Port of Bratislava

The Port of Bratislava (Slovak: Prístav Bratislava) is a big port on the river Danube and — in a wider sense — on the Rhine-Main-Danube waterway, located in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is a universal inland port with two parts, a cargo port and a passenger port. The cargo port is very important for Slovakia's economy as the largest of three international ports in Slovakia, the others being in Komárno and Štúrovo.

The port lies at the strategic intersection of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal with the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor, part of the Trans-European Transport Networks, and it is located near two major ports: Port of Vienna and Port of Budapest. The port authority for the Port of Bratislava is the company Verejné prístavy, a.s. (Public ports, jsc.) (VP).

The port is connected to railway, highway and a pipeline transport system to the Slovnaft refinery. The cargo port lies at the left riverbank of the Danube, from river kilometer 1 867,290 until 1862,000. Both adjacent riverbanks belong to the Port of Bratislava.

History

In the late 1800s, the area along the Danube river near the center of Bratislava began to change. In 1890, a new steel bridge called Franz Joseph Brücke opened, and soon after, people started building a port nearby. They turned the riverbank into a place where ships could stop.

The port grew starting in 1897 with the building of a north pool and a railway network. The south pool was built in 1907. Originally, the Winter harbor was just for keeping ships safe over winter, since the water there never freezes.

After Austria-Hungary split up, a new Czechoslovak transport office was created in 1919. The port operator started in 1922. By the 1930s, the port was one of the best-equipped in Europe.

Today, many old buildings and ships from that time are still there. Some are protected as important cultural monuments. In 2011, the ship Šturec was declared culturally protected. It was built in 1937.

The city of Bratislava wants to extend the riverbank walk to include the old Winter harbor and move all industrial work to the other side of the Harbour bridge. However, the port operator has different plans and does not want to move from the Winter harbor.

Passenger port

The passenger port is in the middle of Bratislava city, between the New bridge and Old bridge at Fajnorovo nábrežie Street No. 2. It has a small building and 8 spots for boats. The building also has shops, a restaurant, and a place to buy travel tickets.

Plans to rebuild this port have been talked about for many years. The project has been slow because local groups and officials want to protect important buildings. The height of the new building has been made smaller several times, and the work has not started yet.

Cargo port

The cargo port has several important parts. There is the winter harbor, the original port from 1897. Then there is Pálenisko, a new port built between 1975 and 1983. Finally, there is a shipyard where ships can be repaired.