Ports & Harbours of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas

History

From its establishment during the era of the Roman Republic, maritime trade has played an important role in the history and development of Koper. The town received a charter from Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II in the early 11th century, while in the 13th century the Patriarchs of Aquileia granted Koper domain over its northern Istrian hinterland. In 1279, Koper was absorbed by the Venetian Republic, and developed into the pre-eminent commercial and administrative centre of Istria. Following the fall of Venice in 1797, the entire region was absorbed into the Habsburg monarchy, and, for a short while, Koper was known as the Imperial Austrian Port.

When Trieste and Rijeka were proclaimed as free ports in 1719, Koper's status, trade, and influence began to ebb.

History

The Port of Bar was used as a sea port for Shkodër before it was conquered by the Turks in 1571. Right after the conquest of Bar, the Turks constructed a small port with one breakwater and wooden pier. This former Turkish port has been maintained and expanded since 1878, when Montenegro gained Bar after becoming officially independent from Ottoman Turkey. Montenegro became the first South Slavic state to have a port to the sea.

Construction of the port formally started on March 23, 1905, when King Nikola I, on board on the yacht Rumija, plunged a foundation stone, on which his initials and the date were carved in, into the sea. The Port of Bar officially began construction on June 27, 1906, even though the port was founded the same day.

History

The natural port has been used since ancient times. In the 1910s the Royal Italian Navy developed the port and established an important military base to exercise control of the coast. The port was used by the Regia Marina during the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912) and during the landing in Sicily by the Allies the port was subjected to repeated raids.

An air base was built in Augusta harbor between November 1917 and 1920 with a reinforced concrete airship hangar for use as a bombing and gunnery training school and as a reconnaissance base. Converted into a seaplane station in 1925, it became Italy’s main seaplane base on Sicily. During the war years, some 30 seaplanes were usually here at any one time including the types CANT Z.501 Gabbiano, CANT Z.506 Airone, Fiat RS.14 and the IMAM Ro.43.

History

In 1936, it was decided to develop the Port of Ploče, as the site at the mouth of the Neretva on the Adriatic coast represented the natural outlet for the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Preparations included the construction of a railway between Metković and Ploče, as an extension of the railway from Sarajevo. The railway was completed in 1942, three years after construction of the port commenced in 1939. The works were delayed by the onset of World War II, but they were intensified in 1945 after modernization of the Sarajevo–Ploče narrow gauge railway.

The port officially started operating on July 15, 1945, handling imports of coal and cereal and exports of bauxite and timber.

Business operations

The Port of Ploče is the second largest cargo seaport in Croatia, mostly serving Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with some local and regional users. The port is administered by the Port of Ploče Authority, with Luka Ploče d.d. as the primary concessionaire. Subcontractors that operate the liquid cargo terminal facilities are Naftni Terminali Federacije d.o.o. and Luka Ploče Trgovina d.o.o., while passenger and vehicle transit is handled by Jadrolinija. Jadrolinija ferries sail between Ploče and Trpanj on the Pelješac peninsula and the D415 state road. In 2009, the ferry line carried annual average daily traffic of 143 vehicles. During summer the volume increased to 383 vehicles on average.

In 2008, the Port of Ploče recorded 2,555 ship arrivals, 106 in Metković and the rest in Ploče.

Transport facilities

The Port of Ploče is located on the Adriatic Sea coast in the area of the Neretva river. Its facilities include terminals and other structures in Ploče and in Metković, which lies on the Neretva approximately 20 kilometres (12 miles) inland to the east of Ploče. The Port of Ploče is at the southern terminus of Pan-European transport corridor V, branch C, representing a maritime extension of the rail and road routes leading to and from the Ploče area. These routes include modern roads such as: the Croatian A1 motorway, accessed via the D425 and D513, forming part of European route E65 and connecting Zagreb, Budapest and Vienna; and the Bosnia and Herzegovina A1 and the planned Croatian A10 motorways, which are parts of European route E73.