Swansea docks

Swansea Docks is the collective name for several docks in Swansea, Wales, which are immediately south east of Swansea city centre. In the mid 19th century, the port was exporting 60% of the world's copper from factories situated in the Tawe Valley. The working docks area today is owned and operated by Associated British Ports as the Port of Swansea, and the northern part around the Prince of Wales Dock is undergoing re development into a new urban area branded as the SA1 Swansea Waterfront.

The North Dock was created to fulfil the increasing shipping demands from the nearby metals industry, and was created by diverting the River Tawe by cutting a new direct course within a meander section near the estuary. The old course of the river became the new dock and work was completed in 1852. Secluded and poorly lit, the area around North Dock was popular with prostitutes and their clients, until lighting was improved following the drowning of Selina Rushbrook in the lock in 1907. The North Dock closed in 1930 after the development of new larger docks on the east side of the River Tawe made it obsolete. The north dock has since been filled in and the Parc Tawe retail complex was built on the site in the late 1980s.

Construction of the South Dock was begun in 1852 by a private company. It was built on a site west of the River Tawe, just south of the North Dock and was not completed until 1859. Usage of the dock declined throughout the latter half of the 20th century. The Prince of Wales Dock is now being redeveloped as the Prince of Wales Marina with 500 berths. A new channel with sea lock and holding basin was built to link the marina directly with the River Tawe. A cable operated wakeboarding facility opened in the Prince of Wales Dock in 2010, but was short lived. The dock is the site of the swim section of the annual Swansea Triathlon.

Work began on the King's Dock in 1905 to meet the growing demand of tinplate exports from the local area. The King's Dock was constructed as a much larger dock than the Prince of Wales on the south side of the Prince of Wales Dock and covers some 72 acres (29 ha). This body of water was opened in 1920 as the Queen's Dock after oil handling facilities were built to handle imports for the nearby BP oil refinery at Llandarcy and petrochemical plant at Baglan Bay.

Due to increases in industrial output and in trade in copper, zinc, iron and tinplate combined with the developments in shipping (big steamships were replacing smaller sailing vessels) by the late 19th century, Swansea's harbour was in desperate need of expansion. The Swansea Harbour Trust (SHT) commissioned the construction of the Prince of Wales Dock, the first on the east side of the river. Opened in 1881 by the Prince and Princess of Wales (later Edward VII and Queen Alexandra), it was completed in 1882 and expanded in 1898. The North Quay frontage was let to the Great Western Railway, the Neath and Brecon Railway and the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway, which linked the Dulais Valley and Rhondda Valley coalfields directly with the docks. In addition to shunting locomotives operated by the SHT, further engines were provided by Powlesland and Mason from 1903 onwards.

The Port of Swansea is an Atlantic shipping port operated by Associated British Ports which comprises the King's Dock, Queen's Dock, two dry docks and a roll on/roll off ferry terminal in the River Tawe.

The port has three transit sheds with of storage space, 12 quayside cranes, two drydocks, a roll on/roll off berth. It offers warehouses and facilities for handling dry bulks, minerals, ores, forest products and general cargo.

There is a roll on/roll off ferry terminal in the western part of the docks. Between 1987 and 2006, Swansea Cork Ferries operated a regular passenger and car ferry to Ringaskiddy in County Cork, Ireland. The service was suspended from 2007. A website and online campaign was started in an attempt to highlight the effect that the loss of the ferry was having on Swansea and the South West of Ireland. In April 2009, a newly formed co operative using the Fastnet Line brand purchased MV Julia to provide a service between Swansea and County Cork. Sailings commenced on 10 March 2010 but ceased as unviable in November 2011, in part owing to increased fuel costs.