Port of Durrës
| Port of Durrës | |
|---|---|
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| Location | |
| Country | Albania |
| Location | Durrës, Albania |
| Coordinates | 41°18′35″N 19°27′26″E / 41.30972°N 19.45722°E |
| Details | |
| Opened | Since Illyrians |
| Operated by | Durrës Port Authority |
| Owned by | Government of Albania |
| Type of harbor | Artificial |
| Size of harbor | 67 hectares |
| Land area | 80 hectares |
| Employees | 623 (2009) |
| Cargo company | Cargotec |
| UNCTAD | ALDRZ |
| Depth | 11.5 metres |
| Statistics | |
| Annual cargo tonnage |
 1,601,321 tons (2010) |
| Annual container volume |
66.000 TEU (2010) |
| Passenger traffic |
1.162.321 (2009) |
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Website www |
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The Port of Durrës or Durrës Harbor (Albanian: Porti i Durrësit) is the largest port of Albania. Located in the city of Durrës it is an artificial basin that is formed between two moles, with a west-northwesterly oriented entrance approximately 183 metres (600 ft) wide as it passes between the ends of the moles. The Port of Durrës is located at the north end of the Bay of Durrës (Albanian: Gjiri i Durrësit), an extensive body of water between Kalaja e Turrës and Cape Durrës (Albanian: Kepi i Durrësit). Cape Durrës is located approximately 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) west of the Port of Durrës.
As of 2014, the port ranks as the largest passenger port in Albania and one of the largest passenger port in the Adriatic Sea, with annual passenger volume of approximately 1.5 million. The Port of Durrës has approximately 763 metres (2,503 ft) of alongside pier space on the West Mole and a fishing harbor lies at the north end of the East Mole. Several wrecks are located near the entrance channel to the Port of Durrës. The use of tugboats is compulsory in the Port of Durrës. As of 2011, the port is undergoing major renovation and expansion.
Epidamnos (Durrës) was seized by Glaukias, the king of Illyria, in 312 BC, but after a war with the Roman Republic in 229 BC ended in a decisive defeat for the Illyrians the city passed to Roman rule, under which it was developed as a major military and naval base. The Romans renamed it Dyrrachium (Greek: Δυρράχιον/Dyrrhachion). They considered the name Epidamnos to be inauspicious because of its wholly coincidental similarities with the Latin word damnum, meaning "loss" or "harm". The meaning of Dyrrachium ("bad spine" or "difficult ridge" in Greek) is unclear but it has been suggested that it refers to the imposing cliffs near the city. Julius Caesar's rival Pompey made a stand there in 48 BC before fleeing south to Greece. Under Roman rule, Dyrrachium prospered; it became the western end of the Via Egnatia, the great Roman road that led to Thessalonica and on to Constantinople. Another lesser road led south to the city of Buthrotum, the modern Butrint. The Roman emperor Caesar Augustus made the city a colony for veterans of his legions following the Battle of Actium, proclaiming it a civitas libera (free town).
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