With 247,211 teus handled in 2006 compared to the 204,912 teus handled in 2005, teu counts were up 20.64% over 2005 levels. Measured in metric tonnage, 1,906,832 metric tons of containerized cargo were handled in 2006, a 13.98% increase over the 1,672,931 tons handled in 2005.
Port marketing officials point to several new container services at PRPA's Packer Avenue Marine Terminal as reasons for the big increase in containerized business. In particular, Hamburg Sud's 'Trident' service, which has strengthened the Port's connections with Australia and New Zealand and established direct service between the Port of Philadelphia and Europe, has been very successful since its inception in early 2006.
On the breakbulk front, several individual cargoes showed gains, often notable ones. With 1,545,394 tons of steel handled in 2006 compared to the 999,369 tons handled in 2005, steel was up a dramatic 54.64%. With 784,777 tons of paper handled at the Port's Forest Products Center in 2006 compared to the 715,435 handled in 2005, paper was up a healthy 9.69%. With 10,628 tons of project cargo handled in 2006 compared to the 6,381 tons handled in 2005, project cargo was up 66.56%. Thirty-six thousand one-hundred-sixty tons of lumber were handled at the Port in 2006, compared to the 34,858 tons handled in 2005, a 3.74% increase.
2006 figures for other breakbulk cargoes, including fruit (108,394 tons handled), cocoa beans (179,129 tons handled), pulp (26,675 tons handled), and military cargoes (6,664 tons handled) were consistent with 2005 figures.
Liquid bulk cargoes also showed big gains in 2006. With 628,813 tons of liquid bulk cargoes moving through PRPA's liquid bulk pier (Pier 179) in 2006, compared to the 485,359 tons that moved through the liquid bulk pier in 2005, liquid bulk cargoes were up a healthy 29.56.
With all cargoes counted together, 5,295,400 metric tons of containerized and breakbulk cargoes were handled at PRPA facilities in 2006, a 21.28% increase over the 4,366,094 tons handled in 2005.
'My message this year is similar to what I said last year when we released our annual cargo statistics,' said Chairman Preski. 'The maritime industry is intensely competitive, yet we've once again managed to hold our own and make some significant gains in 2006, both in terms of tonnage and the quality of our facilities and services. Our current success, however, only underscores more dramatically the need to get the Delaware River dredged to 45 feet. If we are able to post our current successes without the deep water we need, one can only imagine the jobs and economic growth we'll be able to contribute to our region once we accomplish our channel-deepening project.
'And for those critics of channel deepening who say that our current successes demonstrate that the Port doesn't need deeper water to get ahead, I respectfully say that those critics don't know what they are talking about. Our current statistics and our higher cargo levels are a wake-up call that ships are getting bigger and more cargo will be moving through the ports that can handle it. If we don't deepen our channel to handle the bigger ships and their dramatically bigger cargoes, other ports will happily accommodate those vessels.'
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania charged with the management, maintenance, marketing and promotion of publicly owned port facilities along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, as well as strategic planning throughout the port district. PRPA works with its terminal operators to modernize, expand, and impr
