b'14American Journal of Transportation ajot.comPhilaPort serving US Northeastdelaware river with velocity, proximity, flexibility ports2021By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOTv elocIty . p RoxImIty .Argentina, as well as Austra-F lexIbIlIty . lia, New Zealand and Brazil, Thosethreewordsareremain major trading partner chosenbyPhilaPortslong- nationsforPhilaPort,Costa timedirectorofmarketing,RicaandGuatemalamoved SeanMahoney,tosumupup in the past year to No. 1 whatPhiladelphiasseaportand No. 3 positions, respec-hastooffershippersseek- tively, according to Mahoney.ing to efficiently reach U.S.At the same time, grow-Northeast markets.ingvolumesofconsumer PhilaPort,unlikeotherpaperproducts,suchastis-more congested ports, has thesues,napkinsandpaper velocity to move your cargostowels,plusincreased tomarketmorequickly,demand for packaging mate-MahoneytoldAJOT.Werialsfore-commerceship-arecentrallylocatedinthementsandforlumberfrom U.S. Northeast corridorthestaying-at-homerenovators, biggest, richest market in thearecontributingtogrowth world. And we have the cus- in forest products activity at tomer service and attention to(SERVINGcontinued onPhilaPorts Packer avenue Marine Terminal is handling increasingly large containerships, comparable to other major detail that is needed in todayspage 16) u.S. east Coast ports, via a deeper Delaware River channel.competitiveenvironment. Wehaveinvestedover$1 billion in capital projects over thepastdecade,andwere notdoneyet,continued Mahoney, who joined the Port of Philadelphia team in 1991.Now, with a deeper Dela-wareRiverchannelrealized, five new super-post-Panamax cranes in operation and further infrastructureenhancements advancing, PhilaPort is living up to its marketing moniker as The Other East Coast Port whileenjoyingheightened containerizedcargoactiv-ityevenamidstpandemic-plagued times.PhilaPortschiefexecu-tiveofficerandexecutive director, Jeff Theobold, shares Mahoneys enthusiasm, telling AJOT, It truly is an exciting timetobeinvolvedwiththe Port of Philadelphia.Not only have we imple-mented hundreds of millions of dollars in capital improve-ments,butwearealready seeing them pay off, Theo-bald added.Citing compound annual growth of container volumes of 11 percent over the past nine years, Theobald commented, Thisisproofpositivethat we have been effective stew-ardsoftheCommonwealth [of Pennsylvania]s trust and enablesustopartnerwith publicandprivatesectors fornewtranchesofcapital, supportingcontinuedfuture growth of the port.In calendar 2020, Phila-Ports container volume was up 7 percent over 2019, with food and forest products lead-ing the way.Even during a pandemic, people need to eat, Mahoney explained. And, since Phila-Port is such a major food port, we have seen increases in our refrigeratedcargosfruits, vegetablesandmeatdue tothe Americanconsumers desiretoeathealthyduring these difficult times.WhileChile,Peruand'