However, not long after, Yeshaq revolted once again with Ottoman support but was defeated once and for all in 1578, leaving the Ottomans with domain over Massawa, Arqiqo and some of the nearby coastal environs, which were soon transferred to the control of Beja Na ' ibs ( deputies ).

Emperor Yohannes IV believed this included Massawa, but instead, the port was handed by the Egyptians and the British to the Italians, who united it with the already colonised port of Asseb to form a coastal Italian possession.

The first thing the British did was to remove the Eritrean industries ( of Asmara and Massawa ) to Kenya, as war compensation.

An 88-megawatt electricity plant funded by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi was completed just south of Massawa in 2003, its completion delayed nearly three years by the war with Ethiopia.

The railway links Agordat and Asmara with the port of Massawa ; however, it was nonoperational since 1978 except for about a 5 kilometre stretch that was reopened in Massawa in 1994.

This was extended in 1904 by a line that ran from Addis Ababa through Tigray into Eritrea and to Massawa ; and the next year by a line again from Addis Ababa to Gore in the province of Illubabor and Jimma in Kaffa.

Ethiopia is landlocked and was by agreement with Eritrea using the ports of Asseb and Massawa ; since the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, Ethiopia has used the port of Djibouti for nearly all of its imports.

Their first attempt to reach the port of Massawa failed due to the actions of Lopo Soares de Albergaria, governor of Portuguese India, which got no closer than the Dahlak Archipelago and was aborted with the death of the Portuguese ambassador, old Duarte Galvão at Kamaran.

A Portuguese fleet under the command of Estêvão da Gama was sent from India and arrived at Massawa in February 1541.

In the Red Sea, Massawa was the most northerly point frequented by the Portuguese until 1541, when a fleet under Estevão da Gama penetrated as far as Suez.

After being delayed for about a year in Massawa, Rassam at last received permission from the Emperor to enter his realm, but due to rebellions in Tigray was forced to follow a circuitous route taking him to Kassala, then to Metemma, along the western shore of Lake Tana to finally meet with Emperor Tewodros in northern Gojjam.

According to the Periplus, the ruler of Aksum in the 1st century AD was Zoscales, who, besides ruling in Aksum also held under his sway two harbours on the Red Sea: Adulis ( near Massawa ) and Avalites ( Assab ).

It was constructed between 1887 and 1932 by the Kingdom of Italy for the Italian colony of Eritrea, and connected the port of Massawa with Bishia near the Sudan border.

The line was essentially destroyed by warfare in subsequent decades, but has been rebuilt between Massawa and Asmara.

Originally the railway was built by the Italians in order to connect Massawa and Asmara, the main cities of Italian Eritrea.

After damage suffered by the railway during World War II, the section between Massawa and Asmara was dismantled partially and was only rebuilt in the 1990s by the Eritrean authorities.

The engineers were unable to refloat the Phoenixes and US Navy Captain ( later Rear Admiral ) Edward Ellsberg, already well known for quickly refloating scuttled ships at Massawa and Oran, was brought in to accomplish the task, though not without obtaining Churchill's intervention in taking the task away from the Royal Engineers and giving it to the Royal Navy.

In June 1861 the party landed at Massawa, having instructions to go direct to Khartoum and then to Ouaddai, where Vogel was thought to be detained.

However, the repatriation project encountered a series of obstacles: the runway at Axum Airport was considered too short for a cargo plane carrying even one of the thirds into which the stele had been cut ; the roads and bridges between Addis Ababa and Axum were thought to be not up to the task of road transport ; and access through the nearby Eritrean port of Massawa – which was how the stele originally left Africa – was impossible due to the strained state of relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The culmination of Islamic dominance in the region occurred in 1557 when an Ottoman invasion during the time of Suleiman I and under Özdemir Pasha ( who had declared the province of Habesh in 1555 ) took the port city of Massawa and the adjacent city of Arqiqo, even taking Debarwa, then capital of the local ruler Bahr negus Yeshaq ( ruler of Midri Bahri ).

The predominantly Biher-Tigrinya populated urban centers in Eritrea are the capital Asmara, Mendefera, Dekemhare, Adi Keyh, Adi Quala and Senafe, while there is a significant population of Biher-Tigrinya in other cities including Keren, and Massawa.

From 1885 Massaua was the Italian administrative capital of Eritrea, and Asmara was made the capital city of Eritrea in preference to Massawa by Governor Martini only in 1897.

In 1826 – 48 ( during the Ottoman period, but not the phase under de facto Egyptian rule ), parts of Eritrea were ruled by the Naib ( or deputy ) of Arkiko, according to some sources part of the time cumulating with the office of wali ( regular military governor ) of Massawa, the present capital.

The majority of these were based at Massawa in Eritrea as part of the Italian Red Sea Flotilla, primarily seven destroyers and eight submarines.

But in 1921, most of the city and port of Massawa was destroyed by the Massawa Earthquake ; the ports were unable to fully recover until 1928, hampering initially the Italian colonial ambitions.

