Trincomalee Harbour is a seaport in Trincomalee Bay or Koddiyar Bay, fourth largest

natural harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

in the world and situated on the northeastern coast of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Located by

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; , ; , ), historically known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast o ...

, in the heart of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, its strategic importance has shaped its

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. There have been many sea battles to control the harbour. The Portuguese, Dutch, French, and the British have each held it in turn. In 1942 the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

attacked Trincomalee harbour and sank three British warships anchored there.

History

Trincomalee Harbour, formerly a British naval base, was taken over by the Inaams Ceylonese government in 1956 to be developed as a commercial port. The base in Trincomalee was fitted out to perform slipway repairs for the Navy. The harbour is being developed for bulk, and break bulk, cargo and port-related industrial activities including heavy industries, tourism, agriculture, etc. At present SLPA is in the process to re-develop Trincomalee as a metropolis growth center.

Geography

The harbour, one of the largest natural harbours in the world, is overlooked by terraced highlands, and its entrance is guarded by two headlands. The harbour has 1630 hectares of water, while the entrance channel is 500 metres wide. The bay includes the first of a number

submarine canyon A submarine canyon is a steep-sided valley cut into the seabed of the continental slope, sometimes extending well onto the continental shelf, having nearly vertical walls, and occasionally having canyon wall heights of up to , from canyon flo ...

s, making Trincomalee one of the finest deep-sea

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

s in the world.

Port facilities and operation

The Port of Trincomalee works on a 24-hour basis. It is open every day of the year, except on May Day, when only daylight navigation is open.

Port dimensions

Water - Entrance channel - Land Area -

References

External links