The Port of Limassol (), also known as the Limassol New Port is the largest

port 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, Manch ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, located in the city of

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

Location

The port is located in the

Eastern Mediterranean The Eastern Mediterranean is a loosely delimited region comprising the easternmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, and well as the adjoining land—often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea. It includes the southern half of Turkey ...

and is considered one of the busiest ports in the

Mediterranean 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 ...

transit trade.

Importance

Limassol's New Port is now the principal seaport of the island. This was largely a result of the

Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of Cypriot intercommunal violence, intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots, Greek and Turkish Cy ...

in 1974 leaving the Port of Famagusta within occupied territory and inaccessible. Cyprus is an established player in the

shipping industry Maritime transport (or ocean transport) or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by watercraft has been widely used throughout recorded history, as it provi ...

. The city of Limassol is a centre for numerous global shipping companies. Most of the island’s cargo (importation and exportation) is also handled in this port. In the year 2000, 3,589,000 tonnes of cargo were handled whilst there were roughly 1 million passenger arrival and departures (>90% of total traffic). Over 50 international cruise liners include Cyprus in their

Mediterranean Sea 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 Eur ...

routes resulting in much of the passenger traffic.

Operations

The port is capable of handling vessels up to size for berthing in of water. It is entered through an approach channel which is deep and wide between the ends of two breakwaters. In 2016 the port has been privatized to a consortium led by Eurogate International for the container terminal, while

DP World DP World is a multinational logistics company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It specialises in cargo logistics, port terminal operations, maritime services and free trade zones. Formed in 2005 by the merger of Dubai Ports Authority and ...

will be the operator for multipurpose passenger terminal.

Humanitarian Hub

The port has served numerous times as an evacuation point for

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s fleeing from conflict in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

with most recently hundreds of thousands of EU and other citizens were evacuated from

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Limassol Old Port-Limassol Marina

Old Port

Limassol Old Port used to be the main port of Limassol, between its construction (in its current form) in 1956 up until the delivery of the Limassol New Port in 1973. Its original foundations were laid during the

British Cyprus British Cyprus (Modern Greek, Greek: Βρετανική Κύπρος; Turkish language, Turkish: ''Britanya Kıbrısı'') was the island of Cyprus under the dominion of the British Empire, administered sequentially from 1878 to 1914 as a British ...

in the late 19th century. Up to and including 1974, the British RAF 1153 Marine Craft Unit (MCU) was stationed in the western part of the harbor. It now serves as a leisure, fishing boat and

coast guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

shelter.

Limassol Marina

The Limassol Marina was built adjacent to the Old Port. It covers an area of , and is now a leisure centre with many restaurants, taverns and shops. The Limassol Marina is located right next to the Limassol Molos promenade, and both developments have given Limassol its title as a Coastal City back. Following an architectural competition, plans have been drawn up to revamp the area and transform it into a more functional leisure center. For that reason the Old Port had been officially closed and the project commenced after some delays under the name Limassol Marina in 2010.

References

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Limassol