The Port of Halifax comprises various port facilities in Halifax Harbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It covers of land, and looks after of water. Strategically located as North America's first inbound and last outbound gateway, the Port of Halifax is a naturally deep, wide, ice-free harbour with minimal tides and is two days closer to Europe and one day closer to Southeast Asia than any other North American East Coast port. In addition, it is one of just a few eastern seaboard ports able to accommodate and service fully laden post-Panamax container ships using the latest technology. With 17 world's top shipping lines calling the Port, including transshipment, feeder ship services and direct access to Canadian National Railway inland network, the Port of Halifax is connected virtually to every market in North America and over 150 countries worldwide supporting the delivery of all types of cargoes. Annually the Port handles over 1,500 vessels, generates 15,000 jobs and $2 billion in economic impact. Halifax is one of Canada's top four container ports in terms of the volume of cargo handled.
History
After the Royal Navy withdrew from Halifax in 1905, the dockyards were handed over to the Government of Canada. Prior to World War I, the government began the Ocean Terminals project. A new railway was built through the city's South End to service the modern piers, the first of which opened in the early 1920s. Shipping grew sharply during World War II. With the containerisation revolution of shipping, it was decided to build a container terminal in Halifax. The South EndContainer Terminal opened in the South End in 1969 at the site of the former Seaward Defence Base. A specialised vehicular processing facility, the Autoport, was opened in 1971. It provides various pre-distribution services in addition to basic loading and off-loading. The number of vehicles handled annually by the Autoport has grown from 100,000 in 1979 to about 185,000 today. By the late 1970s the South End Container Terminal was operating at capacity, handling more tonnage than any other container terminal in Canada. A second container terminal at Fairview Cove was therefore built at a cost of $47 million and opened in 1982. It was originally a single-berth facility, and operations were contracted out to Cerescorp Inc. The terminal has since been expanded. In 2003, Ceres successfully bid on a continued operations contract, effective January 1, 2003 for 20 years. In 2005 the Fairview Cove Container Terminal berth depth was deepened to . In 2012 a major expansion of the South End Container Terminal was completed. The depth of the berth was increased from and the pier was extended. In June 2017 it welcomed its first Neopanamax vessel, the ZIM Antwerp.
Administration
Many major port facilities are owned by the Halifax Port Authority, a port authorityoperating as a federally regulated Crown corporation of the Government of Canada. HPA has responsibility of managing 260 acres federally owned marine industrial land in Halifax Harbour. The HPA was created on March 1, 1999 and succeeds the Halifax Port Corporation. HPC was the successor to the National Harbours Board, which operated all federally owned ports in Canada. Halifax was one of the first of eighteen national ports in Canada which implemented this administrative change as required by the Canada Marine Act which passed on June 11, 1998.
Facilities
Halifax Port Authority administers Halifax Port Authority facilities include:
All HPA facilities except the Sheet Harbour Port are serviced by CN Rail.
Cruise ships
In addition to being one of the world's largest natural harbours for breakbulk, bulk, roll-on/roll-off, containerized and project cargoes, the Halifax seaport has become an increasingly popular port of call for cruise ships from around the world. In 2019, the Port of Halifax had 179 cruise vessel calls with over 323,000 passengers aboard. It is estimated that cruise passengers alone contribute about $172 million to Halifax's economy every year.
