The Port of Keelung is a major seaport city on the north shores of Taiwan. It is part of the Taipei-Keelung metropolitan area and Taiwan’s second biggest port. The Port of Keelung’s harbor is naturally an excellent one, free of silt and surrounded by mountains.
Port History
The name of the Port of Keelung (or Chi-lung) apparently derives from “Ketangalan,” the tribe of native peoples who lived here in the 17th Century. In 1626, Spain occupied the site, building a fort on the island at the harbor’s mouth. The Dutch occupied the Port of Keelung from 1642 to 1661 and from 1663 to 1668, but because trade with China was not great, they left Keelung voluntarily.
China incorporated Taiwan into the province of Fukien in 1638, stimulating settlement. In 1863, the Qing Empire opened Keelung as a port for trade. Many Chinese settled in the area, and a small town had grown up there by the late 18th Century.
By 1840, Keelung was a small port welcoming foreign vessels. In 1860, Keelung was made a treaty port and opened to foreign trade. The Ch’ing dynasty tried unsuccessfully to fortify the old Spanish fort. For two years during the Sino-French War, French troops used the fort.
The Japanese occupied the Port of Keelung from 1895 to 1945, developing a modern city. Not only did foreign trade vessels come to Keelung when Taipei’s harbor silted over, but a railway system further increased the Port of Keelung’s dominance in northern Taiwan. While there, the Japanese filled in parts of the bay, creating a commercial center and limited industry. With plentiful coal and hydroelectric power, the Port of Keelung has continued to thrive since 1945.
Industry has grown, with cement and fertilizer industries, some engineering works, and several shipbuilding yards added to the seaport. Where the Japanese made the Port of Keelung a center for export to Japan, it is now largely a center for imports to Taipei. The Port of Keelung is also an important fishing port with fish processing plants.
Port Commerce
The Keelung Harbor Bureau is responsible for the operations of the Port of Keelung. In 2006, the Port of Keelung handled almost 99.5 million tons of cargo, including 2.1 million TEUs of containerized cargo, on over nine thousand vessels. The port offers 9.9 kilometers of quays ranging from 3.5 to 14.5 meters deep and berthing capacity for 717 thousand tons.
Its operational wharf has 7.8 kilometers of quays with depths from 3 to 14.5 meters and berthing capacity for 672.5 thousand tons. The West Coast area of the operational wharf handles passengers, cement, sand and gravel, coal, oil, bulk and general cargo, and containers.
With quays of 5.3 kilometers and depths, the West Coast area has berthing capacity for 454 thousand tons. The East Coast area of the operational wharf handles passengers, bulk and general cargo, and containers. It offers 2.5 kilometers of quays with depths to 12 meters and berthing capacity for 218.5 thousand tons. The non-operational wharf is dedicated to military use, service crafts, and Taiwan’s Coast Guard.
Port of Keelung warehouses contain 6.1 hectares of space with effective capacity for over 138 thousand tons of cargo. Operational warehouses cover 12 hectares in the West Coast Area and 5 hectares in the East Coast Area. Almost 3 hectares are devoted to military and service uses.
An additional 40.9 hectares is leased for cement silos with a capacity to store 63 thousand tons, a container freight station covering 7.2 hectares with capacity for 8.7 thousand tons, oil tanks with capacity for 13.5 thousand tons, and general warehouse space covering 22.8 hectares with capacity to store 29 thousand tons of cargo.
The Port of Keelung also contains open stacking yards covering 275.5 hectares with effective capacity for 381.4 thousand tons of cargo. This includes 118.9 hectares with capacity for 170 thousand tons in the West Coast Area and 19.9 hectares with capacity for 17.9 thousand tons of cargo in the East Coast Area. An additional 136.7 hectares of stacking yard with capacity for 193.5 thousand tons of cargo is leased.
Cruising and Travel
Visitors to the City of Keelung will find a prosperous city, 95% of which is built on the mountains that surround the harbor and separate Chi-lung from neighboring counties. The modern Port of Keelung is an international harbor city that receives many visiting ships each year. Thousands of visitors arrive to join in the annual Mid-July Festival. In addition to delicious regional cuisine, tourists will enjoy visiting the tunnels, the fishery harbor and fish market, and the bay.
Visitors interested in historic sites will want to see the historic forts that protected Chi-lung over the past few centuries, including: Gongzih Liao Fort in northeast Keelung, Dawulun Fort on the west side of Keelung Harbor, Ershawan Fort (also Haimen Tiansian) atop Ershawan Mountain, Baimiwong Fort on the northwest Keelung harbor, and Shihciouling Fort, the highest and strongest fort in the Port of Keelung.
The Port of Keelung also offers beautiful natural treats for visitors. Keelung Islet was formed by a volcano. Guanghua Tower, a transformed lighthouse, opened in 1967 to offer a charming dining and meeting center. In February and March, it also offers views of the Chinese crested tern flocks that gather there. Hoping (or She-liao) Island is the gateway to the harbor and the home to the native Kaitaglan tribe. Today, the Island contains a seashore park along its coast.
Waimu Shan stretches five kilometers from the Fishery Harbor to Aoditong Village, and visitors can swim and scuba dive here. Lovers Lake, on the side of Mount Dawulun in western Keelung, is a densely-wooded highland area with a beautiful lake. Close to the harbor, Jhongjheng Park is famous for its scenery.
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