Classification of Port & Harbour

Contents
➢ Introduction
➢Types of ports and habours
➢Differences between Harbour and Port
➢Case study
 Introduction

Definition of port :

A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbours

where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land.
(Or)
A port is a place on the coast that facilitates loading and unloading cargo.
A port is usually located inside a harbour.
 Definition of harbour:

A sheltered area of the sea in which vessels could be launched, built or

taken for repair; or could seek refuge in time of storm; or provide for loading
and unloading of cargo and passengers.
(Or)
A harbour is a place that is situated on the coast where ships, boats, barges, etc.
can be moored safely. The word harbour is derived from the Old English
word “herebeorg” meaning shelter or refuge. In American English, this is spelt
as ‘harbor.’
 Types of ports
1.Inland port
2.Fishing port
3.Dry port
4.Warm-water port
5.Seaport
• Cruise home port
• Port of call
• Cargo port
 Inland port

• An inland port is a port on a navigable lake, river or canal with

access to a sea or ocean, which therefore allows a ship to sail
from the ocean inland to the port to load or unload its cargo.
Example:
St. Lawrence Seaway which allows ships to travel from the Atlantic
Ocean several thousand kilometers inland to Great Lakes ports
like Duluth- Superior and Chicago.
 Fishing port

• It is a port for landing and distributing fish. It may be a

recreational facility, but it is usually commercial.
• It is the only port that depends on an ocean product, and
depletion of fish may cause a fishing port to be
uneconomical.
• In recent decades, regulations to save fishing stock may
limit the use of a fishing port, perhaps effectively closing it.
 Dry port

• A dryport is an inland intermodal

terminal directly connected by road or rail to a seaport
and operating as a centre of for
the transshipment sea cargo to inland
destinations.
 Warm-water port

• A warm-water port is one where the water does not freeze in

wintertime as they are available year-round
• warm-water ports can be of great geopolitical or economic
interest.
Example:
Dalian in China, Vostochny Port, Murmansk and
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in Russia, Odessa in
Ukraine,Kushiro in Japan.
 Seaport

• A seaport is further categorized as a "cruise port" or a "cargo

port". Additionally, "cruise ports" are also known as a "home
port" or a "port of call". The "cargo port" is also further
categorized into a "bulk" or "break bulk port" or as a
"container port".
 Cruise home port
• A cruise home port is the port where cruise-ship passengers board to start their
cruise and disembark the cruise ship at the end of their cruise.
• It is also where the cruise ship's supplies are loaded for the cruise, which includes
everything from fresh water and fuel to fruits, vegetables and any other supplies
needed for the cruise.
• "Cruise home ports" are a very busy place during the day the cruise ship is in
port, because off-going passengers debark their baggage and on-coming
passengers board the ship in addition to all the supplies being loaded.
• Currently, the Cruise Capital of the World is the Port of Miami, Florida,
closely followed behind by Port Everglades, Florida and the Port of San Juan,
Puerto Rico.
 Port of call

• A port of call is an intermediate stop for a ship on its sailing

itinerary. At these ports, cargo ships may take on supplies or
fuel, as well as unloading and loading cargo while cruise
liners have passengers get on or off ship.
 Cargo port
• Cargo ports handles very different cargo, which has to be loaded and unloaded
by very different mechanical means.
• The port may handle one particular type of cargo or it may handle numerous
cargoes, such as grains, liquid fuels, liquid chemicals, wood, automobiles, etc.
Such ports are known as the "bulk" or "break bulk ports".
• Those ports that handle containerized cargo are known as container ports.
Most cargo ports handle all sorts of cargo, but some ports are very specific as
to what cargo they handle.
• Additionally, the individual cargo ports are divided into different operating
terminals which handle the different cargoes, and are operated by different
companies, also known as terminal operators or stevedores.
 Types of harbours

• Natural harbours
• Semi-natural harbours
• Artificial harbours
 Natural harbours
• Natural formations affording safe discharge facilities for ships on sea coasts, in
the form of creeks and basins, are called natural harbours.
• With the rapid development of navies engaged either in commerce or war,
improved accommodation and facilities for repairs, storage of cargo and
connected amenities had to be provided in natural harbours.
• The size and draft of present day vessels have necessitated the works
improvement for natural harbours.
• The factors such as local geographical features, growth of population,
development of the area, etc. have made the natural harbours big and
attractive. Bombay and Kandla are, examples of natural harbours
 Semi-natural harbours

• This type of harbour is protected on sides by headlands

protection and it requires man- made protection only at the
entrance.
• Vishakhapatnam is a semi-natural harbour.
 Artificial harbours
• Where such natural facilities are not available, countries
having a seaboard had to create or construct such shelters
making use of engineering skill and methods, and such
harbours are called artificial or man-made harbours.

