Port History
Canada’s Atlantic Gateway: An Illustrated History of the Port of Halifax
James Frost chronicles the fascinating history of one of the largest, most impressive natural harbours in the world.
For over 250 years the Port of Halifax has remained a cornerstone of economic activity for the city, the region and the province as a whole. The Port’s strategic location made Halifax an ideal Gateway into North America for settlers and shippers and a perfect vantage point for military operations. The following is a collection of highlights and achievements in the Port’s history.
1700’s
1749Colonel Edward Cornwallis arrives from England to found Halifax. Over 2,500 settlers follow. |
1752Halifax begins North America’s first salt water ferry service. |
1758Halifax opens North America’s first naval dockyard. |
1800’s
1818Halifax becomes a ‘free port’ and allows foreign ships to move cargo in and out. |
1836Samuel Cunard, founder of Cunard Line, starts a steamboat ferry service between Halifax and Dartmouth. |
1837Halifax opens North America’s first yacht club, The Royal Halifax Yacht Club. |
1840Cunard Line’s Britannia completes the firm’s first transatlantic voyage to provide mail service between Britain and North America. |
1841The City of Halifax becomes incorporated. |
1872Intercolonial Railway opens in Halifax connecting the city to the rest of North America. |
1873Dartmouth becomes the first town in Nova Scotia to incorporate. |
1880Intercontinental opens Deep Water Terminus, a dock complex that can house 12 steamers simultaneously. |
1882A grain elevator is constructed at the end of Upper Water Street. |
1886The Halifax Drydock opens. |
1889The Halifax Graving Dock Company opens the largest drydock facility on the Atlantic Seaboard. |
1895The grain elevator and part of Deep Water Ocean Terminus are destroyed by fire. |
1898Imperial Oil begins operation in Dartmouth. |
1900’s
1912Halifax deploys a rescue mission after the sinking of the Titanic. 190 bodies are brought back to Halifax with many being buried here. |
1917A French munitions ship (the Mont Blanc) and a Belgian relief ship (the Imo), collide in Halifax Harbour causing the world’s largest man-made explosion before the nuclear age. The blast kills 2,000 people, injures 9,000 others and destroys 325 acres of land. |
1922The Royal Halifax Yacht Club becomes the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. |
1928Pier 21 opens as a gateway to Canada for over 1 million immigrants. |
1948 |
1955The Angus L. MacDonald Bridge opens. |
1961Dartmouth becomes incorporated as a city. |
1962The Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) opens. |
1969Dart, Halifax’s first container line, begins service at Pier B. |
1969The Halifax International Container Terminal officially opens and becomes the first common-user container terminal in Canada. |
1970The A. Murray MacKay Bridge opens. |
1971Pier 21 closes. |
1981The Fairview Cove Container Terminal opens. |
1982The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic opens. |
1984The Halifax Port Corporation is established. |
1986Fairview Cove Container Terminal expands. |
1987Pier 29 is redeveloped into a common user terminal with a Ro/Ro ramp. |
1988Pier C is expanded to accommodate two vessels simultaneously. |
1991CN initiates double stack rail service to the Port of Halifax. |
1992CN announces coast to coast double stack rail service. |
1993CN opens Intermodal Terminal for domestic traffic. |
1994The Halifax Port Corporation and South end Terminal construct Marine Terminal Entrance. |
1995Halifax hosts Canada’s third annual G7 summit. |
1997Redevelopment of Pier A at Ocean Terminals. |
1998Ocean Terminals named ‘National Historic Civil Engineering Site’ |
1999Canada Marine Act established changing the Halifax Port Corporation into the Halifax Port Authority. |
2000’s
2000Halifax hosts the World’s Tall Ships for the second time. |
2002Fairview Cove Container Terminals installs post-Panamax cranes. |
2004Halifax hosts World’s Tall Ships for the third time. |
2005Halifax hosts the 7th Annual Canada-New England Cruise Symposium. |
2006Halifax Port Authority opens the Cunard Centre at Pier 23. |
2007MacQuarie Infrastructure Partners purchase Halterm Limited for over $170 million. |
2007Cerescorp Company/NYK purchases two super-post-Panamax cranes and builds a new state-of-the-art truck gate complex for the Fairview Cove Terminal. |