The Italian colonialists had nevertheless built Massawa to become the largest and safest port on the east coast of Africa, and the largest deep-water port on the Red Sea.

Italy was allied to the Axis powers during World War II and Massawa was the homeport for the Red Sea Flotilla of the Italian Royal Navy ( Regia Marina ).

His desire to retain French confidence was the chief motive of his refusal in July 1882 to share in the British expedition to Egypt, but, finding his efforts fruitless when the existence of the Triple Alliance came to be known, he veered to the English interest and obtained assent in London to the Italian expedition to Massawa.

During his long term of office he abolished the grist tax, extended suffrage, completed the railway system, aided Mancini in forming the Triple Alliance, and initiated colonial policy by the occupation of Massawa ; but, at the same time, he vastly increased indirect taxation, corrupted and destroyed the fibre of parliamentary parties, and, by extravagance in public works, impaired the stability of Italian finance.

Most vessels were stationed in the port of Massawa in the Italian colony of Eritrea.

But, as Italian fuel supplies in Massawa dwindled, so did the Italian fleet's opportunity for offensive action in the Red Sea.

The Red Sea Flotilla and its home port of Massawa did however represent a link between Axis occupied Europe and the naval facilities located in the Italian concession zone in Tientsin in China.

While hard fighting lay ahead before the campaign would come to an end, the fall of Keren broke the resistance of the Italian forces and led to the almost immediate capture of Massawa on the coast.

Rear Admiral Mario Bonnetti, commander of the Italian Red Sea Flotilla and the commander of the garrison at Massawa, had been ordered by Benito Mussolini to defend the town to the last man.

From 1 March to 4 March, the remaining Italian submarines at Massawa escaped destruction by sailing south.

After some initial strong opposition, the Italian ground forces defending Massawa, lacking fuel, ammunition, and food, crumpled and resistance collapsed.

When Asmara was captured, Bonnetti had been told by the British using the undamaged telephone line to Massawa that they would not be responsible for the feeding of the 40, 000 Italian civilians in Asmara if the port installations were damaged.

In the week preceding capture, Massawa harbour was thoroughly wrecked by Italian sabotage of machinery in shore facilities, the sinking of two large floating dry docks, and the calculated scuttling of sixteen large ships in the mouths of the north Naval Harbour, the central Commercial Harbour and the main South Harbour, blocking access in and out.

Before Massawa fell, Bonnetti had ordered the remaining seven Italian destroyers and the remaining motor torpedo boat ( the other four boats were no longer operational ) to put to sea from Massawa on " do or die " missions.

The remaining Italian port facilities at Assab, within easy striking distance of British aircraft based in Aden, held out for several weeks after the fall of Massawa.

Many industrial investments were done by the Italians in the area of Asmara and Massawa, but the beginning of World War II stopped the blossoming industrialization of Eritrea.

Eritrea exports fish and sea cucumbers from the Red Sea to markets in Europe and Asia, and there is hope that the construction of a new, jet-capable airport in Massawa, as well as rehabilitation of the port there, may support increased exports of high-value seafood.

Prior to the outbreak of the 1998 – 2000 Eritrean – Ethiopian War, landlocked Ethiopia mainly relied on the seaports of Asseb and Massawa in Eritrea for international trade.

** 1937 – 1941 Asmara – Massawa, Eritrea ( and branch ), technically a Funifor.

Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa ( Ge ' ez ምጽዋዕ, formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea.

The Beja people would also come to rule within Massawa during the Beja Kingdom of Eritrea from 740 AD to 14th century AD.

Midri-Bahri, a Kingdom in Eritrea from 14th to the 19th century AD, gained leverage at various times and ruled over Massawa.

From 1952 to 1990, when Eritrea entered into a federation with Ethiopia, previously landlocked Ethiopia briefly enjoyed the use of Massawa as the headquarters of the now defunct Ethiopian Navy.

* April 28 – 29 – Leonardo Bonzi and Maner Lualdi set a light plane distance record of flying from Campoformido ( Italy ) to Massawa ( Eritrea ) in an Ambrosini S. 1001.

The Dahlak Archipelago ( Ge ' ez: ) is an island group located in the Red Sea near Massawa, Eritrea.

He then left the French and entered the service of the Egyptian government of Khedive Ismail, serving as governor of the Keren region and Massawa ( modern-day Eritrea ).

On 20 February 1941, the armed merchant cruiser Ramb I broke out of Massawa with the colonial ship Eritrea and the armed merchant cruiser Ramb II The Ramb I and Ramb II were known as auxiliary cruisers or merchant raiders, armed ships which disguised themselves as noncombatant merchant vessels.

* MSW, IATA code for Massawa International Airport in Eritrea

From 10 June 1940, the Regia Marina Red Sea Flotilla, based in Massawa, Eritrea, posed a potential threat to Allied shipping crossing the Red Sea between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.