Ports

The North Carolina State Port of Wilmington, NC  The Port of Wilmington is strategically located on the U.S. East Coast. Owned and operated by the North Carolina State Ports Authority, the Port of Wilmington offers terminal facilities serving container, bulk and breakbulk operations.  

Wilmington is one of the few South Atlantic ports with readily available berths and storage areas for containers and cargo.

An aggressive capital program has positioned the Port of Wilmington in a new class of service to the maritime transportation Industry.  A 42-foot navigational channel offers customers additional vessel capacity. Readily available modern transit and warehouse facilities, state-of-the-art post-Panamax container cranes and support equipment, and the latest in cargo management technology provide a broad platform for supporting international trade to the fast-growing Southeast U.S. market.

Recent and ongoing improvement to regional and national highway networks make surface transportation supporting the Port of Wilmington superior to neighboring ports. CSX Transportation provides daily service for boxcar, tanker and general cargo services.

The Port of Wilmington has ample capacity to support today’s cargo volumes and continues to invest in expanding the facility to meet projected growth in international trade, with a major expansion project currently under way.

The Port is a C-TPAT Certified location and is designated as Foreign Trade Zone 66.

The central location on the east coast of The Port of Wilmington offers easy transportation from the port to a large portion of the southeast and Midwest.  The Port of Wilmington has some of the most competitive rates on the east coast.  The terminal facilities handle bulk, break-bulk and containerized cargo.  The channel is maintained at 42' mean low water.  The Port of Wilmington has ample capacity to support today's cargo volumes and continues to invest in expanding the facility to meet projected growth in international trade.  The Port of Wilmington has a Foreign Trade Zone and the State can also designate additional FTZ subzones as demand to shipping increase.

Brunswick County's City of Southport may be the site of the new North Carolina International Port (NCIP) .    The proposed 600-acre port site is just three miles from open seas and if built will have a channel depth of 50' or more.  With the addition of this port, to the two others currently in North Carolina, in Wilmington and Morehead City, Brunswick County will sit ready in the future to accommodate the growth of manufacturing like never before.  No other county in the state will have the ease of logistics maneuverability Brunswick County will have if the international port is built.

The Economic Impact of North Carolina Ports: North Carolina ports have a considerable impact on the local and statewide economy-supporting 85,000 jobs and contributing $299 million  in local and state tax revenues.

Ports serve as the backbone of international trade, providing the most efficient and least expensive way to import and export cargo. Deep drafts ports accommodate ocean-going vessels which carry more that 99 percent of the U.S. overseas trade by weight and 61 percent by value.