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Harbour

Sunday, 13 November 2011 12:29 |

Last Updated on Thursday, 05 January 2012 05:37 |

Written by Administrator |

A harbour or harbor (US English - see spelling differences), or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbours can be natural or artificial. An artificial harbour has deliberately-constructed breakwaters, sea walls, or jettys, or otherwise, they could have been constructed by dredging, and these require maintenance by further periodic dredging. An example of the former kind is at Long Beach Harbor, California, and an example of the latter kind is San Diego Harbor, California, which was, under natural conditions, too shallow for modern merchant ships and warships.

In contrast, a natural harbour is surrounded on several sides by prominences of land. An example of this kind of harbour is San Francisco Bay, California.

Harbours and ports are often confused with each other. A port is a facility for loading and unloading vessels; ports are usually located in harbours.

Artificial harbours

Artificial harbours are frequently built for use as ports. The largest artificially created harbour is Jebel Ali in Dubai. Other large and busy artificial harbours are located in: Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Houston, Texas; Long Beach, California; and San Pedro, California.

Natural harbours

A natural harbour is a landform where a part of a body of water is protected and deep enough to furnish anchorage. Many such harbours are rias. Natural harbours have long been of great strategic naval and economic importance, and many great cities of the world are located on them. Having a protected harbour reduces or eliminates the need for breakwaters as it will result in calmer waves inside the harbour. For example is Subic, Zambales in the Philippines.

Ice-free harbours

For harbours near the North and South Poles, being ice-free is an important advantage, especially when it is year-round. Examples of these include Murmansk, Russia; Pechenga, Russia, formerly Petsamo, Finland); Vladivostok, Russia; St. Petersburg, Russia; Hammerfest, Norway; Vardø, Norway; and Prince Rupert Harbour, Canada. The world's southmost harbour, located at Antarctica's Winter Quarters Bay (77° 50′ South), is potentially ice-free, depending on the summertime pack ice conditions.

(wikipedia)