'26.5"N. and Long.121°44' 22.5"E. on the northeast tip of the island province of Taiwan, the Republic of China. It faces to the sea in the north and is surrounded by mountains on three other sides. It really is a seaport full of scenic beauty.

The port has shipping routes liking globally with all the other major container ports. Besides, for promoting the international friendship and strengthening the exchange of technology and experience on port development, the port has affiliated as sister ports respectively with the ports of Oakland, Los Angeles, Bellingham and San Francisco in the United States and the Port of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

Su-Ao harbor is located 50 nautical miles from Keelung Harbor in the north and 40 nautical miles from Hualien Harbor in the south. It really is a fine natural port, circumjacent to the Pacific Ocean and with an extensive water area.

To resolve Keelung Harbor of its increasing traffic burden and to promote the economic development in Lan-Yang district, the Port of Su-Ao began to be constructed in July 1974 and was completed in June 1983. It has now 13 deep-water berths and an everincreasing business volume. Su-Ao Harbor is not only the best auxiliary port to the Port of Keelung, but also pioneers the economic prosperity in Lan-Yang district.

Tanshui Domestic Port is situated at the bank of Tanshui River, between Hsun -Tang village, Pa-Li township, Taipei county. Two ten-thousand-ton class berths and one 70-hectare stacking yard are planed to be completed in the first stage of constucction, which is scheduled to be finished by June 1997. The second stage of construction is scheduled to commence in July 1997. Though it is positioned at present as a domestic port, in order to coordinate with the Executive Yuan's plan to develop Taiwan district as an Asia-Pacific marine transportation center, to release the crowded cargo and vessels at the Port of Keelung, in the future Tanshui Port will be planned as an auxiliary port to the port of Keelung, and thus would be of benefit to incoming and outgoing international vessels.

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