• Madras is an artificial harbour

 Difference Between Harbour and Port
Definition of Harbour and Port
Harbour: Harbour is a place on the coast where ships, boats and barges
can seek shelter from a stormy weather.
Port: Port is a location on the coast that can be used to load and unload
cargo.
Location
Port: A port is located inside a harbour.
Harbour: A harbour cannot be located inside a port.
 Purpose

Harbour: The purpose of a harbour is to provide shelter from

the weather conditions.

Port: The purpose of a port is to load and unload cargo.

Creation
Harbour: A harbour is usually a natural structure. Port: Ports are
generally artificially created.
 Facilities

Port: Ports are commercial entities and often have many facilities
like warehouses to store cargo and well-built transportation
systems.
Harbour: Harbours do not provide as many facilities as ports.
 VISAKHAPATNAM PORT
Introduction
• Visakhapatnam port is one of the leading major ports of India it is
situated in Visakhapatnam city of Andhra Pradesh. The Port is located
on the east coast of India.
• The Port has three harbours viz., outer harbour, inner harbour and the
fishing harbour. The outer harbour with a water spread of 200
hectares has
6 berths and the inner harbour with a water spread of 100 hectares
has 8 berths.
 History
•Visakhapatnam was an ancient Port city which had trade relations
with the Middle East and Rome. Ships were anchored at open
roads and were loaded with cargo transported from
Visakhapatnam shore by means of small Masula boats.
•It has become a settlement of a branch of East India Company in
1682. Rs. 83 lakh worth of goods were moved through
Vizagapatam / Bhimunipatnam in 1882-83.
•Principal commodities traded at anchorage Port included Muslin
cloth - manufactured at Uppada (East Godavari District),
Manganese ore - exports to UK and USA, Oilseeds, jaggery, jute
and indigo, hides and skins. Extensive trade relations existed
with Burma.
 Construction Features of Port
•The unique feature of the harbour has been the Island Break-
water, constructed by scuttling two old ships JANUS and
WELLESDON which form the skeleton around which a rubble
mound is formed.
•The location of the port is very ideal in the sense that it affords
protection from cyclones which strike the east coast regularly, by a
high promontory into the sea, known as Dolphin’s Nose Hill
which is to the north of the entrance channel.
•The low tidal range of a maximum of 1.82 meters is also
advantageous for the location of the port.
•The harbour was constructed by dredging 281.8million cubic ft of
land and soft material.
•The Port was constructed at a cost of Rs.378 lakhs.
 Handling Facilities
1) Coking Coal facilities
•A deep draft berth in outer harbour with a quay Length of 356
meters to handle vessels of draft upto 14.5 meters is available for
handling imported coking coal. The berth is capable of handling
10000 DWT vessels. 2 floating cranes viz., Bulk Express.
 2) Iron Ore & Pellets

•Functioning of the Mechanical ore handling plant known as ore

handling complex comprises of the receiving system and the
shipping system.
•The ore received through wagons is tippled and conveyed to the
stacker for stacking in the receiving system.
 3) Shipping system

•The shipping system reclaims the cargo from the stacks and
conveys through the conveyors to the shiploader for loading into
the ships’ hatches. The system consists of 3 bucket wheel
reclaimers 4000 tonnes per hour capacity, a long overhead
conveyor system (4.8 kms – one way).
 Logistics
•Railway network at Port of Visakhapatnam is the largestamongst
Indian Ports with over 200km rail length.
•A Road running within the Port land was commonly being used
historically over a long period by the Port Cargo Traffic and the
City public between Port area up to NH-5.
•Major drains originating from the upper reaches of the city are
discharging the drainage water at different locations into the Port
area before they finally discharge into sea. These reaches of drains
in Port area are being maintained regularly by Visakhapatnam
Port to ensure free flow of water and to keep clean environment of
harbour waters.
•An annual expenditure of about 70.00 Lakhs is being incurred for
maintenance of drains, and culverts etc.
 Awards & Achievements
•The only Indian port to have three international certifications.
– ISO 900-Quality Management System.
– ISO 14001-Environmental Management System.
–OHSAS 18001-Occupational Health and Safety Management
System.
• GREENTECH SAFETY AWARD in service sector for outstanding
achievement in Safety management Silver - 2008,2010