Port of Philadelphia

The port of Philadelphia is located on the Delaware River in Philadelphia in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It has several public places for ships along the west side of the river. These places are managed by the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, also called PhilaPort. This group is part of the government of Pennsylvania.

Sometimes people use the name "Port of Philadelphia" to mean the whole Delaware River port area. This area includes several ports and energy places along the river where Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware meet, called the Delaware Valley. The ports here are the Port of Salem, the Port of Wilmington, the Port of Chester, the Port of Paulsboro, the Port of Philadelphia, and the Port of Camden. Together, they are one of the biggest shipping areas in the United States. In 2016, more than 2,400 ships visited these ports, bringing many different goods.

PhilaPort (Philadelphia Regional Port Authority)

The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, called PhilaPort, manages the port along the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. It works to improve these port areas and tells people and businesses about them. The port and its work help create many jobs in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania.

In 2017, the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority changed its name to PhilaPort to show that it is the main port in Philadelphia.

Terminals

The port has several special places called marine terminals, each designed for different kinds of work.

• Packer Avenue Marine Terminal: This place is good for moving things like containers, steel, frozen meat, fruit, heavy items, special project goods, and paper. It has six spots for ships and one for vehicles.
• Tioga Marine Terminal: Here, they move containers, special wood products, very big items, palletized goods, project cargo, break-bulk cargo, and steel. It has six spots for ships.
• Pier 82: This terminal is for fruits, vegetables, break-bulk cargo, project cargo, and paper. It has two spots for ships.
• Pier 84: This place only works with cocoa beans and other cocoa products. It has one spot for ships.
• Philadelphia Forest Products Center: This terminal moves newsprint, coated paper, wood pulp, and other forest products. It has two spots for ships and two for vehicles.
• Philadelphia Automobile Processing Facility: This place is for cars, project cargo, trucks, and heavy equipment. It is close to Packer Avenue Marine Terminal and Pier 96. It has a building for washing and servicing cars.

Shipyard

Hog Island was once the biggest shipyard in the country. In 1917, during World War I, the U.S. government asked American International Shipbuilding to build ships and a shipyard there. At its peak, Hog Island had 50 places to build ships. The first ship, called SS Quistconck, was named after the Lenape name for the site and was launched on August 5, 1918, by Edith Bolling Wilson, the wife of President Woodrow Wilson.

Today, the Philly Shipyard is a private company that works on the site of the old Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

Development in the 2000s

A big project began in 2010 to make the Delaware River deeper so larger ships could visit. This project finished in 2017 and cost $392 million. The money came from the government and local funds.

In 2016, plans were made to spend $300 million to improve the port. Two large cranes that can unload the biggest ships arrived in 2018 from China. The port also expanded at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. In 2016, a new leader with much experience was hired to help run the port better.

History

The Port of Philadelphia was set up over 300 years ago when America was still a group of colonies. For a while, it was the busiest place for ships, until the Port of New York became busier. In the 1900s, the city took care of the port, but in 1964, a special group called the Philadelphia Port Corporation started running it.

In 1989, the state started managing the port instead of the city. A new group, the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, was created to look after the port. Today, private companies rent space from the port, and the state helps them. One big company, Holt Logistics, works mainly with cars and fresh fruit. In 2024, two of their terminals handled most of the fruit from Chile on the East Coast.

Philadelphia Cruise Terminal

The Philadelphia Cruise Terminal was at 5100 South Broad Street, inside an old navy building. It started in 1998 and helped ships that couldn’t reach New York after some big events in September 2001. The most cruises it had in one year was 36 in 2006, but by 2011, it only had two cruises. The terminal closed because it was too expensive to keep running, and the ships were getting too big for the river.

A new cruise terminal began building in December 2025, north of Philadelphia International Airport, and will open in April 2026. Norwegian Cruise Lines will use it for at least seven years, with 41 trips each year.