Mumbai Harbour has been used by ships and boats for centuries. It was used by the
Maratha Navy, as well as the British and Portuguese colonial navies. In 1652, the Surat Council of the East India Company, realising the geographical advantage of the Port, urged its purchase from the Portuguese. Their wish was gratified nine years later when, under the Marriage Treaty between Charles II of Great Britain and the Infant Catherine of Portugal, the ‘Port and Island of Bombay’ were transferred to the king of Great Britain The first of the present-day docks of the Port were built in the 1870s. BPT's founding chairman was Colonel
J.A. Ballard. Port development was undertaken by the civil engineering partnership Sir
John Wolfe-Barry and Lt Col
Arthur John Barry as Joint Consulting Engineers to the Bombay Port Trust at the end of the nineteenth century. From its establishment, the port has been the gateway to India, and was a primary factor in the emergence of Mumbai as the commercial capital of India. The port and the corporation took their present names in the 1990s. Over the decades, the port underwent tremendous expansion, with the addition of berths and cargo handling capacities. However, Mumbai's expanding growth and population pressure constrained the growth of the port by the 1970s. This led to the establishment of the
Nhava Sheva port across Mumbai Harbour in
Navi Mumbai on the
Konkan mainland. Nhava Sheva began operations in 1989, and most container traffic now flows through Nhava Sheva. With a minimum draft of . Victoria Dock, commissioned in 1891, had 14 berths as of 2008 with a minimum draft of . Indira Dock, commissioned in 1914, had 21 berths, with a minimum draft of . Prince's Dock and Victoria Dock are semi-tidal docks, with vessels docking and departing at high tide. Indira Dock has a
lock, enabling vessels to enter or depart at any time. The port has four jetties on
Jawahar Dweep, an island in the harbour, for handling
crude and
petroleum products. These jetties have a draft of . Liquid chemicals are handled from a jetty on
Pirpau. Ballard Pier Extension has a passenger terminal, including immigration clearance facilities for crews and passengers of cruise liners. The port has a total of 69 anchorage points. A pilot is mandatory for all vessels of over 100 tonnes net weightage. ==See also==