College of Harbour, Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Hohai University was originated from the Department of Waterway and Harbour Engineering, East China Technical University of Water Resources founded in 1952 by Yan Kai who was academician on both Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering. With “attaching equal importance to both harbour and waterway engineerings, giving considerations to both the sea and the river” as its distinctive feature, the college has developed into a comprehensive discipline including Waterway and Harbour Hydraulic Structures, Naval Harbour Engineering, Marine Hydrography, Harbour and Waterway Engineering, Coastal and Ocean Engineering, Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Ocean Technology, Traffic Engineering, Ocean Sciences and so on. More than 8000 graduates in the fields of water transportation, water resources, ocean, navy etc. have been cultivated, making significant contributions to the development and growth of the disciplines like Harbour and Waterway Engineering, Coastal and Ocean Engineering, Ocean Science and Technology.

      The college now has 118 faculty and staff members, among whom there are 1 join-appointed academician on the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 21 professors, 39 associate professors, 15 doctoral supervisors, 50 master supervisors, 1 member of the International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR), 1 member of the Advisory Committee of Coastal and Port Engineering in Developing Countries (COPEDEC), 4 experts entitled to Government Special Allowance (GSA), 1 member of the Committee of Academic Degree under the State Council, 1 Distinguished Professor of “Recruitment Program of Global Young Experts”, 1 “Hohai Scholars” Distinguished Professor, 24 people have been selected into provincial and ministerial level talents programs, 1 research group has been selected into as university scientific innovation group of“QingLan Project”in Jiangsu Province. The college is made up of the following teaching and research institutions: Department of Waterway and Harbour Engineering, Department of Oceanography, Institute of Water Transportation Engineering, Institute of Coastal and Ocean Engineering, Institute of Coastal Resources and Environment, Institute of Physical Oceanography, Institute of Storm Surge Hazards Research, Institute of High-dam Navigation, Institute of Water Transportation Planning and Logistics Engineering, Institute of Engineering CAD and Visualization, Experiment Center of Harbour and Waterway Engineering and Coastal Ocean Sciences.

      The college has a post-doctoral station of Water Engineering; Doctor and Master programs of Harbour, Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Coastal Resources and Environment, Physical Oceanography; Engineering Master programs of Water Engineering, Traffic and Transportation Engineering; Bachelor programs of Harbour Waterway and Coastal Engineering, and Ocean Sciences. Harbour, Coastal and Offshore Engineering is one of the state key disciplines and among the first doctoral programs. It has been selected into Outstanding Engineers Project of People's Liberation Army. Physical Oceanography is a provincial key discipline in Jiangsu Province; and Harbour Waterway and Coastal Engineering is a state-level major with unique features. The Higher Education Advisory Committee on Harbour Waterway and Coastal Engineering of Water Resources Discipline of the Ministry of Education is affiliated to the college.

      Through the construction of National Preponderant Discipline Innovation Platform of "985 Project", "211 Project" and Collaborative Innovation Center, based on the State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering and the Key Laboratory of Coastal Hazards and Protection of the Ministry of Education, the college has improved its scientific research ability for conducting academic frontier researches and serving the "national needs", obtained scientific research achievements of originality in the fields of coastal resources survey, coastal dynamics, forecast of estuarine and coastal hazards, harbour engineering, waterway regulation, coastal protection, solved key technical issues for major engineering projects. Besides, the college won more than 80 national, ministerial and provincial prizes for scientific and technological achievements among which 3 were the first prize of National Awards for Science and Technology.

      Internationalization has always been one of the most important strategies of our college. Extensive international exchange and cooperation has been developed with universities and institutions around the world such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherland, Germany, Japan, Australia and so on. Long-term short-term student exchange programs have been launched with Department of Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering and the Coastal Ocean Monitoring Center of National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. In addition, Doctor's and Master's degrees have been conferred to dozens of international students from France, Myanmar, Vietnam, Angola, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea etc.