Port of Kobe

Kobe at twilight

The Port of Kobe is a Japanese maritime port in Kobe, Hyōgo in the greater Osaka area, backgrounded by the Hanshin Industrial Region.

Located at a foothill of the range of Mount Rokkō, flat lands are limited and constructions of artificial islands have carried out, to make Port Island, Rokko Island, island of Kobe Airport to name some.

History

Port of Kobe from the sky

In the 10th century, Taira no Kiyomori renovated the then Ōwada no Tomari (大輪田泊^?) and moved to Fukuhara (福原^?), the short-lived capital neighbouring the port. Throughout medieval era, the port was known as Hyōgo no Tsu (兵庫津^?).

In 1858 the Treaty of Amity and Commerce opened the Hyōgo Port to foreigners.

After the World War II pillars were occupied by the Allied Forces, later by United States Forces Japan. (Last one returned in 1973.)

In the 1970s the port boasted it handled the most containers in the world. It was the world's busiest container port from 1973 to 1978.^[1]

The 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake diminished much of the port city's prominence when it destroyed and halted much of the facilities and services there, causing approximately ten trillion yen or $102.5 billion in damage, 2.5% of Japan's GDP at the time. Most of the losses were uninsured, as only 3% of property in the Kobe area was covered by earthquake insurance, compared to 16% in Tokyo. Kobe was one of the world's busiest ports prior to the earthquake, but despite the repair and rebuilding, it has never regained its former status as Japan's principal shipping port. It remains Japan's fourth busiest container port.^[2]

Facilities

File:Container.JPG

Container

Harborland - Meriken Park area with cruise ship Nautica seen in sight.

Container berths: 34
Area: 3.89 km²
Max draft: 18 m

Amusement facility for public

Passenger services

Busan, South Korea: twice a week
Shanghai, China: once a week
Tianjin, China: once a week

Cruise Port

File:Amsterdam at Kobe03s3872.jpg

Amsterdam Cruise Ship leaving Kobe.

Kobe is also a home port for certain cruise ships. Cruise lines that call at port are kinds like Holland America Line and Princess Cruise Line. In the summer of 2014 Princess will expand the market in Kobe when their ship Sun Princess sails eight-day roundtrip Asia cruises from the port. These cruises on the Sun Princess are a part of Princess Cruises $11 billion contribution to the entire country of Japan, where the Sun will also sail from Otaru, Hokkaido, as it is currently based in Yokohama, Tokyo.

Sister ports

References

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↑ American Association of Port Authorities - "World Port Rankings 2006", retrieved April 15, 2008