Port of San Diego
Port of San Diego | |
---|---|
NAS North Island is visible in the background. | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
Location | San Diego, California |
Details | |
Opened | December 18, 1962 |
Owned by | San Diego Unified Port District |
Statistics | |
Annual cargo tonnage | 2,873,613 |
Annual container volume | 823,560 |
Passenger traffic | 250,000 |
The Port of San Diego is a seaport in San Diego, California. It is located on San Diego Bay in southwestern San Diego County, California, and is a self-supporting district established in 1962 by an act of the California State Legislature. In addition to port activities, the Port District controls San Diego Bay and owns and manages the Bay's immediate waterfront under the state's Tidelands Trust.[1]
The U.S.
The Port is governed by a seven-member Board of Port Commissioners. One commissioner each is appointed by the city councils of Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach and National City, and three commissioners are appointed by the San Diego City Council. The Board establishes policies under which the Port's staff – supervised by the Executive Director – conducts its daily operation.
History
The San Diego Unified Port District was created in 1962 after the California State legislature passed Senate Bill 41 and the
In 1990, The Pasha Group began importing vehicles (Isuzus) at the National City Marine Terminal. A total of 15,589 vehicle units were imported the first year. Pasha now imports over 400,000 vehicles annually. In 1993, the Port and Tenth Avenue Cold Storage Company celebrated the grand opening of San Diego's first on-dock cold storage facility, built for $11 million, at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal. In 2001, the Board of Port Commissioners announced a 20-year lease with
Maritime
The Port of San Diego administers two marine cargo facilities, Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal and National City Marine Terminal. The Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal is a 96 acres (39 ha) multi-purpose eight
Cruise
The Port's main cruise facility is located downtown. The main facility, at B Street Pier in downtown San Diego, along North Harbor Drive, has three cruise berths. The Port also redeveloped the historic Broadway Pier to create a second cruise-ship pier and terminal, which opened in December 2010.[6]
As of 2019, San Diego is the third-busiest cruise port in California. Three cruise lines home-port in San Diego:
Holland America uses San Diego as a home port during the winter season. Disney and Carnival Cruise Lines have seasonal Mexican cruises in the spring and fall, as well as a Panama Canal cruise at the end of the visit. Multiple other cruise lines use San Diego as a port of call.The Port of San Diego experienced a 44-percent growth in cruise calls between 2002 and 2006, growing from 122 to 219 calls. Passenger numbers more than doubled in that time, from 276,000 in 2002 to 619,000 in 2006.[8] Cruise ship business peaked in 2008, when the Port hosted 252 ship calls and more than 800,000 passengers.[9] By 2011, the number of ship calls had fallen to 103, a decline blamed on the slumping economy as well as fear of travel to Mexico due to well-publicized violence there.[10] The Mexican government worked to improve the Mexican Riviera destination as well as public safety, driving a return of consumer demand. In 2016, the Port of San Diego's cruise business began an expected rebound, largely driven by growth in business for Holland America Cruise Line and Disney Cruise Lines. The number of ship calls grew from 68 in the 2014-2015 season to 102 in the 2015-2016 season. In 2019-2020 the Port expects approximately 92 cruise calls and nearly 300,000 passengers.[7]
Notable events
In November 2010 a crippled cruise ship, Carnival Splendor, was towed to the San Diego cruise ship port after drifting for four days without power or electricity following an engine room fire.[11]
In May 2013, Celebrity Cruises' Solstice became the longest cruise ship to date to dock in San Diego, during a Wine Country Coastal Cruise.[10]
On July 13, 2016, Vice President Joe Biden made a historic visit to the port, delivering a speech at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal.[12]
Ships sometimes make unscheduled stops in San Diego because of storm warnings along the Mexico cruise route. During one such diverted call in 2018, San Diego hosted the largest cruise ship ever to dock in San Diego, the 4,500-passenger Norwegian Bliss. The largest ships that normally call in San Diego hold 3,000 passengers.[13]
In July 2022, the port held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $1.35 billion project to construct a resort hotel and convention center on the Chula Vista Bayfront.[14]
Environment
The Port engages in public education for both adults and school children regarding pollution prevention. The Port protects San Diego bay through storm water management and endangered species management along with the removal of hazardous waste and contaminated sediments.[15]
The Port of San Diego has assisted in the restoration and enhancement of over 280 acres (110 ha) of environmental habitat including Emory Cove, and the Chula Vista Wildlife Reserve.[16] The port also started the Green Business Network, which is a voluntary sustainability program that provides education and resources to businesses along the waterfront, in order to sustain the ecosystem.[17]
Real estate
Real estate is one of five strategic activity areas of the Port of San Diego. The Port currently administers approximately 800 separate business agreements. Revenue from real estate assets and developments, primarily building and ground rents and concession fees, was approximately $96 million in FY 2014-2015. The Port of San Diego collects rents from many hotels, restaurants, parking facilities, yacht clubs, etc. around San Diego Bay.
