[6] The first record of a port in Rijeka dates back to 1281, when the Great Council of the Republic of Venice reported a conflict of Venetian merchants and ship owners from Zadar and Rab.

[8] In 1776, Rijeka became a corpus separatum within the Habsburg monarchy, known under its Hungarian/Italian name of Fiume, and was transferred to the Kingdom of Hungary in order to foster trade.

In the period, railway infrastructure was also built to the north of the port, along with storage facilities, administrative buildings and other necessary structures.

[12] After the defeat of Austria-Hungary in World War I and the Treaty of Rapallo of 1920, Rijeka became an independent city-state known as the Free State of Fiume.

That marked the beginning of the port's decline, as it lost a large portion of its major market, Hungary.

[13] Italy annexed Rijeka in 1924 by the Treaty of Rome, and the port became peripherally located, with no modern railway or road links to the rest of the country, further adding to the already obvious economic decline.

[14][15] During World War II, Rijeka was targeted by around 30 Allied bombing raids, and in 1945 the retreating Germans damaged approximately 90% of the port facilities.

[16] Among the ships sunk in the port was the German auxiliary cruiser Kiebitz, which would later be raised and repaired to become the Yugoslav Navy Yacht Galeb.

The city of Rijeka purchased the ship, which was subsequently moored in the port and eventually opened as a museum in 2011.

[17] Following World War II and the Paris Peace Treaties, Rijeka became a part of Croatia and Yugoslavia.

The development master plan, devised by Rotterdam Maritime Group, calls for further expansion of the port facilities by 2030, including construction of a large container terminal in Omišalj on Krk Island.

On September 5, 2021, the Port of Rijeka Authority signed a concession with APM terminals and Enna logic, for a period of 50 years.

With this contract, the new concessionaire undertakes to build the necessary infrastructure and fully equip the Zagreb Deep Sea container terminal in Phase 1 and Phase 2 (construction of 280 meters of new shoreline and equipment) and guarantees a container traffic of 1,000,000 TEU in the first two years of terminal operation.

[21] It is tasked with planning and strategic development, including the issuing of concessions and permits, supervision, safety of navigation in the port area, security and fire protection, as well as waste management.

Business operations are managed by the port concessionaires: Luka Rijeka d.d., Jadranski naftovod (JANAF) and Jadranska vrata d.d.

[24] The NAPA aims to harmonize information systems and organizational setup of the member ports in order to attract shipping.

[22] The Port of Rijeka Authority operates a traffic control centre, located in the new passenger terminal.

subsidiary, and was tasked with operating the container cargo terminal located in the Brajdica district of Rijeka.

As of August 2011, International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) acquired a 51% share in the company, becoming a strategic partner.

However, JANAF operations include other facilities and services besides the oil terminal concession in the Port of Rijeka.

[62] Upgrades of other port terminals are also planned, with investments through the World Bank and through build-operate-transfer and public–private partnership schemes.

[19][34][63][64] The Port of Rijeka development master plan, devised by Rotterdam Maritime Group, specifies further expansion of port facilities by 2030, including the construction of a large container terminal in Omišalj on Krk Island, near the JANAF Omišalj oil terminal.