Port of San Juan

Port of San Juan
The Port of San Juan is one of the busiest ports in the Caribbean and Latin America.
Location
Location	San Juan, Puerto Rico
Coordinates	18°27′47″N 66°06′42″W / 18.463134°N 66.111774°W / 18.463134; -66.111774
Details
Draft depth	36–56 feet[1]

The Port of San Juan (Spanish: Puerto de San Juan) is a seaport facility located in the metropolitan area of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The "Port of San Juan" is the general name used to call various passenger and cargo facilities located in lands around the San Juan Bay (Bahía de San Juan).^{[further explanation needed]} The port is composed of a total of sixteen piers, of which eight are used for passenger ships and eight for cargo ships.^{[citation needed]} The port's facilities, in addition to, Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport and the Cataño Ferry "Lancha de Cataño" services, are property of the Puerto Rico Ports Authority.

The bay and its docks are located along San Antonio Canal, a narrow navigable section of San Juan Bay lying south of Old San Juan and San Juan island, and north and west of the Puerto Rico Convention Center District and Isla Grande Airport. The municipalities of Cataño, Guaynabo and San Juan compose the south side of the bay and port.

Cargo facilities[]

A cargo ship unloading in Puerto Nuevo.

The Port of San Juan's cargo facilities are located on the southern portion of San Juan Bay. Of the approximately^[vague] eight cargo terminals, five are located in the Puerto Nuevo district of San Juan and the other three are located in the neighboring municipality of Guaynabo. The cargo facilities allow for more than 500,000 square feet (46,000 m²) of space for loading and unloading cargo.^{[citation needed]}

The location of the port's cargo facilities give it immediate access to Puerto Rico's vast expressway system and several major local routes, this allows for the fast and efficient transportation of goods throughout the Metropolitan Area and the rest of the island.

Passenger facilities[]

The Port of San Juan's passenger facilities are located along San Antonio Canal. Of the 15 piers in the channel, four accommodate cruise ships while others serve cargo vessels and the Cataño Ferry.^{[citation needed]}

Ferry service[]

This article or section appears to contradict itself. Please see the talk page for more information. (July 2019)

The Cataño Ferry (Lancha de Cataño) provides multiple daily round-trips from San Juan to Cataño. During the late 1980s, ferry service covered the San Juan area^[how?] and the trip lasted approximately one hour. The service departed and arrived at the Old San Juan docks, but its popularity was short lived and thus this service was stopped during the early 1990s.

Cruise service[]

Club Med 2 in the Port of San Juan

While most cargo ships dock on the south side of the bay, cruise ships arrive at one of the four cruise piers located along San Antonio Canal. This arrangement allows tourists to walk to major attractions such as Old San Juan and the Puerto Rico Convention Center District. The short distance between the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport and the cruise ship docks is 7 miles and makes the area a prime location^{[original research?]} for cruise companies. Cruise ship companies, such as Carnival Cruises and Royal Caribbean prefer this setting,^{[according to whom?]} and have made the San Juan one of their ports of call. Some of the most recognized ships^{[according to whom?]} to have docked at the Port of San Juan during the late 1970s and early 1980s, were the Carla C, and Cunard's Countess and Princess ships.^{[citation needed]}

Ships based out of San Juan[]

The following cruise ships are homeported at San Juan:^[2]

• Carnival Fascination
• Freedom of the Seas
• Celebrity Summit (seasonal)
• Jewel of the Seas (seasonal)
• Norwegian Dawn (seasonal)
• Norwegian Epic (seasonal)
• Silver Wind (seasonal) depart from San Juan to Fort Lauderdale
• Vision of the Seas (seasonal)
• (seasonal)

Future ships based out of San Juan^{[citation needed]}[]

• Disney Magic
• Star Pride
• Viking Sea

Operators that visit San Juan[]

The following operators visit San Juan:^{[citation needed]}

• AIDA Cruises
• Azamara Club Cruises
• Carnival
• Celebrity
• Costa Crociere
• Crystal Cruises
• Disney Cruise Line
• Holland America Line
• MSC Cruises
• Norwegian Cruise Line
• Oceania Cruises
• Princess Cruises
• Regent Seven Seas Cruises
• Royal Caribbean
• SeaDream Yacht Club
• Silversea
• Viking Ocean Cruises
• Windstar Cruises

Destinations[]

The following is a listing of the majority of the locations served by passenger ship and ferry routes.^{[citation needed]}

Operations during Hurricane Maria[]

After Hurricane Maria devastated the communications and electricity network in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, the Port could not get enough truck drivers to distribute containers of relief supplies. The landslides, floods, lack of gasoline, water and food, caused a "vast humanitarian and logistical challenge" and a FEMA rep said on October 3, "We are currently developing a strategy to reach the center of the island.”^[3][4][5]

See also[]

• Transportation in Puerto Rico
• Port of Mayagüez
• Port of Ponce

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

• Puerto Rico Port Authority's page (in Spanish)
• Estuario de la Bahia de San Juan(in Spanish)
• Norwegian Cruises to San Juan

Coordinates: 18°27′44″N 66°06′43″W / 18.4622°N 66.1120°W / 18.4622; -66.1120