2009Port of Halifax welcomes its 2-millionth passenger. |
2011Joined Green Marine, a North American environmental certification program that stems from a voluntary initiative by the maritime industry to exceed regulatory requirements. |
2013Received first vessel over 7,500 TEU on July 16, the Hapag-Lloyd Berlin Express, 7,506 TEU, at Fairview Cove Container Terminal operated by Ceres-Halifax. |
2014Richmond Multipurpose Terminals expansion project complete. First shipment arrived October 14. |
2014Became the first port on the East Coast of North America to provide shore power to cruise vessels. |
2015Named as the 2015 Port of the Year by the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN). |
2015Received first vessel over 8,000 TEU on August 3, the CMA CGM Vivaldi, 8,478 TEU, at South End Container Terminal operated by Halterm. |
2015Received first vessel over 8,500 TEU on August 7, the Hapag-Lloyd Budapest Express, 8,749 TEU, at Fairview Cove Container Terminal operated by Ceres-Halifax. |
2016Received largest cruise vessel call at the Port of Halifax, the Royal Caribbean International Anthem of the Seas on September 1. |
2017Received first vessel over 10,000 TEU, the Zim Antwerp, 10,062 TEU, on June 29 at South End Container Terminal operated by Halterm. |
2017Port of Halifax announces a record-breaking cruise season on November 24, with 292,722 guests arriving on 173 cruise vessels in 2017. |
2018Fairview Cove Container Terminal operated by Ceres-Halifax receives the Hangzhou Bay Bridge on March 29, 2018. At 8,974 TEU, this is the highest volume vessel call to date at Fairview Cove Container Terminal. |
2018Port of Halifax announces it has been invited to join TradeLens, a digital global shipping platform developed by Maersk and IBM through a Collaboration Agreement. |
2018Record-breaking cruise season announced on November 27, 2018, with 316,869 guests on 198 vessel calls. |
2019Dredging begins at the South End Container Terminal for the pier extension in January. |
2019South End Container Terminal operated by Halterm receives the CMA CGM Libra on January 12, 2019. At 11,400 TEU and 364 metres length overall, this is the largest vessel call to date at South End Container Terminal. |
2019Construction of caissons for the South End Container Terminal pier extension begins in Spring 2019. A caisson is basically a hollow concrete box that is built while floating (by a technique called slip forming) and sunk into place by filling with water and later rock (ballast). |
2019Placement of the first caisson for the South End Container Terminal pier extension takes place on July 9, 2019. The dimensions of the caisson are 17 metres wide, 21 metres high and 33 metres long. |
2019The South End Container Terminal was rebranded as “PSA Halifax.” It was previously known as “Halterm.” |
2019Record-breaking cruise season announced November 29, 2019 with 323,709 guests on 179 vessel calls. |
2020The Port of Halifax has received its largest vessel call to date. The CMA CGM T. Jefferson, 366 metres length, 48 metres beam and 14,414 TEU capacity, arrived at PSA Halifax at approximately 5:00 p.m. ADT on March 21, 2020. |
2020PSA Halifax, operator of the south-end facility, welcomed another major piece of superstructure with the arrival of a new Super-Post Panamax (SPPX) ship-to-shore container gantry crane. The crane was moved onto the terminal July 1, 2020. The arrival brings the total compliment of SPPX quay cranes at PSA Halifax to five. |
2020On September 10, 2020, the largest containerized cargo vessel to call at a Canadian port arrived at the Port of Halifax. The CMA CGM Brazil, 366 metres length, 51 metres beam and 15,072 TEU capacity, berthed at PSA Halifax at approximately 12:00 a.m. ADT. |
2020The South End Container Terminal extension at the Port of Halifax is now complete and is fully operational. The first vessel to call on this expanded piece of critical infrastructure, operated by PSA Halifax, the Zim Tarragona which arrived on October 23, 2020. With the extension project finished, the South End Container Terminal operated by PSA Halifax now has the longest and deepest container berth in Eastern Canada with 800 metres continuous length and 16 metres depth. |
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