The port was a natural
lagoon before eventually developed through into a modern harbor over the period of several hundred years. At the time of 16th century, some villages had already established on the seashore of the present-day Kaohsiung, which was called as "Takau" by natives at that time. The colonists of
Dutch East India Company (VOC) arrived at Takau in 1620s and then began to develop the lagoon. The port, historically referred to as the "Takau Port" (), developed gradually during the
Dutch Era,
Koxinga Era, and the early
Qing Dynasty.
Qing Empire In 1858, the Qing Dynasty lost the
Second Opium War to the French-British and signed the
Treaties of Tianjin. According to the treaties, the Qing's government was asked to open five ports of Taiwan for foreign trade. As one of the five ports, Takao Port had officially opened to the western traders since 1864. Afterward, the Qing's government ceded Taiwan to Japanese in 1895 after losing
First Sino-Japanese War.
Empire of Japan In the early
Japanese era, the colonial government decided to undertake large projects with the intention to develop the port into a modern harbor. Japanese built the port up in three stages, the first was finished in 1908, the second in 1912, and the third was halted half way at the start of
World War II. During World War II, the port was heavily bombed by the western
Allies.
After the war II After the war, restarted development of the port. The "second port" was built in 1975 by breaking the land bridge between
Siaogang and
Cijin. At the southern side of the second port entrance, a museum and park currently stands nearby the recently established Intercontinental Terminal (No. 6 Terminal). This museum describes the history and clearance of a significantly sized residential community which was situated nearby to the expanded port. The port is part of the
Maritime Silk Road that runs from the Chinese coast towards the southern tip of
India to
Mombasa, from there through the
Suez Canal to the Mediterranean and there to the Upper Adriatic region of
Trieste with its rail connections to
Central and
Eastern Europe. In 2017,
Taiwan International Ports Corporation has completed the expensive expansion of Port of Kaohsiung and added new facilities to advance both container and passenger throughput. The Port of Kaohsiung expanded its passenger service facilities with the introduction of a new mobile and adjustable passenger bridge to facilitate passenger embarkation and disembarkation from large cruise ships, such as
Star Cruises'
SuperStar Virgo. The new passenger three-level bridge can move up and down to match the different heights of cruise ship hatches to a maximum height of eight meters. It has also completed an air-conditioned, enclosed corridor linking the cruise-ship wharf to the International Travel Center. Ongoing efforts by the
Taiwan International Ports Corporation have resulted in growth for the port's cruise business. An estimated 127,000 cruise passengers are expected to visit the Port of Kaohsiung in 2017. The port's ferry terminal is also being expanded. In 2017, over 530,000 passengers traveled on the
Budai–
Penghu route during the tourist season, a 5.4 percent increase over the same period in the previous year. In order to accommodate the increase in transit passengers, the port is renovating its existing passenger service center. The ferry pier is also being extended so that it will be able to berth two ferries of over 500mt simultaneously, giving Port of Budai sufficient wharf space to concurrently berth up to nine ferries. ==Accidents and incidents==