The Port of Mersin ( tr, Mersin Limanı), is a major
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 H ...
located on the north-eastern coast of
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 north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
in
Mersin, southern
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. As one of the largest harbors in the country, it is Turkey's main gateway to the Mediterranean Sea. It was constructed during the 1950s as a major government project. It is the country's second largest port after Ambarli, near Istanbul. Owned by the
Turkish State Railways
The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible with the ownership and maintenance of railway infrastructure in Turkey ...
(TCDD), its operating right is transferred on May 11, 2007 to
PSA – Akfen consortium for a period of 36 years.
Background
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
in the 19th century, Mersin, then a small town, had become an important seaport for the export of
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
in eastern
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 north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
because of the increased demand. In the later years, with a considerable
hinterland
Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...
in
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
, Mersin flourished as a major port. However, it lacked the harbor facilities and the
Gulf of Mersin was found to be insufficient for secure anchorage. So, after the proclamation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, a harbor infrastructure for Mersin was suggested, and a company was established on 29 August 1929 both for the exploitation of the port and construction of the harbor infrastructure. Nevertheless, at the eve of the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the project was postponed and the company was acquired on 14 August 1942 by the government.
Construction
International auction by underbidding was held on 4 April 1954 and the groundbreaking ceremony was held on 25 April the same year. The awarded party was the Royal Nederlands Harbour Works Co. ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandsche maatschappij voor havenwerken N.V.). The governmental inspection authority was in Mersin. While under construction, the first pier was put in use by 30 August 1958 and the last one by 30 June 1961. The construction of the complementary buildings and structures like administrative buildings, passenger lounges, warehouses and roads followed. The harbor is situated in
Akdeniz secondary municipality area.
Location
The harbor is situated in the
Akdeniz district of Mersin. The
Mersin railway station
Mersin station ( tr, Mersin istasyonu) is the main railway terminal in the city of Mersin, Turkey. The station is located in the ilçe (district) of Akdeniz. The station is in use since 1886.
The railway
The station was built in 1886 to be t ...
is just north of the harbor.
Mersin Aquapark is situated next to the western breakwater.
Structure
The port's rail connection brings heavy freight train traffic to Mersin, via the
Adana–Mersin railway. The railway infrastructure within the Port of Mersin is one of the best in Turkey with
Derince
Derince is a seaport, city and district of Kocaeli Province of Turkey. The mayor is Zeki Aygün ( AK Parti).
Derince Port is one of the few ports in Turkey under government control. The port is operated by the Turkish State Railways (TCDD). Havi ...
. There are 4 railway ramps. Containers can be handled without any need of shunting. 5 of the berths has railway connection, where loading/unloading to/from vessels can be done directly.
The port has
bulk cargo
Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities.
Description
Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate form, as a mass of relatively small solids, such as petroleum/ crude o ...
,
container
A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping.
Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
,
Ro-Ro
Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
and
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
terminals.
Quays
The main quays as of the 1960s were the following:
*Merchandise quay (comprising foreign, domestic and passenger piers)
*Cereal quay (with a 100,000 ton
silo, which was the subject of another project)
Caissons are used in this quay for supporting the
conveyor
A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transport of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow ...
of the silo. These 12 caissons were the largest caissons used in Turkey up to the 1960s.
*Livestock and timber quay
*Fishery quay
*Bulk product (including mineral ore and coal) quay
*Petroleum quay (associated with
ATAŞ refinery, which was the subject of another project)
*Maintenance quay
There is also a small
marina at the west side of the harbor.
Breakwaters
There are two breakwaters:
*The east breakwater is a
downwind
Windward () and leeward () are terms used to describe the direction of the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e. towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point of reference ...
breakwater. It is constructed by concrete blocks each weighted 60 metric tonnes.
*The southwest breakwater is the main breakwater for the dominant wind of
lodos
The lodos is the strong south-westerly wind which may predominate episodically in the Aegean Sea and Marmara Sea as well as the Mediterranean coast of Turkey all the year round; it frequently raises high seas and may give violent westerly squalls. ...
in the Mersin area. It is constructed by block stones. 1.75 million metric tonnes of stone was carried by barges from a
quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...
around
Limonlu
Limonlu (ancient: ''Antiochia Lamotidos''; Byzantine: ''Lamousia''; Arabic: ''Lāmis''; Armenian: ''Lamos'') is a small town in Mersin Province, Turkey (Popularly called Lamas).
Geography
Limonlu is a coastal town at It is by the river Limon ...
town some west of Mersin.
Dredging
Bucket dredging of the sea floor was carried out by a
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
company
Christiani & Nielsen
Christiani & Nielsen (Thai) Public Company Limited is a construction contractor with major operations in Thailand and Southeast Asia. Originally a Danish company, it is today a listed company majority owned by the GP Group.
The company provide ...
in four years. The level of the floor was lowered to an average depth level of , between depending on the pier. The total area of dredging was more than and the mass of the total dredged material was about 8.4 million metric tonnes. Most of these material was spread out in front of the city to build a seaside park. (
Atatürk Park)
Warehouses
*Two warehouses with prestressed roof for transit goods.
*One passengers' warehouse
Mersin harbour has also an open storage space of more than .
Project completion and aftermath
The total cost of the project was 70 million
Dutch guilders
The guilder ( nl, gulden, ) or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from the 15th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro.
The Dutch name ''gulden'' was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning "golden", and reflects the fact that, wh ...
or about US$34 million, not including the cost of other smaller construction works in the harbor area (roads, railways, electrification, signalization, landscape works and private sector buildings etc.) In the later years, original design of the surface installations were changed and new piers were added. Also a fertiliser plant (Akgübre) was constructed within the harbor area. In 2007, the operating rights of the port was transferred within the governmental privatization programme to the consortium of
PSA – Akfen.
One of the Turkey's top 50 civil engineering projects
Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers lists Mersin Harbor as one of the
fifty civil engineering feats in Turkey, a list of remarkable engineering projects realized in the first 50 years of the chamber.
The list
References
{{Ports of Turkey
Buildings and structures in Mersin
Mersin
Mersin
Turkish State Railways
Mersin
Mersin
Transport in Mersin Province