Also known as the Richmond Deepwater Terminal, the Port of Richmond is located on the James River in Richmond, Virginia, 100 miles from Cape Henry and approximately 78 miles north of Newport News, Virginia. It is located at 77° 25' west latitude and 37° 27' north longitude and lies adjacent to Interstate 95. The port is the western terminus for commercial navigation on the James River and is four miles south of the central Richmond Business District.
The port of Richmond is a domestic and international multi-modal freight and distribution center serving waterborne, rail and truck shippers throughout the mid-Atlantic region. It handles containers, breakbulk, bulk, neo-bulk and livestock cargo. The port has container and general cargo facilities on the James River and is part of a supply chain network of over 600 warehouses.
Owned by the City of Richmond, Virginia, it is one of only a few municipality-owned ports on the East Seaboard. It is governed by the Port of Richmond Commission with day-to-day operations managed by Federal Marine Terminals, Inc. Federal Marine Terminals provides exclusive stevedoring services as well as a full range of supply chain management services including export, packaging and transfer as well as warehouse and inland distribution services.
Major port cargo include tobacco, tobacco products, textiles, newsprint, wastepaper, chemicals, steel, steel products, phosphates, forest products, machinery, project cargo, refractory, vehicles, pharmaceuticals, aplite and livestock.
The port used to provide service to northern Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America.
In early 2009, Independent Container Line (ICL) the port's principal carrier, discontinued its service to the Port of Richmond after more than 20 years. It continues to serve Chester, PA, Liverpool, England and Antwerp, Belgium and added service to Wilmington, NC. Eimskip, Iceland's biggest transportation company, began service in November 2006 [1] and it ended service in 2011.