The Port of Cape Town is the port of the city of Cape Town, South Africa. It is situated in Table Bay.Because of its position along one of the world's busiest trade routes it is one of the busiest ports in South Africa, handling the largest amount of fresh fruit and second only to Durban as a container port. The port also has significant repair and maintenance facilities that are used by several large fishing fleets and parts of the West African oil industry. Because of the many tourist attractions offered by Cape Town and its surrounding region, many cruise ships also berth in the port.HistoryThe history of the port follows that of Cape Town, which traces its roots back to 6 April 1652 when Jan van Riebeeck of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) established a revictualing station there. Earlier explorers had called it Table Bay from the late 15th century onwards.The first harbour construction was a jetty built in 1654 by van Riebeeck. Ships all anchored in the bay, and goods were transferred to and from the shore by smaller vessels. Table Bay is notorious for violent winter storms, when the wind blows on to a lee shore. Massive shipping losses were sustained by the Dutch Vereenigde OstIndische Companje, to the extent that eventually Table Bay was closed during the winter months, and ships were ordered to use Simon's Bay (part of False Bay, where Simon's Town is now) in winter.
