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The port of Port Talbot is located on the River Afan estuary next to Port Talbot Steelworks in the industrial town of Port Talbot, South Wales. The whole basin complex covers about ,〔(Port Talbot Coastguard Search and Rescue Emergency Team History )〕 consisting of: an inner set of floating docks, developed from 1834 onwards; and an outer tidal basin, completed in 1970. Owned and operated by Associated British Ports, the port of Port Talbot has the deepest berthing facilities in the Severn estuary and is one of only a few harbours in the UK capable of handling Capesize vessels of up to ,〔(Port of Port Talbot )〕 mostly for the import of iron ore and coal for use by nearby Port Talbot Steelworks. ==History== Aberafan had developed as a natural harbour from the 17th century at the mouth of the River Afan, acting as a point of transport for coal and sheep to South Wales, Bristol, and the West Country. From 1750 onwards, tramlines connected the harbour to local coal mines, and the establishment of copper smelting and ironworks towards the end of the 18th century quickly developed volumes of trade. Local Member of the UK Parliament, Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot of Margam Castle, recognised that improved transportation could stimulate industrial growth. As local MP he introduced a Bill in 1834 which approved the set-up of the ''Aberavon Harbour Company'' to develop the port facilities. A further Act in 1836 authorised the diversion of the river into a new channel to enable a new dock to be constructed by the renamed ''Port Talbot Dock Company'' in Rice Mansel Talbot's honour. Completed in 1837, it is considered the first major docks in South Wales, ahead even of developments at Cardiff Docks. The lock entrance was enlarged in 1874.〔(Complete.pdf )〕 In 1894, the Port Talbot Railway and Docks Company was formed to directly link the port to the various competitive railways, particularly the South Wales Mineral Railway and the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway; and the coal mines and ironworks in the surrounding Llynfi and Garw valley areas, via the Duffryn Llynvi and Porthcawl Railway. This facilitated a further extension to the dock facilities in 1898.〔(railways )〕 The founding of Port Talbot Steelworks in 1902, and Margam Steelworks in 1916, was brought about by the need for iron and steel producers to now import both ore and fuel, enabling an upscaling in volumes of production and hence economies. Resultantly, iron ore imports through Port Talbot reached 300,000 tons per annum by 1930, and 3,000,000 tons per annum by 1960. The PTR&DCo was absorbed by the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1922.〔(South Wales Mineral Railway )〕 Nationalised in 1948 by the Labour government of Clement Attlee, ownership of the docks passed to the British Transport Commission, under its Docks and Inland Waterways Executive. The Transport Act 1962 abolished the Commission and distributed its assets to five successor bodies, with the .nationalised British Transport Docks Board inheriting the dock undertakings, other than harbours used primarily by railway steamer services, including Port Talbot. The BTDB was among the first nationalised industries to be privatised by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Port of Port Talbot」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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