The Maizuru Port Promotion Association (MPPA) is responsible for managing and overseeing the Port of Maizuru. Until 1989, the MPPA was administered by the City of Maizuru. In that year, the MPPA was reorganized and made a prefectural body led by the Kyoto Prefecture Governor. The new MPPA operates under an independent secretariat.

In 1989, the Trans-Siberian Container Service shipping route linked the Port of Maizuru and eastern Asia with Russia, the Middle East, and Europe. The Port of Maizuru’s distribution functions and heavy-duty equipment were installed that year. Since then, container shipping routes have been added almost continuously.

Today, there are transshipment services to China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America. Port of Maizuru vessels sail to the Ports of Dalian, Qingdao, and Dandong in China. In this way, the Port of Maizuru is transitioning from being a leading timber import hub to an important container cargo port. The MPPA collaborates with industries in the Port of Maizuru to develop the port as a distribution center for the Kansai region on the coast of the Sea of Japan.

Maizuru Bay is a very calm water body, and it has average depths of 20 meters. More a lake than a bay, the entrance is just 700 meters wide. With little tidal variation, the Bay is protected from winds and storms by the surrounding 400-meter mountain range.

The Port of Maizuru has five public wharves of a total 2410 meters for large vessels. No. 2 Wharf contains four berths with of total 645 meters in length with alongside depths from 7.5 to 10 meters. Wharf No. 3 has two berths and is 370 meters long with alongside depth of 10 meters. No. 4 Wharf has four berths with a total length of 485 meters with alongside depth of 10 meters. The Kita Wharf has two berths totaling 370 meters long with alongside depths from 7.5 to 12 meters. Finally, the Maejima Wharf has four berths with total length of 540 meters and alongside depths from 5.5 to 8 meters. Two dolphins offer alongside depth of 10 meters.

Transit sheds at the No. 2, No. 4, and Maejima Wharves cover an area of 11.5 thousand square meters. Warehouses at No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 Wharves cover 26.8 thousand square meters. The Okimi District contains cement silos with capacity for 26.9 thousand cubic meters. The timber ponds in the Okimi, Kita, Katsura, and Taira Districts cover 518.1 thousand square meters, and the timber yards at Okimi and Kita Districts and the No. 4 and Maejima Wharves cover 272.2 thousand square meters.

The Foreign Access Zone (FAZ) is designated as an “import promotion region” for both the Port of Maizuru and the airport. The Port of Maizuru was the first Foreign Access Zone selected on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Completed in 1997, the Port of Maizuru’s FAZ Center offers offices, exhibition space, and support services for distribution in foreign trade. It is administered by the Maizuru 21 Co. Ltd., a quasi-public corporation.

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