The Port of Philadelphia is located on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

in the U.S. state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Generally the term applies to the publicly owned marine terminals located within Philadelphia city limits along west bank of the river. These terminals are managed by the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, PhilaPort, an agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The term is sometimes used for Delaware River port complex to collectively refer to the ports and energy facilities along the river in the tri-state PA- NJ- DE

Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...

region. They include the

Port of Salem The Port of Salem is a shallow-draft (16 feet) port in the vicinity of the Salem River Cut-Off on the Salem River in Salem, New Jersey in the United States about east of the Delaware River and about from the Atlantic Ocean. It was re-designated ...

, the Port of Wilmington, the

Port of Chester The Port of Chester is an American port on the west bank of the Delaware River in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Centered around Chester it ranges into Marcus Hook to the south and Eddystone to the north. It is part of the Delaware Valley port ...

, the

Port of Paulsboro The Port of Paulsboro is located on the Delaware River and Mantua Creek in and around Paulsboro, in Gloucester County, New Jersey, approximately from the Atlantic Ocean. Traditionally one of the nation's busiest for marine transfer operations ...

, the Port of Philadelphia and the

Port of Camden The Port of Camden is situated on east bank of the Delaware River in Camden and Gloucester City in southern New Jersey. It is one of several ports in the Delaware Valley metro area port complex and is located near the mouth of Newtown Creek opp ...

. Combined they create one of the largest shipping areas of the United States. In 2016, 2,427 ships arrived at Delaware River port facilities: Fruit ships were counted at 577, petroleum at 474, and containerized cargo at 431.

''PhilaPort'' (The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority)

The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, commonly known as PhilaPort, and referred to as The Port of Philadelphia, is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania charged with the management, maintenance, marketing, and promotion of port facilities along the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, as well as strategic planning throughout the port district. PhilaPort works with its terminal operators to improve its facilities and to market those facilities to prospective port users around the world. Port cargoes and the activities they generate are responsible for thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the Philadelphia area and throughout Pennsylvania. On May 22, 2017, The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) announced that it was rebranding as ''PhilaPort (The Port of Philadelphia)'' effective immediately. The name ‘PhilaPort’ was decided on to distinguish The Port of Philadelphia from the many other regional authorities.

Terminals

The Port consists of a series of marine terminals, each with specialized capabilities. *Packer Avenue Marine Terminal: This facility handles containers, steel products, frozen meat, fruit, heavy lift cargo, project cargo, and paper on 6 berths plus 1 Ro/Ro berth at a depth of MLW of 45 feet (14 meters). The facility features of dry storage and of refrigerated storage with 2,500 reefer plugs. *Tioga Marine Terminal: This facility handles containers, specialized forest products, over-dimensional cargo , palletized cargo, project cargo, break-bulk cargo, and steel on 6 berths at a depth of MLW of 36 to 41 feet (11 to 12.5 meters). The facility features of dry storage, of which is refrigerated storage with 116 reefer plugs. *Pier 82: This facility handles fruits and vegetables, break-bulk cargo, project cargo, and paper on 2 berths at a depth of MLW of 32 feet (9.8 meters). The facility features of dry, temperature-controlled storage. *Pier 84: This facility is dedicated exclusively to cocoa beans and other cocoa products on 1 berth at a depth of MLW of 32 fet (9.8 meters). The facility features of dry storage. *Philadelphia Forest Products Center: This facility at piers 38, 40, 78, and 80 handles newsprint, coated paper, wood pulp, other forest products, other break-bulk, and semi-bulk products on 2 berths plus 2 Ro/Ro berths at a depth of MLW of 32 feet (9.8 meters). The facility features of dry storage. *Philadelphia Automobile Processing Facility: This facility handles automobiles, project cargo, trucks, and heavy equipment just offshore with immediate access to Packer Avenue Marine Terminal and Pier 96. The facility features an auto-washing and auto service building.

Shipyard

Hog Island was once the largest shipyard in the nation. In 1917, as part of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

effort, the US government contracted American International Shipbuilding to build

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

s and a

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance ...

at Hog Island. At the time Hog Island was the largest shipyard in the world, with 50

slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...

s. The first ship (named for the Lenape name for the site) was christened August 5, 1918, by Edith Bolling Wilson, wife of US president

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

. The Philly Shipyard is a private company operating on what was once the

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the ci ...

Development in the 2000s

;Delaware River Main Channel Deepening: A project to deepen the Delaware River's 103-mile main shipping channel from 40 to 45 feet began in 2010 and was completed in 2017. The $392 million project was funded by the Federal Government and local-match sponsor PhilaPort (using Commonwealth of Pennsylvania general funds). ;Infrastructure Upgrade: A $300 million Port Development Plan was announced by the Commonwealth in November 2016, which will expand and improve cargo operations throughout the Port's busiest areas. As part of the $300 million Port Development Plan, the first two of five giant cranes capable of unloading the largest container ships arrived in March 2018 from China, where they were manufactured. ;Southport Marine Terminal An expansion of port facilities at

Philadelphia Naval Yard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the ci ...

. ;New Leadership: In August 2016 PhilaPort's Board of Directors hired Jeff Theobald, a maritime industry professional with more than 40 years of experience in terminal operations and shipping logistics, as its new Executive Director and CEO, to further professionalize the port's operations.

History

A559, SS United States, Pier 82, Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 2017

The Port of Philadelphia was established more than 300 years ago during the colonial period, and was for a time the busiest port in both that period and the earliest years of the new republic, finally being eclipsed by the Port of New York. In much of the 20th Century, the Port was overseen by the city's Department of Wharves, Docks, and Ferries, which was replaced by the quasi-public Philadelphia Port Corporation in 1964. In 1989, following the lead of other municipal ports that made overtures to their respective state governments for capital and operating support, the Port of Philadelphia moved from city to state control, with a new agency, the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, established by the State Legislature's Act 50 of 1989 to run the Port. The Port of Philadelphia has always been a landlord port, with private companies being given leases to run the Port's facilities, with capital and marketing support provided by the Commonwealth and PRPA.

Philadelphia Cruise Terminal

The Philadelphia Cruise Terminal was located at 5100 South Broad Street within the former

. The

Delaware River Port Authority The Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), officially the Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is a bi-state agency instrumentality created by a congressionally approved interstate compact between the governments of Pen ...

began operating the terminal in 1998 in Building 3, a landmarked 1874 Navy Yard building. Following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

the Philadelphia terminal accommodated some of the ships that had been diverted from New York. Its peak year was 2006 when it handled 36 cruises. By 2011 the schedule had dwindled to just two cruises. The DRPA decided to close the terminal rather than invest additional operating costs or capital improvements. Its demise was attributed to a combination of the economic downturn, increasing size of cruise ships, and six hours needed to navigate the Delaware River before entering open ocean.

References

External links

2016 Philadelphia Regional Port Authority AdvertorialPhiladelphia Regional Port Authority
- Official website
Port of Philadelphia facilitiesHistory of the Port of Philadelphia
{{coord, 39, 55, 6.1, N, 75, 8, 11.8, W, region:US, display=title Economy of Philadelphia

Delaware River Port authorities in the United States