The Port of Seattle was the fifth busiest container port in North America and the 46th busiest in the world in 2005. The Port manages 6 commercial marine terminals with 26 container cranes, a modern deep-draft grain terminal, a customs examination station, and a foreign trade zone, including 1,400 acres of port marine and airport facilities. The Port also owns and operates Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where air passenger traffic set a new record of 32.2 million passengers in 2008, a 2.9 percent increase from 2007. However, passenger levels declined 4.8 percent during the fourth quarter 2008 compared to that period in 2007.

On the Seaport side, container volumes for 2008 dropped by 13.6 percent to 1.7 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units – a measure of container volume). However, the Seaport also experienced another record-setting year of cruise sailings. There were 210 cruise ship calls to Elliott Bay last year, and 886,000 passengers, a 13.5 percent increase from 2007. Grain exports set a new record in 2008 with 6.4 million metric tons of corn, soybeans and sorghum moving through the grain elevator at Terminal 86. The total is 20 percent higher than for 2007. Virtually all of the grain comes from the upper Midwest via rail. Much of it is used for livestock feed in Asian nations.

Seattle’s new Smith Cove Cruise Terminal at Pier 91 opened on April 24, 2009 when Holland America Line’s ms Amsterdam arrived, signaling the beginning of the 2009 cruise season. The two-story, 143,000 square foot building has expansive views of Puget Sound, Mt Rainier and the Olympic Mountains, and provides two 1,200-foot berths with shore power facilities -- eliminating the need for vessels to run diesel engines at dock. The new terminal is homeport for Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean International. The Bell Street Cruise Terminal at Pier 66 will continue to serve Celebrity Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line. And, for the first time ever, Carnival Cruise Lines will operate seven-day Alaska cruises from Seattle beginning in May 2010.

In 2008, the cruise industry in Seattle generated $274 million in local business revenue, 2,380 jobs and $8 million in state and local taxes. Each time a homeport cruise ship docks in Seattle, the related activity contributes about $1.7 million in area commerce.

Transportation services are provided by more than 30 steamshipline/agents, 30 tug/barge operators, and more than 150 truck/warehouse operators. In addition, the Port runs Shilshole Bay Marina, Fishermen’sTerminal, Bell Harbor Marina and Harbor Island Marina with over 2,300 berths for pleasure craft and commercial fishing vessels. The Port’s two cruise ship facilities host over 200 ship calls and 750,000 cruise passengers. For more information, go to www.portseattle.org.