Three very different East Coast ports: Davisville, Rhode Island; Baltimore, Maryland and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and their common denominator.
The Port of Davisville, the Port of Baltimore and the Port of Philadelphia are very different ports, but they share a common trait as they have important roles to play in their local — but different — economies.
They also are facing common challenges that come with the tariffs and other disruptions to the supply chain and international trade. Yet in all three ports’ cases, there are clearly projects underway that will boost their prospects for 2025 and beyond.
Baltimore - a Bridge and a Tunnel
Perhaps even more significantly the port made strides to a brighter future with the Howard Street Tunnel project. On February 1, 2025, the project reached a significant objective with the removal of rail spikes, marking the next phase of work on the Howard Street Tunnel Project. Scheduled for completion by the end of 2025, the $500 million project aims to increase vertical clearance in the 125-year-old tunnel and address 22 additional obstructions along the corridor between Baltimore and Philadelphia, improving connectivity to key Midwest markets. For Baltimore, the project will connect the Seagirt Marine Terminal Intermodal Container Transfer Facility at the Port of Baltimore to the rail system with double stacking capability significantly increasing the container handling efficiency.
And the port also received another bit of good news when on February 4, 2025, Maryland’s Governor Wes Moore and the Maryland Department of Transportation unveiled the new design concept for the Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild. The announcement came on the heels of the rapid completion of the finalizing of the new design and critical pre-construction assessments in January.
Of course, the Port, like others, faces challenges. Notably tariffs on vehicles and securing the promised funding for the new Francis Scott Key bridge from the Trump Administration.
Philadelphia - A Strategic Plan
In 2024, PhilaPort handled 840,751 TEUs, up 13% and 281,819 in vehicle imports, up 9%. The boost in box numbers was attributable to increases in trade from South and Central America — notably Colombia, Costa Rica and Guatemala which accounted for $694 million of fruits and nuts. In 2024, the port’s record number of TEUs was also attributable to bigger box ships calling.
On January 22, 2025, when the CMA CGM Marco Polo berthed at Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, the 16,200 TEU vessel became the largest ship ever to call at the Port of Philadelphia. This accomplishment was made possible by dredging the river channel to 45-feet and upgrades to the port infrastructure.
In addition, in 2024, PhilaPort broke ground on a new 165,500-square-foot refrigerated warehouse, marking the final phase in the completion of the PhilaPort Distribution Center. Slated for completion in 2026, this state-of-the-art facility will significantly increase cold storage capacity, meeting the region’s growing demand for refrigerated goods.
And while these accomplishments are important, the port has a much bigger vision for the future as Strategic Plan, Destination 2040 reveals. The plan which was unveiled in November 2024 outlines a comprehensive plan to guide the PhilaPort’s development over the next 15 years. In the meantime, like other ports, PhilaPort must navigate the issues presented by the Trump Administration’s tariffs on China and other nations that import to the U.S. through Philadelphia.
Davisville - autos and a pier
The Port of Davisville, located inside the Quonset Business Park, celebrated a major accomplishment late in 2024 with the reopening of the port’s Pier 1 South Face after 19 months of construction. With the South Face of the pier fully refurbished, construction has begun on the North and East Faces. The next phase of the project is expected to be completed by Winter 2025, and the final phase is expected by Summer 2026. The project replaced more than 1,500 wooden pilings that had been supporting the pier in Narragansett Bay since 1941 with 150 new steel pilings and a new concrete deck.
The Port of Davisville is one of the nation’s top automobile import ports. North Atlantic Distribution, Inc. (NORAD), which operates from the Port of Davisville, processed 304,593 finished automobiles in 2024. In total, the Port of Davisville had 382 ship calls - of which 116 were offshore wind related vessels - and approximately 3 million short tons of non-automobile cargo came through the Port 2024, representing a significant increase from 2023, primarily due to the arrival of steel piles for QDC’s new Terminal 5 Pier. Perhaps the biggest affirmation of the Port’s contribution to the Rhode Island economy, came in November when voters supported Question 4 on the ballot. With the $15 million investment, Quonset will make strategic infrastructure improvements including the continued building of offshore wind infrastructure at the port. The challenges for Davisville are keeping the momentum going for offshore wind development in the face of the Trump Administration’s push back and riding out the tariff issues that impact auto imports.
