Chennai Port, the third oldest port among the 12 major ports, is an emerging hub port in the East Coast of India. This gateway port for all cargo has completed 134 years of glorious service to the nation’s maritime trade.Maritime trade started way back in 1639 on the sea shore Chennai. It was an open road -stead and exposed sandy coast till 1815. The initial piers were built in 1861, but the storms of 1868 and 1872 made them inoperative. So an artificial harbour was built and the operations were started in 1881 and 1872 made them inoperative. So an artificial harbour was built and the operations were started in 1881. The cargo operations were carried out on the northern pier, located on the northeastern side of Fort St. George in Chennai. In the first couple of years the port registered traffic of 3 lakh tonnes of cargo handling 600 ships.Being an artificial harbour, the port was vulnerable to the cyclones, accretion of sand inside the basin due to underwater currents, which reduced the draft. Sir Francis Spring a visionary skillfully drew a long-term plan to charter the course of the port in a scientific manner, overcoming both man-made and natural challenges. The shifting of the entrance of the port from eastern side to the North Eastern side protected the port to a large extent from the natural vulnerabilities.
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