Kingston Harbour in
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
is the seventh-largest natural
harbour in the world.
It is an almost landlocked area of water approximately long by wide.
Most of it is deep enough to accommodate large ships, even close to shore.
It is bordered to the north by the city of
Kingston, the capital of
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
; to the west by Hunts Bay and the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Portmore; and to the south and east by the
Palisadoes
Palisadoes (word apparently of Portuguese origin) is the thin tombolo of sand that serves as a natural protection for Kingston Harbour, Jamaica. Norman Manley International Airport and the historic town of Port Royal are both on Palisadoes.
...
strip, which protects it.
[Reference: ''UK Directorate of Overseas Surveys'' 1:50,000 map of Jamaica sheet L, 1967.]
The harbour is home to the Kingston Container Terminal, Jamaica's largest port. Other docks on Kingston Harbour are at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica in downtown Kingston and at the Jamaica Flour Mills and the Caribbean Cement Company at Rockfort. Fresh water, along with industrial and domestic waste, is discharged into Hunts Bay from rivers and drainage gullies, including Rio Cobre and Sandy Gully.
Norman Manley International Airport
Norman Manley International Airport , formerly Palisadoes Airport, is an international airport serving Kingston, Jamaica and is located south of the island away from the centre of New Kingston. It is the second busiest airport in the country ...
, Jamaica's second busiest international airport, is also located in the outer harbor, on the Palisadoes strip.
There is a fishing village at Rockfort and fishing docks at
Harbour View and at
Port Royal.
History
![Kingston Harbour (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Kingston_Harbour_%28cropped%29.png)
As a large, natural, well-protected harbour, it was doubtless used by
indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
, and has been used by Europeans since the very beginning of their exploration and settlement of the island. Initially the main settlement was at
Port Royal but following its destruction in the
1692 earthquake, the English founded
Kingston and began development of its waterfront.
Historically, the harbour was safe from attack with its narrow entrance being protected by two
forts, one the tip of the
Palisadoes
Palisadoes (word apparently of Portuguese origin) is the thin tombolo of sand that serves as a natural protection for Kingston Harbour, Jamaica. Norman Manley International Airport and the historic town of Port Royal are both on Palisadoes.
...
at
Port Royal and the other on a small sand spit opposite.
Throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries it handled a large local trade and was the chief
entrepot for British exports to the
Spanish colonies
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
.
For the remainder of the 19th century its development as a port was retarded by a decline in the Jamaican economy.
Throughout this period there was a gradual increase in the number of
finger piers and
wharves
A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...
along its long sheltered waterfront.
In 1720 the body of
Calico Jack
John Rackham (26 December 168218 November 1720), commonly known as Calico Jack, was an English pirate captain operating in the Bahamas and in Cuba during the early 18th century. His nickname was derived from the calico clothing that he wore, whi ...
was hanged at the entrance of the harbour as a warning to other
pirates.
Pollution
In modern times Kingston Harbour has suffered a number of pollution incidents. In one such during 2009, 300 tons of sulphuric acid are said to have been accidentally discharged from one of the wharves.
Gallery
See also
*
Transport in Jamaica
*
History of Jamaica
The Caribbean Island of Jamaica was initially inhabited in approximately 600 AD or 650 AD by the Redware people, often associated with redware pottery. By roughly 800 AD, a second wave of inhabitance occurred by the Arawak tribes, including the ...
*
Cagway bay
Cagway Bay as the English called it following their arrival in Jamaica during the invasion of 1655 had been known to the earlier Taino and Spanish occupiers as ''Caguay'' or ''Caguaya'' bay.
The bay in turn got its name from the Taino name fo ...
References
External links
Aerial view
{{Authority control
Ports and harbours of Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica