In Canada, the United States and Spain, a port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other transportation infrastructure. In Canada, the federal Minister of Transport selects the local chief executive board member and the rest of the board is appointed at the recommendation of port users to the federal Minister; while all Canadian port authorities have a federal or Crown charter called letters patent .
Numerous Caribbean nations have port authorities, including those of Aruba, British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. [1]
Central and South America also have port agencies such as autoridad and consorcio (authority and consortium). [2] [ citation needed ]
In Mexico, the federal government created sixteen port administrations in 1994–1995 called Administración Portuaria Integral (Integral Port Administration) in Spanish, as result of the Ley de Puertos (Port Law) of 1993. These are organized as variable capital corporations ( Sociedad Anónima de Capital Variable ), with the intent of creating more private investment in a state owned sector.
Port authorities are usually governed by boards or commissions, which are commonly appointed by governmental chief executives, often from different jurisdictions. [3]
Most port authorities are financially self-supporting. In addition to owning land, setting fees, and sometimes levying taxes, port districts can also operate shipping terminals, airports, railroads, and irrigation facilities.
The distinction between inland and being marine is occasionally open to discussion. No distinction is made here between river and Great Lakes ports.
The Minister of Transport is ultimately responsible for his patronage of Canadian port authorities, a useful map of which is electronically available at Transport Canada. [4]
This article needs to be updated.(June 2024) |
With date of Letters Patent.
Atlantic
Great Lakes
| Pacific
St. Lawrence Seaway
|
Charter date in parentheses.
Atlantic
Gulf of Mexico
| Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Seaway
Pacific
Inland Rivers
|
Listed from northwest to southeast. API stands for Administración Portuaria Integral (Integral Port Administration).
Pacific | Gulf of Mexico |
In the United Kingdom operators of ports and harbours become de facto port authorities under several pieces of legislation. Examples include the:
Canada, the world's second-largest country in total area, is dedicated to having an efficient, high-capacity multimodal transportation spanning often vast distances between natural resource extraction sites, agricultural and urban areas. Canada's transportation system includes more than 1,400,000 kilometres (870,000 mi) of roads, 10 major international airports, 300 smaller airports, 72,093 km (44,797 mi) of functioning railway track, and more than 300 commercial ports and harbours that provide access to the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans as well as the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. In 2005, the transportation sector made up 4.2% of Canada's GDP, compared to 3.7% for Canada's mining and oil and gas extraction industries.
The St. Lawrence Seaway is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland as Duluth, Minnesota, at the western end of Lake Superior. The seaway is named for the St. Lawrence River, which flows from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. Legally, the seaway extends from Montreal, Quebec, to Lake Erie, and includes the Welland Canal. Ships from the Atlantic Ocean are able to reach ports in all five of the Great Lakes, via the Great Lakes Waterway.
Puerto Cortés, originally known as Puerto de Caballos, is a port city and municipality on the north Caribbean coast of Honduras, right on the Laguna de Alvarado, north of San Pedro Sula and east of Omoa, with a natural bay. The present city was founded in the early colonial period. It grew rapidly in the twentieth century, thanks to the then railroad, and banana production. In terms of volume of traffic the seaport is the largest in Central America and the 36th largest in the world. The city of Puerto Cortés has a population of 73,150.
An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port.
Puerto Castilla is a village in the Colón Department of Honduras located approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Trujillo. This port city on the Caribbean Sea was the one-time site of the United Fruit Company's Castilla Division which specialized in the growth, cultivation and shipments of the Gros Michel banana. This division was closed in the late 1930s as a result of 'Panama disease', a blight on the roots of the banana.
The Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas —Spanish: Puerto de las Américas Rafael Cordero Santiago (PLA)— is a megaport currently under construction in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The project aims to convert the current Port of Ponce into a value-added tax-free customs-free international shipping hub similar to, though not as large as, the megaports located in Singapore and Rotterdam. The Port of the Americas is Puerto Rico's main Caribbean port, and, at a depth of 50 feet, it is also the deepest port in the Caribbean.
