''For other ports with similar names see: Port Richmond '' The Port of Richmond is a major shipping terminal in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

's San Francisco Bay located in the East Bay city and Oakland suburb of Richmond.

Operations

The harbor is located in Richmond, California along the city's southern coast beside the Richmond Inner Harbor and boasts the third largest volume of tonnage in the state of California annually; a total of 19 million short tons. It ranks number one for ports of San Francisco Bay in vehicles and liquid bulk. In addition to these the port can also handle dry-bulk, break-bulk, and containers. Seven of the terminals are city owned in addition to 5

dry-dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

s while there are 11 privately owned terminals from whence 90% of tonnage emerge. The port is served by a sophisticated rail network served by four major rail companies. The port itself has been described as a "boondoggle" and as unprofitable, however in 2012 operations finally broke even; furthermore a net profit was projected over the following decade."Dueling proposals compete for federal money to build security center at Richmond port"
Robert Rogers, ''

Richmond Confidential Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

'', April 24, 2012, Retrieved April 25, 2012

History

The port was constructed in the 1980s about thirty years after the

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

-era

Kaiser Shipyards The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the United States west coast during World War II. Kaiser ranked 20th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. The shipyards were owned by the Kaise ...

were decommissioned. In 1993 the port received 26 million tons of goods. The majority of the cargo was oil and other petroleum products. The port is located at the end of Canal Boulevard in South Richmond. Port Richmond also receives imported cars and delivers them to dealers throughout the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. The port is a major entry point for vehicles from Asia.Subaru coming to Port of Richmond
Katharine Tam. ''

Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East ...

''. 27-01-2011. Retrieved 28-01-2011. The port signed an $US85 million, 15-year deal in 2010 to import Honda vehicles to the city after spending $37 million on upgrades in infrastructure from warehousing to rail lines. In 2011 the city signed a deal to bring in Subaru vehicles on a five-year, $1 million-a-year deal. The port is currently flirting with Toyota and Chinese auto manufacturers to expand its unmet capacity. In 2012 controversy arose over a $4 million federal grant to build a new safety and operations center. The port authority itself supported redeveloping a decrepit former headquarters while influential

councilmember A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Tom Butt Thomas King Butt is an American politician and architect serving as the sixth mayor of Richmond, California. He was vice-mayor in 2002 and 2012 and a member of the Richmond City Council for over 20 years before being elected mayor. He is the long ...

preferred to refurbish the Riggers Loft building, a historic landmark. The port's suggestion allows for a building closer to the day-to-day operations of the port, however the loft option allows for cultural restoration of a World War II relic in addition to providing an opportunity for using excess space to lease as office space for a profit. Councilmember Corky Boozé opposed the loft option stating that Butt was attempting to micromanage the port's affairs and that $500,000 had already been spent on studying the preferred alternative. Butt countered that the port's preference is a terrible idea and that he would support anything else, even if the Riggers Loft is deemed unfit. The Rigger's Loft building was eventually chosen "Riggers loft renovation nears completion"
Mark Andrew Boyer, ''

'', October 30, 2013, Retrieved March 14, 2017 Richmond-California-aerial

Tug ''Tiger''

On December 11, 2011, the tug ''Tiger'' sank in the Port of Richmond Harbor. The ''Tiger'' was a decommissioned former US Navy tug that served during

. In 1944, modifications were made to the ''Tiger'' in order to hold more oil. Although it is not known how much the tug ''Tiger'' could hold, it is estimated that its maximum capacity was about 78,000 gallons of oil. The ''Tiger'' was originally brought to the Port of Richmond in order to be cleaned before heading to be scrapped.Pandell, L. (n.d.)
"Crews continue cleaning oil from sunken tugboat"
Retrieved April 8, 2015.

Oil spill

As a result of the tug ''Tiger'' sinking, an unknown amount of oil was leaked into the port. The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

was called in, in order to clean up the oil. After the spill approximately 1,450 gallons of an oil-water mixture was collected from the ''Tiger''. There are still continued efforts in order to clean up oil from the ''Tiger''. In addition to this, another tug, the ''Lion'', parked near the ''Tiger'' has an estimated 15,000 gallons of oil-water that have been collected from the vessel. Though it is unknown if there remain issues with ''Lion'', a protective barrier remains around it. A group of "55 personal from the Coast Guard, the Department of Fish and Games, the National Response Corporation Environmental Services and Global Salvage and Diving were brought in to work on the site."

Clean Air Action Plan

"The goal of the Port of Richmond Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) is to develop and recommend feasible, cost-effective strategies and programs to reduce air emissions and health risks from operations at the Port of Richmond, while allowing port development to continue bringing revenue and jobs to the City of Richmond" In June 2010 the final draft of the Clean Air Action Plan for the Port of Richmond was published. The aim of this program was to create systems in order to reduce the amount of pollution created by the Port of Richmond, all the while producing minimal negative impacts on the ongoing work in and around the port.

Compared to other ports

Compared to other ports;

Port of Oakland The Port of Oakland is a major container ship facility located in Oakland, California, in the San Francisco Bay. It was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. As of 2011 it was the f ...

Port of Long Beach The Port of Long Beach, also known as the Harbor Department of the City of Long Beach, is a container port in the United States, which adjoins Port of Los Angeles. Acting as a major gateway for US–Asian trade, the port occupies of land with ...

, and Port of Los Angeles; the Port of Richmond releases a fraction of the pollutants of these other ports. The pollutants being measured are ROG, CO, , PM, , and .

Honda Port of Entry

Approved by the Richmond City Council in October 2008, the Honda Port of Entry Project reintroduced

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

back into the Port of Richmond. As a result of this project coming into fruition it seeks to expand and improve the existing automobile import and processing facilities in the Point Potrero Maine Terminal. New rail services and car-carrying ships are being introduced to increase the import and processing of automobiles. This will reduce the number of unnecessary operations in the transportation of cars such as reduced auto trips, improved locomotives, and reduced wasted time for imports. This is a huge milestone in the development of Richmond and the Port of Richmond. Port of Richmond-California

Port facilities

Port of Richmond handles bulk liquid, dry bulk, metals, vehicles, and break-bulk cargo. the port has five city-owned terminals and ten privately owned terminals."Port Facilities"
(n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2015.

Shipyard #3

Used during

, Shipyard #3 was constructed by Henry J. Kaiser's Firm. This shipyard was constructed as a "permanent shipyard, which is one reason it is still relatively intact.""Shipyard #3"
(n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2015. Today there is a trail that circles the shipyard known "Shipyard #3 Trail", which also share paths with the "Ferry Point Loop". The trail is dotted with seven historical markers that illustrate the shipyard's rich history and role in the development of the Port of Richmond. According to the Trails of Richmond Action Committeehttp://www.pointrichmond.com/ "Shipyard 3 is the only place where WW II ship building facilities remain in the U.S."
(n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2015. The trail is also in view of the S.S. ''Red Oak Victory'' and a Whirley Crane. The Whirley Crane was used by the Kaiser Corporations.

References

External links

Official pageGoogle maps
{{Portal, San Francisco Bay Area, Transport San Francisco Bay Richmond Buildings and structures in Richmond, California Transportation in Contra Costa County, California Richmond Geography of Richmond, California 1980 establishments in California