The modern era of the Port of Yangon began in 1880 with the Commissioners for the Port of Rangoon. In 1954, the Board of Management for the Port of Rangoon was established, and then in 1972 the Burma Ports Corporation. The MPA was founded in 1989 to replace the Burma Ports Corporation. In March 2011, MPA began collaborating with a Chinese firm, CCCC TDC Tianjin Dredging, to begin
dredging the Port of Yangon, to increase the size of vessels that can dock at the port (to 35,000 tons deadweight, up from the current capacity of 15,000). MPA has been involved in contracts to develop Myanmar's
Special Economic Zones, including a US$8.6 billion deal to develop a deep sea port at
Dawei, by
Italian-Thai Development. It was reported in 2010 that state-owned ports run by the MPA will be privatised. The country's largest port,
Thilawa Port, is currently operated by a Hong Kong-based firm, while another in
Ahlone Township is run by
Asia World. On 17 March 2012, Japanese firm MOL, began a twice-weekly container service between the Port of Yangon and Singapore. 8 new Yangon area ports complete jun1st 2019. == Headquarters ==