Hotels
The Port of San Diego leases sites for 18 hotels, including the 40-story
Shipyards
There are currently three shipyards on San Diego Bay,
Harbor Police
The San Diego Harbor Police Department is the law enforcement authority for the Port of San Diego. Harbor Police is the police presence in the San Diego Bay, the San Diego International Airport and on all Port Tidelands. Harbor Police jurisdiction extends through the Port's five member cities: Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach, National City and San Diego.
The Harbor Police Department is responsible for Public Safety and Homeland Security on land, sea and in the air. It provides the highest level of security to the entire Port Tidelands and plays an integral role in homeland security.
Every sworn Harbor Police Officer is outfitted with a Patrol Rifle, Firefighting and HAZMAT Protective Equipment. Officers are fully sworn Peace Officers in the State of California and Certified Marine Firefighters.
The Harbor Police utilizes specialized units to provide high-level security operations which includes;
• Dive Rescue Team - the premier Police Dive Unit serving the San Diego Region for; Underwater Investigations, Rescue, Underwater Hazardous Device Detection, Body Recovery and bring a complement of advanced underwater technology not typically found on a Public Safety Dive Team such as specialized sonar and robotic technology.
• Explosive K-9 Unit - these highly trained Dog Handlers and their Canine Partners are the primary response for explosive detection at the San Diego International Airport and serve the San Diego Region for Mutual Aid.
• Task-Force Officers - Harbor Police Officers may also be assigned to regional special task forces such as the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, Narcotics Task Forces and Maritime Task Forces.
See also
References
- ^ "About the Port of San Diego". Port of San Diego. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- ^ "BTS Publications (Alphabetical List) - Bureau of Transportation Statistics". bts.gov. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ^ 40 Fact reflecting 40 Years of Service Archived 2007-11-11 at the Wayback Machine at portofsandiego.org
- ^ Maritime Fact Sheet Archived 2008-01-19 at the Wayback Machine at portofsandiego.org
- ^ San Diego Unified Port District Annual Report 2007
- ^ "New Cruise Ship Terminal Opens". San Diego 6 News. December 17, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
- ^ a b Concepcion, Mariel (February 5, 2019). "Port of San Diego to Welcome Two Inaugural Cruise Calls". San Diego Business Journal. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- ^ San Diego Unified Port District Annual Report 2006
- ^ "San Diego Metro Magazine". Archived from the original on November 20, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
- ^ a b "Carnival Cruise Lines pulling out of San Diego". San Diego Union Tribune. January 13, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
- ^ "Crippled cruise ship docks in San Diego". UPI. November 11, 2010. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- ^ Staff • •, NBC 7. "Vice President Joe Biden Visits San Diego". NBC 7 San Diego. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Weisberg, Lois (October 24, 2018). "San Diego gets its biggest cruise ship ever — thanks to hurricane". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- ^ "Construction on billion dollar bayfront project in Chula Vista begins". cbs8.com. July 27, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
- ^ "Natural Resources Management | Port of San Diego". www.portofsandiego.org. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
- ^ "Protection, Restoration & Enhancement | Port of San Diego". www.portofsandiego.org. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ "Green Business Network | Port of San Diego". www.portofsandiego.org. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
- ^ Weisberg, Lori (September 10, 2018). "InterContinental returns to San Diego's skyline". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- ^ "General Dynamics NASSCO". nassco.com.