APRIL 2026 NORTHEAST PORTS 11 On behalf of its maritime employer members, the Boston Shipping Association (BSA) carries out its mission by facilitating collaboration between its members, labor unions and maritime stakeholders and by negotiating and administrating union collective bargaining agreements. Through its actions the BSA seeks to encourage the protection and growth of traditional maritime industries in the Port of Boston and emphasize the safety of those industries and their workers. THE BOSTON SHIPPING ASSOCIATION, INC HELPING CONNECT GOODS AND PEOPLE SINCE 1946 WWW.BOSTONSHIPPINGASSOC.COM within the Quonset Business Park (QBP) run by the Quon- set Development Corpora- tion (QDC) (a quasi-state agency), is one of the coun- try’s most unique port opera- tions. The port is located near the mouth of Narragansett Bay, operates five terminals with 4,500 feet of berthing space and 235 acres of oper- ating capacity. The port has no Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) and a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) located within QBP along with its own on-the-dock rail system. Although the port is one of the nation’s less well- known ports, the Port of Davisville regularly is in the top ten in the nation for auto imports. Vehicle imports through the Port of Davis- ville have increased from approximately 90,000 in the mid-2000s to an average of 236,000 annually between 2020 and 2025. The auto importer and processor, North Atlantic Dis- tribution, Inc. better known as NORAD, whose appropri- ate tagline is “5 million cars and counting” which operates from the QBP, imported over 65 makes and models of vehi- cles and processed 238,146 finished automobiles in 2025. Overall, 212,045 vehicles arrived by ship while rail and trucks accounted for 26,201. While this was a good per- formance for NORAD and the Port of Davisville auto imports experienced a slow- down due to tariffs and the general uncertainty surround- ing auto imports and RO/RO calls to the US. In 2025, the Port of Davis- ville had 306 ship calls, of which 84 were offshore wind related vessels, and handled around 506,399 short tons of non-automobile cargo, repre- senting a decrease from 2024, primarily due to the arrival of heavy steel piles needed to build QDC’s new Terminal 5 Pier in 2024. The opening of Pier 5 and the Blue Economy Sup- port Docks in September of 2025 represented a major project accomplishment for the port as it was the first new pier built at Quonset in almost 70 years. The Termi- nal 5 Pier offers specialized berthing spaces to accom- modate a variety of vessels and cargoes. The Blue Econ- omy Support Docks and Boat Ramp accommodate smaller boats and the short-term docking needs of small busi- nesses, emerging companies and research and develop- ment organizations. The Ter- minal 5 project was funded through State Fiscal Recov- ery Funds allocated to Rhode Island as part of the Ameri- can Rescue Plan Act. Another port project is the rehabilitation of Pier 1. The over eight-decade old pier is being repaired and rebuilt with funding assis- tance from three separate Fed- eral Maritime Administration (MARAD) grants, Rhode Island State Fiscal Recovery Funds, and a Rhode Island General Obligation Bond. In 2025, reconstruction of the North-East Face was com- pleted, and demolition and reconstruction of the North Face commenced. A new stern ramp is in final design, which will enable the Port to receive automobile imports from a greater variety of ship sizes and types. While much has gone right for the QDC and Port of Davisville, the port’s future development hit a speed bump when the Trump Administration decided to halt offshore wind genera- tion projects — including the nearly finished Revolution offshore wind farm for which the Port of Davisville was the principal staging area. Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed at the ribbon cut- ting for Pier 5 addressed the funding cuts saying, “The Trump Administration’s need- less halting of the Revolu- tion Wind 704-megawatt project has cast a shadow of uncertainty on thousands of jobs and could raise energy prices. And the Administra- tion’s recent termination of a separate $11.25 million fed- eral grant [US Department of Transportation (USDOT) withdrew an $11.25 million grant that was awarded to QDC as part of a $679 mil- lion cut in federal funding nationwide] for additional upgrades at Quonset is a senseless attack on this eco- nomic center for our state.” Despite the Trump Admin- istration’s efforts to stop con- struction, first in August of 2025 and more recently in December of 2025 — on both occasions challenges to the Administration were success- ful and federal judges allowed construction to continue. On March 13th Revolution Wind began delivering power to the New England. So, while there still remains a great degree of uncertainty, projects are still moving ahead for the Port of Davis- ville and the importance of the port to Rhode Island con- tinues to grow. Connecticut Ports: Offshore Wind the Key The future success of the Port of New London is hinged to the success of the offshore wind projects it was rebuilt to handle. In 2025 The New London State Pier (NLSP) redevelopment was completed and deemed oper- ational with its operator Gate- way New London and Ørsted Wind Power North America, LLC leasing the facility from (HEADWAY – continued from page 10) Connecticut Port Authority (CPA). The lease agreement with Ørsted is for ten years and runs through 2033. Although the pier’s pri- mary design is to handle offshore wind related compo- nents, the renovation enables the facility to handle many different types of cargo such as bulk and break-bulk oper- ations as well as RO/RO. The pier also has a rail connection. The offshore wind power projects the State Pier is expected to handle include: • South Fork Wind: 12 Tur- bines (132–megawatts): New York • Revolution Wind: 65 Tur- bines (704–megawatts; Con- necticut (304–megawatts) and New York (400–megawatts) • Sunrise Wind: 84 Turbines (880/924–megawatts): New York As mentioned above, on (HEADWAY – continued on page 12)
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