History

Celebrating its Sesquicentennial (150th) Anniversary, Mumbai Port has a glorious history. Established in 1873, the Port has completed 150 years of its establishment. Nestled along the Arabian Sea, Mumbai has always been a city intimately connected to the waters that surround it.

The construction of Mumbai Port was a monumental undertaking, a testament to human ingenuity and the relentless pursuit of progress. Vast stretches of land were reclaimed from the sea, transforming marshy swamplands into a sprawling harbor accommodating the largest vessels of the time.

The Mumbai Port holds a significant place in the rich history of India’s maritime trade. Mumbai Port has played a pivotal role in shaping the destiny of the city, transforming it to a bustling megapolis and of the Nation. To fully appreciate the significance of the Mumbai Port, one must cast a sneak peek even further to the time when this coastline was a thriving hub for trade and commerce.

Mumbai of today was initially a cluster of seven islets of volcanic origin which after alternating epochs of eruption and subsidence, determined the configuration of India’s western sea coast and bequeathed to Bombay, the spacious harbor destined in after ages to shelter the argosies of the world’s commerce. By treaty of Bassein signed on board the “San Mateos”, the City of Bassein, its territories, island and sea including the seven islands were turned over by the then Ruler Bahadur Shah to the Portuguese who were to remain in the islands until 1661.

The British acquired the island of Bombay as a dowry in the marriage alliance between King Charles II of England and Catherine, the sister of the King Alphonso VI of Portugal. As early as the beginning of the Seventeenth Century, though the trade of Bombay island was negligible, the natural advantages of the Harbour as a maritime base and a haven for shipping on the western sea-board of India, were realized and there was considerable maneuvering for its occupation.

It is pertinent to mention here that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is exalted as the “Father of the Indian Navy” and rightly so, because he and his Maratha Navy on its own prowess, kept the Eupopean Powers, the Portuguese and the British at bay. Under the Marathas, Bombay Port became a crucial center for naval activities, providing strategic base for shipbuilding, trade and defence.

After the transfer of the Port and Island to the East India Company by Royal Charter in 1668, the development of the Port started taking shape. Various measures such as construction of a Custom House, a warehouse, dry docks, etc. were taken up by the Company to encourage trade. In 1813, an act of the British Parliament ended the Company’s company monopoly. This resulted in a great spurt in the trade of the Port. The year 1858 witnessed the exit of East India Company and passing of Mumbai under the direct rule of the British Crown. The Bombay Port Trust was established in 1873 under The Bombay Port Trust Act, 1873 and the present statutory autonomous Port Trust was set up for administering the affairs of the Mumbai Port. The first meeting of the Board of Trustees was held on 3^rd July 1873. Mumbai Port Trust is the second oldest Major Port Trust, after Kolkata, with the administration and management of the Port being brought under a Board of Trustees with representatives from various port users, port labour and concerned Government agencies from 1873.

This led to the Era of Construction commencing with the Opening of the Sassoon Dock, the first Wet Dock for sailing vessel in 1875 with an entrance of 12.2 m. with 4 berths. This was followed by the opening of the Prince’s Dock in 1880 for Steam Ships with designed entrance of 20.1 m. and depth of 6.4 m. with 14 berths. A third Dock System, the Victoria Dock was opened in 1888. A Dry Dock facility with the setting up of the Merewether Dry Dock in 1891 of 160 m. length added to its facilities. The development was lend impetus with the opening of the Alexandra Dock in 1914 with designed Entrance Lock Gate of 30 m. width and 180 m. length and 10.7 m. depth with 20 berths including a passenger berth.

Another achievement of the Mumbai Port in the pre-1914 period was the construction of BPT Railway. The traffic between the port and the hinterland developed, the two main railways, viz., the GIP (now merged with the Central Railway) and the BB & CI (now a part of the Western Railways), laid out capacious goods yard in close proximity to and connected with the Prince’s and Victoria Docks.

Mahatma Gandhi, the revered leader of India’s Freedom, a.k.a. “Father of the Nation” arrived at the Mumbai Port after spending two decades in South Africa on the momentous day of 9^th January 1915 which laid the foundation for the commemoration of Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas.

In the year 1954-56, the Marine Oil Terminal at Butcher Island (renamed as Jawahar Dweep) was commissioned with three jetties for large crude and POL product tankers. Today, the Port has 5 berths at Jawahar Dweep and the Port can handle Suez Max tankers dead freighted to the permissible draft.

In 1996, a new state-of-art Chemical Terminal was commissioned at Pir Pau. A second modern chemical jetty was commissioned in All chemicals and LPG are handled at Pir Pau. The Third Chemical Jetty is on the anvil. In addition the Port has two fish jetties at Sassoon Dock and Ferry Wharf for handling of fish traffic. Mumbai Port also specialized in handling heavy/over dimensional and project cargo.

Originally a general cargo port, today Mumbai Port is a multipurpose port handling all types of cargo, break bulk, dry bulk, liquid bulk cargo and containers. Traditionally, the Port provides all services and undertakes all activities in-house. Thus the port provides services/facilities from pilotage to berthing, storage to delivery of cargo and ancillary services of running Container Freight Stations, Port Railways as also maintenance of crafts, equipment and buildings.

Following the visions of the Central Government, Mumbai Port is set to be the Cruise capital of India with the commissioning of the International Cruise Terminal. The port can handle cruise ships upto 5000 passenger capacity. Mumbai Port is projected to handle 80% of India’s cruise passengers leading to overall growth for the local economy and employment.

Mumbai Port has also become the Automobiles Hub and exported more than 250000 car units with 1,25,000 sq.m dedicated area for car park.

Mumbai Port has also adopted all other Central Government ideologies. Mumbai Port has imbibed Swachhata in its culture in response to the Prime Minister’s call for Swachha Bharat Abhiyan. Swachhata is an ongoing process followed throughout the year. Vigilance Awareness Week is observed every year where the doctrines of vigilance are inculcated amongst all the employees. The Port has its own Transparency Plan to make its functioning more transparent amongst the stake holders. The Whistle Blower Policy has been introduced in MbPA.

Under Ease of Doing Business (EoDB), Mumbai Port has digitized and initiated manual to e-form eplatform and feedback, implemented the Port Community System through API’s, Electronic Delivery Order, Customer Port Interface through Port Community System, Access Control & RFID, Gate Automation for movement of Import & Export Vehicle, e-office, mobile app for Port users, Estate Operation Management System, Scanning & Digitization, Port Enterprise Business Solution, feedback application.

Effective steps have been taken by Mumbai Port to make it a green port. Zero Carbon emission has been its goal in keeping with the policies of the Central Government.

The Bombay Port Trust was rechristened Mumbai Port Trust after Bombay became Mumbai. The Major Port Authorities Act came into force from November 2021 and today the Port has assumed the nomenclature of Mumbai Port Authority.

S. No.	Title	Link Type	File Size	Last Updated
1	The Port of Bombay	File Link	(15.39 MB)	15 February 2023
2	Tides of Time (History of Mumbai Port) by M. V. Kamath	Content		27 June 2024