| Port of San Juan | |
| Location: | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Blankdetailstitle1: | Draft depth |
| Blankdetails1: | 36–56 feet[1] |
The Port of San Juan (Spanish; Castilian: 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). The port is composed of a total of sixteen piers, of which eight are used for passenger ships and eight for cargo ships. 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.
The Port of San Juan's cargo facilities are located on the southern portion of San Juan Bay. Of the approximately 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.
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.
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.
The Cataño Ferry (Lancha de Cataño) provides multiple daily round-trips from San Juan to Cataño.[2]
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 for cruise companies. Cruise ship companies, such as Carnival Cruises and Royal Caribbean prefer this setting, and have made the San Juan one of their ports of call. Some of the most recognized ships 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.
The following cruise ships are homeported at San Juan:[3]
The following operators visit San Juan:
The following is a listing of the majority of the locations served by passenger ship and ferry routes.
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.”[4] [5] [6]