The EU believes that the Port of Bar is one of the essential elements of transport, and therefore the economy of Montenegro, with almost all overseas trade goods being carried through it.

[citation needed] Construction of the port formally started on March 23, 1905, when King Nikola I, on board on the yacht Rumija, plunged a foundation stone, on which his initials and the date were carved in, into the sea.

Coen Caglia, an Italian expert in maritime construction designed the port for an annual turnover of 3 million tons of cargo.

The second phase that had in its plan an annual turnover of cca 5 million tons of cargo was almost completed, when the catastrophic earthquake struck in 1979, destroying more than half of its modern port facilities.

According to an EU subsidy project document, it was noted in 2019 that Volujica quay had deteriorated and degraded rapidly in the previous several years.