86 No. 98 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ( there is good anchorage in an average depth of 10 to 14 fathoms, with 5 fathoms off the permanent quays . The rise and fall of the tide is about 3 ft . Vessels can enter and leave the port at any time of day or night. There is room in the outer anchorage for several vessels : the largest vessel which has entered was of 16,909 gross tonnage. There are five quays , each 410 ft. long, and further up the harbour are two subsidiary quays, unprovided with cranes, where vessels up to 420 ft . in length can be berthed . There is also a 60-ton floating steam - crane, and a similar 15 -ton crane for medium lifts. Electric light is installed throughout, and the hauling and lifting plant worked by electricity is very complete. There are four electric coal transporters capable of dealing with 300 tons of coal per hour. The rolling bridge across the harbour is opened and closed by electricity, and the dockyard workshops are fitted with electrically-driven machinery .

All dues are charged on the Suez Canal tonnage, and pilotage is compulsory. There are large customs ware houses, a well-equipped modern hospital , and a quaran tine station with disinfecting and hospital blocks . There is also a floating apparatus for disinfecting ships. · Condensed water can be supplied to ships at 150 millièmes per ton on board. Port Sudan town and harbour cost £E . 866,000 to build and equip . Practically all the imports and exports pass through it . In the first four years of its existence the external trade of the Sudan doubled in value, mainly through the use of the new Atbara - Port Sudan railway, but greatly assisted by the facilities at Port Sudan , which have made the harbour attractive to important lines of passenger and cargo steamers, which , now call there regularly . In 1916 Port Sudan was entered by 286 British vessels , with an aggregate tonnage of 632,280, and 31 foreign vessels , with an aggregate tonnage of 59,619 .

The old harbour of Suakin , which during the Expedition of 1884-5 accommodated as many as 34