Jules Sedney Harbour is the main

seaport 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, Manc ...

for cargo ships in

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

. Until 2016, the harbour was called ''Nieuwe Haven'' (''New Harbour''). It is one of the two main cargo ports of Suriname. The other being

Nieuw-Nickerie Nieuw Nickerie. Retrieved 17 November 2009. is the third largest city in Suriname with a population estimated at . It is the capital city of the Nickerie district, and the terminus of the East-West Link. Nieuw Nickerie lies on the mouth of the N ...

. Paramaribo used to have a generic harbour at

Waterkant The Waterkant is the oldest and one of the most important streets of Paramaribo, Paramaribo, Suriname. The street is located in the historic Centrum, Paramaribo, centre on the Suriname River, and was the location where ships used to arrive. The ...

. In 1965, Nieuwe Haven opened as a specialised cargo harbour.

History

In 1683, Suriname was captured by the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

from the British. The

Suriname River The Suriname River ( Dutch: ''Surinamerivier'') is long and flows through the country of Suriname. Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains (where it is kn ...

near the village of Paramaribo was more than one kilometre wide, and

, the water side, became the main harbour for the colony. In the mid 20th century, the harbour became ill-suited for large cargo ships. On 5 June 1960, a terrain of was purchased by the government for the construction of a new harbour. In 1965, Nieuwe Haven was opened as a specialised cargo harbour. The ferries still use the old facilities at Waterkant. On 11 November 1971, was founded to operate the Nieuwe Haven. The harbour was enlarged with a dedicated oil terminal. The harbour was originally designed for bulk transport, it was later rehabilitated for container transport. On 11 November 2016, the harbour was renamed Jules Sedney Harbour after Prime minister

Jules Sedney Jules Sedney (28 September 192218 June 2020) was a Surinamese politician, and Prime Minister of Suriname from 20 November 1969 to 24 December 1973. In 1980, he became governor of the Central Bank of Suriname, but had to flee the country in 1983 a ...

as recognition for his involvement in the founding of the harbour.

Award winning

The Jules Sedney Haven has won the Best Container Port Award of the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA) in 2012, 2014, 2015 en 2022.De Ware Tijd
Suriname wint voor vierde keer prestigieuze award voor beste haven
16 March 2023 Cranes at Paramaribo harbor

References

External links

{{commons category
Official site
(in Dutch) Ports and harbours of Suriname Paramaribo