Total ship arrivals were 2,183 in 2011, up from 2,028 in 2010, said Paul Myhre, operations director for the Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay.
In Philadelphia, "automobiles were by far the primary generator of the increase," said Robert Blackburn, the port authority's senior deputy executive director.
Piers and terminals in Philadelphia handled 3.99 million metric tons last year, - the weight of about 12 Empire State Buildings - up from 3.62 million metric tons the year before.
In all, 127,347 new Hyundai and Kia autos arrived at Packer Avenue Marine Terminal from South Korea, headed for U.S. showrooms, compared with the 68,876 that rolled off ships in 2010 after the auto-processing operation started in August of that year.
The Port of Wilmington had 412 ship arrivals, including oil tankers, a 13 percent increase over 2010, said Thomas Keefer, deputy executive port director.
Wilmington saw a 24 percent increase from 2010 in cargo tonnage - to 4.6 million metric tons.
"The largest increases were perishables, primarily fruit, and dry bulk commodities such as specialty ores, steel scrap, road salt," Keefer said.
Gloucester Terminals L.L.C. in New Jersey, privately owned by the Holt family, had 202 ships in 2011, compared with 150 in 2010. The main cargoes were fruit and steel.
"We've seen climatic shifts, especially in the seasonal fruits," said Leo Holt, president of Holt Logistics Corp. "Chile consistently for 20 years delivered fruit around Thanksgiving."
In the last two years the Chilean fruit season has been later. Now, more early winter fruit is coming from Brazil and Peru, although Chilean fruit remains "one of the major anchors" in local ports, Holt said. Industrial commodities, including steel and plywood, remain down.
