This paper presents a novel concept of cargo handling system adapted for a sea port subjected to severe time-varying tide. The proposed system can perform loading or unloading by using a sort of hydraulic elevator associated with real-time position control. In order to achieve a proof-of-concept, a small-sized laboratory model of the cargo handling system is designed and built. The model consists of three principal components container palette transfer (CPT) car, platform with lifting columns, and cargo ship. The platform activated by electro-rheological (ER) valve-cylinders is actively controlled to track the position of the cargo ship subjected to be varied due to the time-varying tide and wave motion. Following the derivation of the dynamic model for the platform and cargo ship motions, an appropriate control scheme is formulated and implemented. The location of the CPT car is sensed by a set of photoelectric switches and controlled via sequence controller. On the other hand, a sliding mode controller (SMC) is adopted as the position controller for the platform. Both simulated and measured control results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed cargo system.