Port of Charleston

The Port of Charleston is a seaport located in South Carolina in the Southeastern United States. The port's facilities span three municipalities — Charleston, North Charleston, and Mount Pleasant — with six public terminals owned and operated by the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA). These facilities handle containers, motor vehicles and other rolling stock, non-containerized goods and project cargo, as well as Charleston's cruise ship operation. Additional facilities in the port are privately owned and operated, handling bulk commodities like petroleum, coal and steel.

Charleston's earliest history is tied to its prominence as a center of trade. After establishing Charles Towne along the banks of the Ashley River in 1670, the original settlers moved to the Charleston peninsula, favoring that location's natural harbor. By 1682 Charles Towne was declared the port of entry for the colony. From the founding of the colony until the start of the American Civil War, the colony's principal exports were lumber and naval stores, furs and animal skins, rice, indigo, cotton, and tobacco; and imports of primarily African slaves until the late 1700s. As a result of this trade, the colony flourished.

The Port of Charleston later suffered in the wake of the Civil War. The harbor itself was in shambles and filled with mines and the wrecks of sunken Confederate and Union ships. The Southern economy had little to export and Charleston's network of private wharves were neglected and left to ruin. The establishment of several major federal military bases during the early 20th century benefited Charleston Harbor tremendously. Because of this federal presence, the harbor itself was well-maintained and greatly improved over the years. Mayor John P. Grace brought renewed interest in reviving the Port of Charleston's shipping presence by establishing the Port Utilities Commission in the early 1920s. In 1922 the city purchased the Charleston Terminal Company, which owned the majority of the peninsula's commercial waterfront assets, for $1.5 million. In 1942, the South Carolina Legislature established the South Carolina Ports Authority with the responsibility to foster waterborne commerce for the benefit of the State of South Carolina.

In 2020, the Port of Charleston ranked as the 6th port in the United States by cargo value, with over $72 billion in imports and exports traded across the docks. The Port of Charleston hosts shipping services by all of the globe's top container carriers. In fiscal year 2021, the Port of Charleston handled 2.85 million twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs).

The South Carolina Ports Authority invested $1.05 billion in new and existing facilities between Fiscal Years 2016 and 2020, including Phase 1 of the recently opened Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal, as well as major improvements to existing facilities, technology upgrades, and two inland ports in Greer and Dillon. Today, the Port of Charleston boasts the deepest water in the southeast region and regularly handles post-Panamax vessels passing through the newly expanded Panama Canal. A next-generation harbor deepening project is currently underway to take the Port of Charleston's entrance channel to 54 feet and harbor channel to 52 feet at mean low tide. With an average high tide of 6 feet, the depth clearances will become 60 feet and 58 feet respectively.

In response to the growth in traffic at both Charleston and the Port of Savannah, the Jasper Ocean Terminal is planned to be built on the Savannah River by 2035.

Here is a local Business that supports the community

Google Map- https://goo.gl/maps/W92QLUUbXSsdEkbZ9

64 Surfsong Rd, Johns Island, SC 29455

Be sure to check out this attraction too!