Today, more than 4,000 units of cargo handling equipment are operating at ports and harbours in Japan. To study their current status together with basic trends of the past 15 years, a detailed analysis has been made with data obtained from the nation-wide surveys on port cargo handling equipment of 1970, 1974, 1978 and 1982. The cargo handling equipment used for port operations is classified for the analysis into 12 categories fron both the mechanical and functional points of view.
　The aspects dealt with in this study are as follows;
(1) number of installations, (2) rated load or loading/unloading capacity, (3) wharf water depth of installation, (4) annual cargo volume handled, (5) annual working days, (6) average daily working hours, (7) cargo handling efficiency, and (8) major commodities handled.
　Further, a series of correlation analyses have been carried out among principal indices relating to operational characteristics of the equipment. Finally, based on the major findings of this study, the overall characteristics are discussed for each category of the port cargo handling equipment.