Gateway Glance: New England

By Joe Zelasney

For more than 300 years ports in New England have been vital centers of international commerce. Extending from the waters of the Long Island Sound in Connecticut north toward the U.S.-Canada border, numerous ports line the protected bays, inlets and navigable rivers of New England.

Port of Portland – Maine
The Port of Portland overlooks Casco Bay; it is one of New England’s most important seaports. The Port’s well-protected natural deep-water harbor is ice-free year round. Portland’s Ports and Transportation Department administers activities at the Port of Portland.

In 2008, 766 vessels called at the Port of Portland, carrying a total of 22 million tons of cargo. Major cargoes included minerals, grains, breakbulk and liquid bulk cargoes, and automobiles.

The terminals in the Port of Portland include: Maine State Pier (Portland Ocean Terminal), International Marine Terminal, Merrill Marine Terminal, Motiva Terminal, Portland Fish Pier, Portland Pipe Line Pier One and Pier Two, Cargill Petroleum Terminal, Mobil Oil Terminal, Gulf Oil Terminal and Sprague Energy Terminal.

Port of Portsmouth – New Hampshire
The Port of Portsmouth is New Hampshire’s only seaport, its oldest settlement, and its first capital. The Port rests on the southern banks of the Piscatagua River across from Kittery, Maine. The city is a regional trade center for the surrounding agricultural region and a popular resort area. The Division of Ports and Harbors (DPH), part of the Pease Development Authority, acts as the port authority for the Port of Portsmouth.

The Port is an ice-free, deep-draft port operating throughout the year. Its DPH Market Street Marine Terminal is the only public access general cargo terminal on the Piscatagua River. The terminal is located three nautical miles from the open sea, and less than one mile from Interstate 95 highway. The Market Street Terminal has over 4.6 thousand square meters of covered warehouse, 3.2 hectares of paved outside lay-down area, and on-site rail access.

The Port of Portsmouth handles bulk cargoes (salt, wood chips, scrap, etc.), breakbulk (construction materials and machinery and industrial parts), project cargo (vacuum tanks and power plant components), and containerized cargoes.

Port of Boston – Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Port Authority owns, operates and leases approximately 500 acres of property in Charlestown, East Boston and South Boston. The Port of Boston handles more than 1.3 million tons of general cargo, 1.5 million tons of non-fuel bulk cargo and 12.8 million tons of bulk fuel cargo annually.

The Port of Boston holds private oil and gas terminals that supply most of the state’s petroleum. It contains two shipyards, ferry operations, marine research organizations, marinas, and a major U.S. Coast Guard facility.

Conley Terminal, the center of Boston’s dense cargo handling network in South Boston, handles the Port’s container shipments. The 101-acre fully dedicated container terminal boasts 2,000 feet of berthing space and four post-Panamax container cranes. At 45 feet deep, Conley Terminal can service the largest container ships currently in service on the Atlantic.

In 1998, the Boston Autoport opened in Charlestown at the 65-acre Moran Terminal. Automobile imports and exports are an important business line at the Port of Boston, which processes approximately 50,000 autos annually. The Moran Terminal offers covered storage for high-end automobiles as well.

Port of New Haven – Connecticut
The Port of New Haven lies on the northern shore of Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Quinnipiac River, and is operated by the New Haven Port Authority. The Port is the biggest deep-water port in Connecticut, handling almost all of the state’s manufactur-ed goods.

The Port of New Haven contains three berthing facilities with alongside depths of up to 35 feet. Major cargoes there include: steel, aluminum, copper, tin, zinc, lumber, paper and wood pulp, crane parts, automobiles, containers, and heavy lift cargoes.

The Port of New Haven has capacity to load as many as 200 trucks per day. It is served by Providence & Worcester Railroad, which connects with CONRAIL and other regional rail lines. The Port of New Haven has about 37.2 thousand square meters of inside storage and some 20 hectares of outside storage.

Port of Providence – Rhode Island
The Port of Providence lies on the Providence River at the head of Narragansett Bay, in east central Rhode Island. In 2007, the Port of Providence hired Waterson Terminal Services (WTS) to manage port operations.

In 2008, the Port moved 8.5 million tons of cargo. It covers 105 acres and offers depth up to 40 feet. The Port boasts more than one mile of linear berthing space that can accommodate six vessels at the same time. The Port of Providence contains over 27.8 thousand square meters of covered storage and more than eight hectares of open storage area.

The Port has three rail spurs that allow direct vessel-to-rail transfers, indoor rail, and alongside rail in the open storage area. Spur lines are connected to all major railroads, offering service to anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. The Port of Providence is just one mile from the country’s interstate highway network.

In This Issue

Up Front

News, Trends & Analysis
News

Trade Tools: Missing money

Capitol Watch: Focus on job creation

Supply Chain
Chris Steele: Why you might be buying industrial real estate soon

Compliance Corner: Use the Web for denied party lists

Tech Trends: From open source to terminal visibility

Product Review: Trucking drayage and chassis management software

Commentary
David Bennett: Real signs of trouble

Gateway Glance
New England

Southern California

The Port Community
Bumpy Ride: Rebuilding PNW containerized exports

Southwest Intermodal: Can intermodal incentives show the way?

The Shipping Environment: Engaging in the community,
slow steaming, and new green products

Oceans are making waves

Casualties
The Big Texas spill leads off this month’s rundown

Final Say
Top 25 TIGER projects