The Port of Prince Rupert is a

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...

managed by the Prince Rupert Port Authority that occupies of land and water along of waterfront. The port is located in Prince Rupert Harbour in the

North Coast Regional District The North Coast Regional District (until 2016 known as the Skeena–Queen Charlotte Regional District) is a quasi-municipal administrative area in British Columbia. It is located on British Columbia's west coast and includes Haida Gwaii (formerl ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. The Port of Prince Rupert is the third busiest seaport in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

by container volume and cargo tonnage after the Port of Vancouver and

Port of Montreal The Port of Montreal (, ) ( ACI Canadian Port Code: 0395, UN/LOCODE: CA MTR) is a cruise and transshipment point. It is located on the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, Québec, Canada. The port operates as an international container port. It serv ...

. The port is also the deepest ice-free natural

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

in North America, and the 3rd deepest natural harbour in the world.

History

Early 20th century

The Port of Prince Rupert was built upon the completion of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1914 and its development had been promoted by

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

president Charles Melville Hays as an alternative to the Port of Vancouver, which was serviced by the

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

and Canadian Northern railways. In 1919, the Grand Trunk Pacific fell into bankruptcy and was nationalized by the federal government and merged into the

Canadian National Railways The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

(CNR). The port was expanded during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to support Canadian and

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

military action in the Pacific Theatre, notably in the

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Territory.

Late 20th century

In 1975, the federal government declared the Port of Prince Rupert a "National Harbour", followed by several years of construction of various facilities such as the Fairview Terminal and Ridley Terminals. A 1989 expansion of the Fairview Terminal added a third berth and 6.5 ha of storage area. In 1989, 1,705 total vessels, including 468 deep sea vessels, with 11,332,000 tonnes of cargo move through the port. Since 1982 Aquatrain barge carries rail cargo between Prince Rupert and

Whittier, Alaska Whittier is a city at the head of the Passage Canal in the Chugach Census Area, Alaska, Chugach Census Area in the Unorganized Borough, Alaska, Unorganized Borough of Alaska, about southeast of Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage. The city is located ...

Conversion to an intermodal terminal

In April 2005, it was announced that the Fairview Terminal would be converted into an

intermodal container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, or a freight container, (or simply "container") is a large metal crate designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different Mode ...

shipping terminal, given Prince Rupert's advantages of having a location along the Pacific

Great Circle Route Great-circle navigation or orthodromic navigation (related to orthodromic course; ) is the practice of navigation, navigating a vessel (a ship or aircraft) along a great circle. Such routes yield the shortest distance between two points on the ...

between

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and the west coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

; which makes it the first inbound and last outbound port of call, as well as having the deepest natural harbour depths on the continent.''"Prince Rupert Container Terminal Opening New World of Opportunities"''
– Western Economic Diversification Canada – September 12, 2007 Because the port at Prince Rupert is closer to Asia on the Pacific Great Circle route, and with the city of Prince Rupert having less municipal congestion than other West Coast ports, additional rail infrastructure investments toward Canada's heartland should cut time from East Asian markets to North American destinations. Sea travel time to the West Coast, time in processing the containers in port, and the time in getting products to the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

would be more efficient. The overall time from ports like

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in Asia and to eventual Midwest destinations like,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, and

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, should see time and cost reductions. On September 12, 2007, phase 1 the Fairview Terminal opened for business and received its first container ship (from

COSCO China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) was a former shipping corporation from 1961 to 2016, owned by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, State Council of China. The company merged with China Shipping Group, China Shipping Grou ...

) in October. Phase 1 has an annual container-handling capacity of only 500,000 TEUs. However Phase 2, planned to be completed late in 2010, will increase the Port of Prince Rupert's capacity to 2 million TEUs, and to 4 million TEUs by 2015, and there is extensive capacity for further expansion. This will provide much-needed relief to the congested west-coast ports of North America. The containerization of the Fairview Terminal is an important part of the Asia–Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative of the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

and the Pacific Gateway strategy of the Province of

. The second phase expansion has been protested by some

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

groups, saying that the PRPA failed to consult them. Another group in

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

is lobbying for the expansion of the Prince Rupert port in order that the port at Delta will not be expanded. On January 23, 2013, federal Environment Minister Peter Kent approved the environmental assessment of the Phase 2 expansion of the terminal. However, there was no set time frame for the construction of Phase 2, as the decision is up to Maher Terminals to proceed. It was noted that the need for expansion does not yet exist as through operation efficiencies achieved by the design of the terminal and the workforce, the actual capacity of the terminal (750,000 TEUs) exceeds current demand. In January 2015 there was a trade dispute when the State of Alaska had solicited for bids for a ferry terminal update. The project was seeking U.S. Federal funds which required that the project comply with the Buy America provision. The Canadian Government blocked the project and the state of Alaska canceled bids because a temporary solution could not be reached. The Port of Prince Rupert is advancing its logistics infrastructure through the development of LinX, a transload and logistics facility set to launch in Q1 2027. Operated by IntermodeX, an SSA Marine Enterprise, the initial 30-acre phase will include a 100-door facility designed to streamline cargo movement between North America and the Asia-Pacific region, leveraging the port’s strategic proximity to Asia and CN’s rail network. The project aligns with the port’s broader role as North America’s closest gateway to Asia, offering reduced transit times and streamlined intermodal services through its integration with CN’s transcontinental rail network.

Governance

The Prince Rupert Port Authority was created on May 1, 1999 and succeeds the Prince Rupert Port Corporation (PRPC). Prince Rupert was among 8 national ports in Canada which implemented this administrative change on this date, as required by the Canada Marine Act which passed on June 11, 1998. PRPC was the successor to the National Harbours Board, which previously operated all federally owned ports in Canada. PRPA reports to the Minister of Transport and has a Board of Directors typically consisting of local business and community figures. In the past, the appointment process to the boards of Canada's port authorities has been criticized as they have frequently been used for political

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

Facilities

PRPA port facilities include: * Atlin Terminal * Northlands Cruise Terminal * Lightening Dock * Ocean Dock * Pinnacle Pellet Terminal * Fairview Terminal * Prince Rupert Grain * Trigon Pacific Terminals (formerly Ridley Terminals) * Westview Wood Pellet Terminal All PRPA facilities are serviced by

CN Rail The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

. With the completion of Phase 2, the port has a capacity of 2,000 kTEUs. For comparison, the Port of Vancouver handles 2,500 kTEUs of cargo.

Pacific Port Volumes

Cargo handled expressed in the number of 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) and million metric tonnes (MMT). Statistics for American ports are excluded, because of inconsistencies among various web pages. The major differences may be due to the inclusion of empty containers shipped.

Funding for Container Terminal

The Canadian $170 million terminal project, with a design capacity of 500,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) has been funded by five partners: * Maher Terminals, $60 million, including the three super-post panamax cranes *

Western Economic Diversification Canada In Canada, the Regional Development Agencies (RDA) are the seven Government of Canada, federal government agencies responsible for addressing key economic challenges and furthering economic development, Economic diversification, diversification, an ...

, $30 million * Province of British Columbia, $30 million *

, $25 million towards the terminal's rail-related infrastructure * Prince Rupert Port Authority, $25 million

References

External links

International Shipping in British Columbia

Chamber of Shipping (BC): ''BC Ports handbook''
(pdf, 258 p.) {{Ports of Canada Port authorities in Canada Ports and harbours of British Columbia Transport in Prince Rupert, British Columbia