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 Ham ...

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 ea ...

in Mersin, southern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. 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 th ...

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 perce ...

in eastern

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 ...

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 re ...

, Mersin flourished as a major port. However, it lacked the harbor facilities and the

Gulf of Mersin Gulf of Mersin ( tr, Mersin Körfezi) is one of the widest gulfs in Turkey. It is in the northeast of the Mediterranean Sea between the gulfs of İskenderun and Antalya. Location The gulf of Mersin is between Taşucu in the west and Karataş ...

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 opposin ...

, 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 Akdeniz is a municipality and district governorate in Greater Mersin, Turkey. Mersin is one of the 30 Metropolitan centers in Turkey with more than one municipality within city borders. Now in Mersin there are four second-level municipalities ...

secondary municipality area.

Location

The harbor is situated in the

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 Mersin Aquapark is a waterpark in Mersin, Turkey. Geography The aquapark is situated to the west of the Atatürk Park and the western breakwater of Mersin Harbor. An amusement park and Müftü River are to the west and the Mediterranean Sea ...

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 oi ...

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 A silo (from the Greek σιρός – ''siros'', "pit for holding grain") is a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store fermented feed known as silage, not to be confused with a grain bin, which is used t ...

, 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 A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

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 envi ...

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 Atatürk Park is a public park in Mersin, Turkey. Geography The park is a Mediterranean coastal park of Akdeniz district. The longer dimension of the park, which is more than lies along the sea coast in north east to south west direction. ...

)

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