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 engineering, 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 Marine Engineering, Ocean Technology, Traffic Engineering, Marine Science, Marine Resource Development Techniques 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 136 faculty and staff members,including 25 high professional and 55 deputy high professional, 21 doctoral supervisors, 59 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), 3 experts entitled to Government Special Allowance (GSA), 1 member of the Committee of Academic Degree under the State Council; 41 people have been selected into provincial and ministerial level talents programs, including “ChangJiang Scholar Distinguished Professor”, National Science Fund for Outstanding Youth Scholars, and Plan Leading Talents in Scientific and Technological I0nnovation of the Ten Thousand Person; 3 groups have been selected as the provincial/ministry innovative research or teaching group.

The college is made up of 4 teaching departments: Department of Waterway and Harbour Engineering, Department of Coastal Resources and Environment, Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering,  Department of Engineering CAD and Visualization; 8 research institutes: Institute of Water Transportation Engineering (Institute of High-dam Navigation) , Institute of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Institute of Coastal Resources and Environment (Institute of Storm Surge Hazards Research), Institute of Design and Prevention of Naval Port , Institute of Marine Renewable Energy Engineering, Institute of Marine Vehicle and Underwater Technology, Institute of Port Logistics and Sustainable Development, Institute of Engineering CAD and Graphics; and 1 laboratory center: Lab Center for Harbour and Waterway Engineering and Coastal Ocean Sciences.

The college has a post-doctoral station of Hydraulic Engineering; Doctor and Master programs of Harbour, Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Coastal Resources and Environment, Master program of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Engineering Master programs of Hydraulic Engineering, Traffic and Transportation Engineering; Bachelor programs of Harbour Waterway and Coastal Engineering, and Marine Resource Development Techniques. The discipline of Harbour, Coastal and Offshore Engineering is one of the state key disciplines and it is a state-level major with outstanding 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 ”Double World-class Program”,  985 Project, 211 Project and Collaborative Innovation Center, based on the State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, the Key Laboratory of Coastal Hazards and Protection of the Ministry of Education and the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Coast Ocean Resources Development and Environment Security, 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 140 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. Since 2012, the college has been developing the Overseas Expertise Introduction Center for Discipline Innovation on Coastal Resources Development and Security, which is the first batch of Overseas Expertise Introduction Center under “The Twelfth Five Plan”. The extensive international exchange and cooperation with world-class universities and institutions around the world are developed. Regular-based student exchange/visiting programs have been launched with Delft University of Technology, The University of Western Australia, Cardiff University, University of Dundee and Hanover University. Doctor's and Master's degrees have been conferred to dozens of international students from France, Myanmar, Vietnam, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea etc. With the collaboration of West Africa Corporation of China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) Limited, the West Africa Center of Hohai University has been officially setup in the college.