Trincomalee Harbour is a seaport in

Trincomalee Bay Trincomalee Bay, also known as Koddiyar Bay, is a bay in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. The bay is located by Trincomalee town on the north-east coast of the island. Geography Trincomalee Bay is open towards the northeast and has th ...

or Koddiyar Bay, a large

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

situated on the northeastern coast of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Located by

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

, in the heart of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, its strategic importance has shaped its

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

. 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, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

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 5 km, from c ...

s, making Trincomalee one of the finest deep-sea

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

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