In Canada and the United States, a port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental

public authority A public-benefit nonprofit corporation is a type of Nonprofit organization, nonprofit corporation chartered by a state governments of the United States, state government, and organized primarily or exclusively for Institution, social, educational ...

for a

special-purpose district Special districts (also known as special service districts, special district governments, limited purpose entities, or special-purpose districts) are independent, special-purpose governmental units that exist separately from local governments such ...

usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate

port A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

s and other transportation infrastructure. In Canada, the federal

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation Transport (in British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, " English as used in Great Britain, a ...

selects the local chief executive board member and the rest of the board is appointed at the recommendation of port users to the federal Minister; while all Canadian port authorities have a federal or Crown charter called ''

Letters Patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) (plurale tantum, always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, genera ...

''. Numerous Caribbean nations have port authorities, including those of Aruba, British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Central and South America also have port agencies such as ''autoridad'' and ''consorcio'' (authority and consortium). In

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, the federal government created sixteen port administrations in 1994–1995 called ''Administración Portuaria Integral'' (Integral Port Administration) in Spanish, as result of the ''Ley de Puertos'' (Port Law) of 1993. These are organized as variable capital corporations ('' Sociedad Anónima de Capital Variable''), with the intent of creating more private investment in a state owned sector. Port authorities are usually governed by boards or commissions, which are commonly appointed by governmental chief executives, often from different jurisdictions. Most port authorities are financially self-supporting. In addition to owning land, setting fees, and sometimes levying taxes, port districts can also operate shipping terminals, airports, railroads, and

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

facilities.

Port authorities and districts

The distinction between inland and being marine is occasionally open to discussion. No distinction is made here between river and Great Lakes ports.

Canada

The

is ultimately responsible for his patronage of Canadian port authorities, a useful map of which is electronically available at

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the Ministry (government department), department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, Policy, policies and Public services, services of road, rail, marine and air ...

Port authorities

With date of Letters Patent.

Other agencies

* St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation * Canada Ports Corporation

Former agency

National Harbours Board The National Harbours Board was an agency of the Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is ...

United States

Charter date in parenthesis.

Mexico

Listed from northwest to southeast. API stands for ''Administración Portuaria Integral'' (Integral Port Administration).

Caribbean

* Port Authority of Jamaica, Jamaica * Barbados Port Authority, Barbados *

Grand Bahama Port Authority The Grand Bahama Port Authority ( GBPA or "Port Authority") is a privately held corporation that also acts as the municipal authority for Freeport, Bahamas, Freeport, Grand Bahama, Grand Bahama Island, The Bahamas. The GBPA was created by the Haw ...

, The Bahamas

Central America

* Autoridad Marítima de Panamá * Comisión Portuaria Nacional, Guatemala * Dirección General de Puertos Empresa Nacional Portuaria, Honduras * JAPDEVA – Atlantic Port Authority, Costa Rica

Middle East

* Israel Port Authority * General Organization of Sea Ports, Bahrain *

Saudi Ports Authority Saudi Ports Authority () is a government agency that supervises the ports of Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1976 as an independent agency of the Prime Minister's office, to bring together the governance and operations of the multiple ports of t ...

, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Asia Pacific

* Bintulu Port Authority * Busan Port Authority * Gwadar Port Authority *

Indonesia Port Corporations PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Persero), trade name, trading as Pelindo, is Indonesian State-owned enterprise Based on one of the world's biggest archipelagos with an extensive history in the world maritime stage, Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) is a worl ...

Port of Kitakyūshū A port is a maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of ...

* Port of Niihama *

Port of Shanghai The Port of Shanghai (), located in the vicinity of Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on th ...

Port of Singapore The Port of Singapore refers to the collective facilities and terminals that conduct maritime trade and handles Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country, island country and city-state ...

* Port Qasim Authority *

Sri Lanka Ports Authority Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is the state-owned Port authority, operator of major commercial ports in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1979, SLPA currently operates ports in Colombo Harbour, Colombo, Galle Harbour, Galle, Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port, ...

* Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority *

Taiwan International Ports Corporation The Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC; ) is a state-owned shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The te ...

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom operators of ports and harbours become ''de facto'' port authorities under several pieces of legislation. Examples include the: * Mersey Docks and Harbour Company *

Port of London Authority The Port of London Authority (PLA) is a self-funding public trust established on 31 March 1909 in accordance with the Port of London Act 1908 to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its ...

References

External links

General Organization of Sea Port – Bahrain

Washington Ports - What is a port district?

International Association of Ports and Harbors

American Association of Port Authorities
{{Ports and harbors *