Hualien Harbor, located in the east of the province, facing the Pacific Ocean, its back against the Central Mountain Range, is situated northeast of Hualien City, has an east-west breakwater surrounding a man-made harbor. Its inner harbor water depth is 6.5 meters and can accommodate ships below 15,000 tons. The outer harbor is 12 to 16.5 meters deep, and the entrance width is 265 meters. It can accommodate ships weighing 30,000 to 100,000 tons.

Construction of Hualien Harbor began in 1939 and it had only three wharves. After Taiwan’s restoration, its extension was continued until 1991, and its wharves totaled 25; it is a harbor terminal facility with inner and outer harbor areas on the following scale: the water area is 1,400,000 square meters, the land area is 1,653,000 square meters, and the total surface area is 3,053,000 square meters.

In the harbor area, besides relevant harbor affairs administration organs and peddler’s establishments, there are no established households. During the day, harbor staff number approximately 1,300 people. In the evening, in addition to harbor police, there are only various administrative personnel remaining behind to take care of things, and to be on night duty. The population situation is simple.