The Port of Portland is a seaport located in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

. It is the second-largest tonnage seaport in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

as well as one of the largest oil ports on the East Coast (the second-largest prior to 2016). It is the primary American port of call for Icelandic shipping company

Eimskip Eimskipafélag Íslands hf. is an international shipping company with 55 offices in 20 countries and four continents; Europe, North America, South America and Asia. Eimskip specializes in worldwide freight forwarding services with focus on frozen ...

. There are nine terminals in the port according to the Maine Port Authority, a statewide agency that oversees Maine's commercial marine facilities. Additionally there are two passenger facilities, the

Ocean Gateway International Marine Passenger Terminal The Ocean Gateway International Marine Passenger Terminal is a cruise ship terminal in Portland, Maine, USA. It was built in two phases; phase 1 being a new terminal building that in 2008 replaced the original International Marine Terminal a ...

and the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal. The majority of Portland's non-passenger terminals are for

petroleum products Petroleum products are materials derived from crude oil (petroleum) as it is processed in oil refineries. Unlike petrochemicals, which are a collection of well-defined usually pure organic compounds, petroleum products are complex mixtures. The m ...

, especially the Portland–Montreal pipeline, which has gradually reduced its capacity since 2010. Container shipping through Portland has increased considerably over that same period. 100 cruise ships docked in Portland in 2019, making it Maine's second-largest cruise ship port behind

Bar Harbor Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination and, until a catastrophic fire ...

. A regional ferry service,

Casco Bay Lines Casco Bay Lines (also known as the Casco Bay Island Transit District, CBITD) is a publicly run transportation company that services the residents of the islands of Casco Bay. These islands include Peaks Island, Little Diamond Island, Great Diamo ...

, also operates out of the Port of Portland.

History

Maritime trade has always been important in Portland, as is reflected in the very name "Portland." By 1806, Portland was the sixth-largest American port, and Fort Preble was constructed to defend it, forming the heart of the

Harbor Defenses of Portland The Harbor Defenses of Portland was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Portland, Maine, the mouth of the Kennebec River, and surrounding areas from 1895 to 1950, beginni ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, the

Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...

unsuccessfully targeted the Port of Portland; this was the only major action ever seen by Fort Preble, which was partially disarmed during

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, ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Battery Steele Battery Steele (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Battery Construction #102) is a United States military fortification on Peaks Island, Portland, Maine in Casco Bay. Completed in 1942 as part of World War II, it is located on on the oceanside area ...

was constructed in Portland on

Peaks Island Peaks Island is the most populous island in Casco Bay, Maine, Casco Bay, Maine. It is part of the city of Portland, Maine, Portland and is approximately from downtown. The island is served by Casco Bay Lines and is home to its own elementary s ...

, making Fort Preble obsolete. Battery Steele itself was abandoned after the war ended. Portland port 08

From 1970 to 2008 the Port of Portland was connected by a seasonal (summer only) international ferry service to

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Yarmouth is a town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. A port town, industries include fishing, and tourism. It is the terminus of a ferry service to Bar Harbor, Maine, run by Bay Ferries. History Originally inhabited by the Mi'kmaq, the reg ...

Lion Ferry Lion Ferry was a Swedish ferry company which operated passenger and freight ferry services in Scandinavia and North America. History In 1960 The ''Prins Bertil'' enters service between Halmstad and Aarhus. Lion Ferry acquired Norwegian ferry o ...

operated the first vessels on this route, MS ''Prince of Fundy'' (1970–76), MS ''Bolero'' (1973–76), and MS ''Caribe'' (1976–81).

CN Marine CN Marine was a Canadian ferry company headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick. History CN Marine was created by parent Canadian National Railway (CN) in 1977 as a means to group the company's ferry operations in eastern Canada into a separate ...

operated the MV ''Marine Evangeline'' from 1978 to 1982. Prince of Fundy Cruises and later

Scotia Prince Cruises Scotia Prince Cruises was a cruise ferry operator based in Maine which owned and operated the M/S ''Scotia Prince''. This ferry operated across the Gulf of Maine between Portland, Maine, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, until the end of the 2004 sai ...

operated the MS ''Scotia Prince'' from 1983 to 2004.

Bay Ferries Bay Ferries Limited, or simply, Bay Ferries, is a ferry company operating in eastern Canada and is headquartered in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is a subsidiary of Northumberland Ferries Limited and a sister company to the defu ...

began operating the high speed catamaran HSC ''The Cat'' on the Portland-Nova Scotia route in 2006 using the newly constructed

for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. This service was canceled after the 2009 season. Icelandic shipping company

began container service between Europe and Portland in 2013. Between 2013 and 2019, container traffic in the Port of Portland nearly tripled.{{Cite web, title=Maine's only shipping container terminal expects its biggest ship yet, url=https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/maines-only-shipping-container-terminal-expects-its-biggest-ship-yet/97-f4190fab-be22-47b6-b4dd-3c0c8cf5ae2d, access-date=2020-12-11, website=newscentermaine.com, language=en-US The construction of a cold storage facility has been proposed several times, most recently in 2020, as a way to make the port more valuable for foreign trade.

References

External links

Official Portland Harbor website
Casco Bay Buildings and structures in Portland, Maine Economy of Portland, Maine Transportation in Portland, Maine Transportation buildings and structures in Cumberland County, Maine