The Port of Sevastopol lies on the southwestern Crimean Peninsula on the Akhtiarska Bay in southern Ukraine. Located about 165 nautical miles southeast of the Ukraine's Port of Odessa, it is about 290 nautical miles northeast of the Port of Istanbul across the Black Sea. The Port of Sevastopol is sheltered by its location on the southern shores of long narrow Akhtiarska Bay, an excellent natural harbor. In 2005, over 340 thousand people lived in the Port of Sevastopol.

The Port of Sevastopol was for many years the home to the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, and it is still a Ukrainian naval base used by both the Russian and Ukrainian navies. It is popular tourist destination and seaside resort in the Black Sea region, visited primarily by people from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Since the fall of Soviet Communism, the Port of Sevastopol has been growing as a ship-building and trade center. It is home to Ukraine's biggest power tool manufacturer, Phiolent, and one of the country's most important plastics manufacturers, Stroitel. The Port of Sevastopol is a center for research in marine biology, being the location of a Russian program to use dolphins for undersea military operations.

The Port of Sevastopol is as old as the city itself. Founded in 1783 as a military fortress and base on Russia's southern coast, Grigory Potyomkin founded the city when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula. Catherine the Great of Russia signed a manifesto in 1794 opening the ports of Sevastopol, Kherson, and Feodosiya to international trade. In 1797, Paul I of Russia renamed the Port of Sevastopol to Akhtiar, a name it held until 1826.

The Port of Sevastopol has been greeting international vessels since that time. In 1804, the Port of Sevastopol was Russia's major military port on the Black Sea. It resumed commercial activity when the military port was abolished in 1867.

In 1854-55, the Crimean War came to the Port of Sevastopol when Turkish, French, British, and Sardinian troops besieged the Port of Sevastopol for 11 months. Russian forces were forced to evacuate the city, and they sank their fleet to assure the enemy could not use the ships. They also used the sunken vessels to block the entrance of the Bay to foreign vessels. By the time the enemy entered the Port of Sevastopol, they found the city in ruins.

The Port of Sevastopol was declared an official commercial port in 1875 when the railway arrived. In 1884, an area of the southern bay called The Tsar Landing Place was designated for the commercial port.

Serious development of the commercial port began in 1880. Routes from the Port of Sevastopol to what was then Constantinople (today's Istanbul) brought diverse cargoes and passengers. By 1894, the Port of Sevastopol employed almost 5500 people, while other businesses employed only 1400 people.

International political pressures at the turn of the century led Russia to strengthen its Black Sea Fleet, and commercial activity became virtually impossible. In 1890, commercial activities were moved to Feodosiya some 145 kilometers to the east of the Port of Sevastopol. In 1905, the Port of Sevastopol was closed to foreign commerce. In 1914, the new port at Feodosiya was completed. World War I and Russia's ensuing Civil War brought complete devastation to the Port of Sevastopol.

In 1921, the Port of Sevastopol was made an independent unit under the Russian Federation's Central Ministry of Sea Transport. Throughout the 1920s, the Port of Sevastopol was an important center for domestic trade for Southern Russia.

During World War II, the military fleet took precedence over cargo and passenger vessels in the Port of Sevastopol. In fact, commercial activities ceased, and the marine terminal was destroyed. Nazi Germany bombarded the Port of Sevastopol from 1941 through 1942, when the Axis powers besieged the city for almost a year before it surrendered. The Germans named the city Theodorichhafen, and they held it until the Red Army arrived in May 1944. A year later, the Port of Sevastopol received the title Hero City.

As the war ended in 1944, the Port of Sevastopol started a steam passenger ferry service, and there were four routes serving the city center by 1950. By 1954, the Soviet Government put the steam ferry passenger operation under the Ministry of the Marine Fleet with the goal of providing transportation for people from the Port of Sevastopol to other domestic military ports. In 1957, the nearby town of Balaklava was incorporated into the Port of Sevastopol.

During the Soviet era, the Port of Sevastopol became a closed city. Non-residents were required to apply for permits to visit the city. The city and the Port of Sevastopol were ruled by the central Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic rather than by the local administration.

In 1962, the port was renamed Sevastopol Sea Trade Port and a new terminal opened in 1968. A new passenger berth was opened in 1970.

In 1992, the Port of Sevastopol was recognized as a public utility enterprise and transferred to the Ukrainian Ministry of Transport. In 1993, Russia's parliament declared the Port of Sevastopol to be a federal Russian city. Since 1993, the Port of Sevastopol has been an active commercial cargo and passenger port.

In 1997, Ukraine and Russia entered into a "Peace and Friendship" treaty that canceled Russia's claims to the country and to the Port of Sevastopol. Today, Russian is still the main language spoken in the Port of Sevastopol. Ukrainian authorities have control of local affairs, while the Russian navy is still based there, and many pro-Russian groups still exist.

The city council is still dominated by Communist interests that resist the city's links to the West and to the Ukrainian government. In 2004, the WE Youth Political Organization pushes for Russian citizenship for residents of the Port of Sevastopol. They reported that almost 75% of the citizens want Crimea to have independent status and support the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, despite the fact that the agreement between Ukraine and Russia expires in 2017. Many citizens believe residents of the Port of Sevastopol should have dual citizenship.

