The Port of Portland is a seaport located in Portland, Maine. It is the second-largest[3] tonnage seaport in New England as well as one of the largest oil ports on the East Coast (the second-largest prior to 2016[4]). It is the primary American port of call for Icelandic shipping company Eimskip.[5]
The majority of Portland's non-passenger terminals are for petroleum products, especially the Portland–Montreal pipeline, which has gradually reduced its capacity since 2010.[7] Container shipping through Portland has increased considerably over that same period.[8]
100 cruise ships docked in Portland in 2019, making it Maine's second-largest cruise ship port behind Bar Harbor.[9] A regional ferry service, Casco Bay Lines, also operates out of the Port of Portland.
From 1970 to 2008 the Port of Portland was connected by a seasonal (summer only) international ferry service to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Lion Ferry operated the first vessels on this route, MS Prince of Fundy (1970–76), MS Bolero (1973–76), and MS Caribe (1976–81). CN Marine operated the MV Marine Evangeline from 1978 to 1982. Prince of Fundy Cruises and later Scotia Prince Cruises operated the MS Scotia Prince from 1983 to 2004.
Icelandic shipping company Eimskip began container service between Europe and Portland in 2013.[12] Between 2013 and 2019, container traffic in the Port of Portland nearly tripled.[13] The construction of a cold storage facility has been proposed several times, most recently in 2020, as a way to make the port more valuable for foreign trade.