Having the distinction of being the largest fresh water port in the world, the Port of Philadelphia is mainly used as a cargo terminal and an embarkation point. All ships dock at Pier 1 of the Philadelphia Cruise Terminal, on the site of the former Philadelphia Naval Base, one of the nation's oldest naval facilities. Located on the Delaware River, the different piers of the Philadelphia port are used for different activities; like Pier 84 has a cocoa handling facility and Pier 82 has a fruit handling facility.
Ideally lying at the Northeast Corridor, Philadelphia Port is engaged in handling a large amount of containerized traffic. Known as the 4th largest port in USA, the Port of Philadelphia got its origin from the City Charter of 1701. It was the charter that not only incorporated the Philadelphia city but also gave permission for a port that is now known as the Port of Philadelphia.
Every year more than 3,000 ships load and offload at the Port of Philadelphia. The credit for operating and promoting port facilities at Philadelphia Port goes to the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority. The Port of Philadelphia is a diversified port handling containers, project cargo, liquid bulk and break-bulk.
Philadelphia Port provides world-class port facilities like it has over 20,000 linear feet of berthing, new computerized cargo tracking system, great speed with 40 containers transported per hour, separate foreign zones and lastly it has the largest heavy lift crane with the capacity to lift 375 ton.