The Association of Ukrainian Ports (Ukrport) was created in 2001 as an independent non-profit public organization responsible for Ukraine's ports and other water transport activities. Ukrport represents and protects the interests of its members in both state and international organizations and coordinates the activities of its members.

Until 1992, the Port of Sevastopol was dominated by military activities and by passenger transportation. In 1996, the Ukrainian government ordered that the Port of Sevastopol be opened for international traffic. Today's Port of Sevastopol has modern equipment and cargo-handling facilities for its primary cargoes of bulk, rolled metal, timber, boxes, and packages. It also serves cruise ships. The Port of Sevastopol has capacity to handle 600 thousand tons of cargo per year.

The commercial Port of Sevastopol has two passenger berths (199.5 and 135 meters long) in the city center. Its main cargo area is in Maliy Inkermnan at the mouth of the River Chernaya.

The cargo area covers a total of 4.8 hectares, and it contains 23 berths with maximum depth of 9.75 meters. The Port of Sevastopol contains 3.6 thousand square meters of open space and a 500 square meter warehouse. The cargo area has easy access to the rail and highway networks. The Port of Sevastopol's technical supply department also operates 554 square meters of warehouses, 3.3 thousand square meters of open storage, and a 580 square meter shed.

The Port of Sevastopol receives about a million tourists each year. The marine passenger terminal is located in the city center and has two moorings of 135 and 200 meters in length and with a maximum permissible draft of 4 and 8 meters, respectively.

The Port of Sevastopol seeks investors to help develop the logistics center being constructed at Kamyshovaya. The location is near the city's wholesale markets and warehouse areas in an area that is protected from harsh weather. It is conveniently located near access roads and parking facilities for cargo-handling vehicles.

The busy Port of Sevastopol Fishing Port is located in Kamyshovaya Bay on the southwestern Crimean Peninsula. It specializes in handling fish products and metals.

The City of Sevastopol and its port are intertwined. Having been home to the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet for over a century, it has a Russian look and feel. Most of the population is ethnically Russian, and many of the people sympathize with Moscow rather than Kiev, Ukraine. They have even protested Ukrainian membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance.

The Port of Sevastopol is a peaceful and stable city, but it is decidedly more Russian than Ukrainian. The city has strong memories of the Crimean War, and it is home to a wonderful museum and Panorama depicting the siege of Sevastopol as well as many war memorials and monuments. During summers, visitors find many tented beer bars at the waterfront where they can watch the ships in the bay and enjoy the local scenery. Not many people in the Port of Sevastopol speak English, and visitors are recommended to learn a few words of Russian before traveling there.

The Port of Sevastopol has the subtropical climate of the southern Crimean coast and a moderate-continental climate in the foothills. The coldest month of the year is January when the temperatures fall to about 1 °C (34 °F). The driest and warmest month is July when temperatures rise to 23 °C (74 °F).

The Port of Sevastopol is famous for its Panorama Museum, also called the Heroic Sevastopol Defence. Founded in 1905 on the 50th anniversary of the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War, the panorama includes a 1600 square meter canvas by Franz Alekseevich Roubaud that illustrates the assault, and the building contains busts of the heroic city defenders.

Visitors to the Port of Sevastopol will not want to miss the Russian Black Sea Fleet Museum in a wonderful historic building. The Black Sea Fleet was created during the reign of Catherine II (the Great). The museum contains five more paintings by Franz Alekseevich Roubaud depicting the early fortifications and harbor as well as other paintings and photographs telling the story of the Black Sea Fleet's adventures in the Crimean.

The Sevastopol Fine Arts Museum is one of the city's architectural treasures that survived World War II. The collection contains masterpieces from nationalized private collections around the southern Crimea, including pieces from the Tsar's summer residence in Livadia. The museum contains over eight thousand pieces of artwork (including paintings, drawings, sculptures, engravings, and decorative and applied arts). The collection includes paintings from 16th to 19th Century Italy, Flanders, Holland, and 17th to 19th Century France. While the collection of Russian paintings is small, it contains excellent works from the 19th Century to modern days. The Soviet Art section contains works by masters from the outstanding period of Soviet patriotic and realistic themes and styles.

The National Reserve of Chersonese of Taurida preserves the remains of the ancient Greek city that was settled near the Port of Sevastopol in the latter half of the 5th Century BC. Today, the remains lie within the modern limits of the Port of Sevastopol and include the city's defensive walls, houses, public places, wells, basements, and cemetery. Excavations have been underway for some 200 years, and the site has provided a rich collection of art, sculpture, coins, and tools. The Middle Ages Museum holds many of these treasures. Visitors particularly enjoy visiting the antique basilicas and the well-preserved mosaic floors that have been found there. Within the area is St. Vladimir's Cathedral, traditionally thought to be the baptismal site of Price Vladimir. The site also includes a theater thought to have been built in the 3rd Century BC where Roman gladiators fought during that era.

Travelers who want to visit the Port of Sevastopol and the southern Crimea by sea can find a list of scheduled cruises on the Cruise Compete website.