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Table 3-6 Top 10 U.S. Maritime Container Ports: 2001-2006

Table 3-6
Top 10 U.S. Maritime Container Ports: 2001-2006

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(thousands of TEUs)

Port 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Percent change, 2001-2006 Average annual growth rate, 2001-2006 (percent)
Los Angeles/Long Beach, CA 6,624 7,243 7,755 8,639 9,242 10,390 56.9 9.4
New York, NY 2,355 2,627 2,803 3,163 3,387 3,629 54.1 9.0
Seattle/Tacoma, WA 1,436 1,619 1,746 1,990 2,494 2,304 60.4 9.9
Savannah, GA 813 1,014 1,124 1,290 1,469 1,581 94.5 14.2
Charleston, SC 1,159 1,197 1,250 1,421 1,509 1,493 28.8 5.2
Norfolk, VA 885 982 1,093 1,206 1,319 1,410 59.3 9.8
Oakland, CA 963 979 1,064 1,197 1,374 1,400 45.4 7.8
Houston, TX 783 851 933 1,098 1,222 1,268 61.9 10.1
Miami, FL 717 752 764 795 772 743 3.6 0.7
Port Everglades, FL 417 370 423 500 578 634 52.0 8.7
Total top 10 ports 16,152 17,634 18,955 21,299 23,366 24,852 53.9 9.0
Total all ports1 18,117 19,729 21,289 23,851 25,868 27,473 51.6 8.7
Top 10, percent of total 89.2 89.4 89.0 89.3 90.3 90.5    

NOTE: TEU = Twenty-foot equivalent unit.

1 The statistics include both government and nongovernment shipments by vessel into and out of U.S. foreign trade zones, the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
The data in this table include only loaded containers in U.S. international maritime activity. It includes U.S. imports, exports, and transshipments, therefore the trade levels will be greater than those reported from U.S. international trade statistics, which excludes transshipments. The data also excludes military shipments.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, U.S. Water Transportation Statistical Snapshot, available at www.marad.dot.gov as of May 2007.

  • Ninety percent of U.S. maritime container volume is handled by 10 U.S. ports. Three of the ports are on the West Coast.
  • Between 2001 and 2006, Savannah, GA container volumes grew the most at an annual growth rate of 14%.