The Port of Algeciras is the port and harbour of Algeciras, a city located in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It is a commercial, fishing and passenger port. Primarily a transshipment port, its position near the Strait of Gibraltar and key east–west shipping routes establishes it as one of the busiest transshipment hubs in the world. It competes with Tanger-Med for the local transshipment market. It consists of numerous maritime infrastructures scattered throughout the Bay of Gibraltar. Although only the town of Algeciras and La Línea de la Concepción overlook the bay, there are port facilities in the rest of the bank, also belonging to the municipalities of San Roque and Los Barrios. It is managed along the port of Tarifa by the Port Authority of Algeciras Bay.
The Port of Toronto is an inland port on the northwest shoreline of Lake Ontario in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The port covers over 21 hectares of land on the eastern shore of the Toronto Harbour, in an area known as the Port Lands. The port includes several facilities, including Marine Terminal 51, Warehouse 52, and the International Marine Passenger Terminal. The Port of Toronto is operated by PortsToronto.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the fourth largest in North America by tonnes of cargo, facilitating trade between Canada and more than 170 world economies. The port is managed by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, which was created in 2008 as an amalgamation of the former Port of Vancouver, the North Fraser Port Authority, and the Fraser River Port Authority. It is the principal authority for shipping and port-related land and sea use in the Metro Vancouver region.
The Multimodal Caucedo Port is located in Caucedo, Boca Chica, Santo Domingo Province, Dominican Republic. This harbor is only used for cargo operations incoming from several countries in the Caribbean zone and is the youngest and the most modern port in the island.
The Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA) is a port authority that controls ports in the cities of Hamilton and Oshawa in the Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. It was created in 2019 when the Hamilton Port Authority and the Oshawa Port Authority were merged by the Government of Canada. The amalgamated port authority replaced the Oshawa Port Authority created in 2012 and the Hamilton Port Authority which succeeded the Hamilton Harbour Commission in 2001. The port of Hamilton, located in Hamilton Harbour, is Ontario's largest and among the busiest ports in Canada. Both ports are located on opposite ends of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
The Canada Marine Act was passed in 1998 under the stewardship of David Collenette, who was Canada's Minister of Transport at that time. It was intended to modernize Canada's most important ports and make "the system of Canadian ports competitive, efficient and commercially oriented, providing for the establishing of port authorities and the divesting of certain harbours and ports, for the commercialization of the St. Lawrence Seaway and ferry services and other matters related to maritime trade and transport and amending the Pilotage Act and amending and repealing other Acts as a consequence."
The Puerto del Rosario Lighthouse also known as the Punta Gaviota Lighthouse is a modern active lighthouse on the Canary island of Fuerteventura. It is located in an industrial area at the north-eastern end of the town of Puerto del Rosario, the capital and major port of the island in the Province of Las Palmas.
The Puerto de la Cruz Lighthouse is an active lighthouse in Puerto de la Cruz on the northern coast of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. This modern lighthouse is situated within a seafront car park, to the west of the small port in the town. It is one of seven lighthouses which mark the coastline of Tenerife, and lies between two other modern lighthouses of Punta del Hidalgo to the northeast, and Buenavista to the west.
Christian Manrique Valdor is a Spanish civil engineer and the CEO and founder of Soulware Global Development. He was the youngest ever Chairman of the Port Authority of Spain, taking this post in Santander from 2007 to 2011.
The Port National Company of Honduras is a decentralized organization responsible for activities related to the administration of ships, loads, and works in the national ports. It has jurisdiction in all the maritime ports of Honduras. It was founded on October 14, 1965, under the government of President Oswaldo López Arellano.
The port of Cartagena is the port located in Cartagena, Spain. It is the fourth nationwide port in freight traffic behind Algeciras, Valencia and Barcelona. It occupies the eighth place in relation to the number of cruises. 60% of exports and the 80% of imports from the Region of Murcia are made through the port of Cartagena. More than 40% of the tourism that Cartagena receives is made by its port.
Caldera Port, is the main freight port in the Pacific side of Costa Rica, located in the Esparza canton of the Puntarenas province.