Introduction and History

Marine hinterland of Samsun Port include Batumi, Poti and Sokhumi ports of Georgia; Sochi, Tuapse, Novorossiysk, Azov in Sea of Azov, Taganrog, Zhdanov, Yalta, Berdyansk, Henichesk ports of Russia; Mis.Kiz-Ogul, Feodosiya, Yalta, Todor, Sevastopol, Yevpatoriyaports in Crimea; Mykolaiv, Odessa, Ilyichevsk ports in Ukraine; Constanta port in Romania and Varna port in Bulgaria.
Samsun port is Turkey's largest port in the Black Sea region. It is the only port on the Black Sea with a railway connection. It has a large hinterland. It is the stopping point of cargoes coming from and to Anatolia. With its railroad and highway connections, Samsun includes the cities of Sinop, Corum, Amasya, Ordu, Sivas, Erzincan, Yozgat, Tokat, Kastamonu, Ankara, Kirsehir, Kayseri, Nigde, Konya, and Malatya in its hinterland.

History:
The first loading-unloading services in Samsun Port were performed by Fishers Association from "Park Pier" belonging to local government, and "Gaz, Zahire, Markopala, Gumruk, Yolcu, Un and Tutun Piers" 6 of which belong to the municipality. These piers were assigned to General Directorate of State Ports Management of the era on 06.01.1944 and transferred to General Directorate of State Railways and Ports on the same date. Marine transport vessels with and without machines (the boats used in the Black Sea – barges – traction motor) located in the port were obtained and actual operation of the port by the General Directorate started on 01.03.1944.
The port was transferred to Republic of Turkey State Railways Directorate with Law no. 6186 which entered into force on 29.07.1953 and it is still operated by this directorate.
The most serious attempts at the construction of Samsun Port started in 1910 by having an English Consultancy Engineering Organization prepare Studies and Projects. The projects were completed in 1912, but due to the beginning of World War 1, the attempt could not be realized.
Several steps were taken regarding construction of Samsun Port among the development movement which started with the Republic and although laws were enacted which allow construction, applications could not be conducted.
The port remained an open anchorage berth until 1953. However, the increasing cargo traffic in this coastal town which connects Eastern Black Sea Region with Central Anatolia necessitated the construction of a port. Actual phase started when 12,5 million dollars of loan was taken from international banks in the beginning of 1953 for conducting the project of 5 Turkish ports.
The construction of the port was tendered to Rar-Philippe-Hezman Heohtiet engineering company, which is a German Cooperation Organization, on 27.07.1953 and contract started on September 3rd 1953.
While the construction of the port continued, in 1963, 10 electrical cranes with 40 ton capacity were installed on the pier with 776 m area. Again in 1963, 2 conveyor cranes were installed. Moreover, in 1965, conveyor facility was constructed in order to load dry bulk cargo such as iron ore. Later, 2 electrical cranes with 5 ton capacity were added on the pier with 776 m area. In 1990, upon the completion of the construction of Sanayi Rihtimi (Industrial Pier), 5 STFA electronic cranes with a total capacity of 70 tons were commissioned.