Our History
Ask any Exchange members about their reasons for joining our organization and you’ll get as many different answers as there are members. That’s because the Exchange offers a wide range of services to meet the varying needs and interests of its membership.
For over 130 years, the Maritime Exchange has served as “the voice of the port” for the Delaware River maritime community. In the 1870’s, Philadelphia was a city of close to 1 million people. It was the country’s third largest city and home to the country’s second biggest port, with more than 7,000 vessels arriving and departing annually. Then, as today, the shipping industry had a significant impact on the city’s economy and on the livelihoods of many of its residents.
A Bit of History
According to records from the period, in 1878 over 1,600 foreign trade vessels, comprised of 500 American flag vessels and 1,100 foreign flag vessels, called on Philadelphia. During this same year, there were over 5,800 arrivals in the coastwise trade, 4,000 of which were schooners. This was also an era which saw sail slowly giving way to steam.
Philadelphia was enjoying a resurgence of commercial activities following the end of the Civil War just ten years earlier. As businesses prospered, a group of influential men in the maritime and business communities recognized the importance of Philadelphia’s positioning with respect to other North American ports, notably New York, Baltimore and Boston. The large scale of shipping activity in Philadelphia was good, but could it be made better?
On February 25, 1875, these leaders met with the purpose of forming an association, to be called the Maritime Exchange, that would position the city as a premier port. Minutes from that meeting note that an Exchange “would bring us more intimately together, would facilitate many of our transactions and increase our individual business. It would afford us an opportunity of consulting together and of adopting many measures that would lessen the expenses of Philadelphia as a port of entry, and enable us as a body to send abroad information to the whole world showing that Philadelphia possesses advantages second to no other sea port on this continent...” The records show that the group’s goals were to increase the city’s direct trade with foreign countries and to ensure that Delaware River ports would offer quick turnaround and better ship handling by assisting vessel operations, promoting harbor development and enhancing local maritime practices.
Membership and interest in the Maritime Exchange continued to grow, and seven years later, on March 31, 1882, the organization was incorporated under a Pennsylvania statute. The Commonwealth granted a perpetual charter which states, in part, that the Maritime Exchange would “acquire, preserve, and disseminate all maritime and other business information, and do such other and lawful acts as will tend to promote and encourage trade and commerce of the Port of Philadelphia.”
One of the first acts of the newly chartered Exchange was to address ship turnaround time in port. In the 1870s, little advance planning was possible because a ship’s arrival could not be anticipated with any degree of accuracy. The solution was to establish a ship reporting service on the approaches to Philadelphia. With observation stations located at strategic points, ship movements could be communicated by telegraph to a central point in Philadelphia where the information could be provided to the many parties concerned with the ship while it was in port.
The Exchange Today
Since that time, the Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay has been providing information of this nature 24 hours a day. While the number and exact locations of the Exchange’s reporting stations have varied over the years, and while there have been modifications in the techniques used, the basic service and function is the same today as it was in the 1870’s.
The Exchange continues to promote and encourage commerce on the Delaware River and Bay by fully utilizing today’s modern technologies. As the operator of the tri-state port community’s port automation system, Maritime On-Line®, the Exchange’s comprehensive computer network is designed to improve the day-to-day operations of port businesses.
Of concern to the original members of the Exchange, just as to current members, is river and harbor development. As the representative of maritime and transportation business interests, the Exchange has spoken authoritatively on these issues. From the first comprehensive channel deepening project begun in 1885, the Exchange continues to advocate on behalf of necessary improvements that will enhance and increase commerce and trade.
The original Exchange took an active role in proposing and instituting rules and regulations that governed the shipping industry. In 1876, the Exchange adopted forms of charters for the sugar, grain and petroleum trades. In 1887, the Exchange issued its first eighteen Maritime Rules of the Port of Philadelphia. In today’s more complex regulatory environment, the Exchange serves as the port’s voice for public policy issues. As the primary advocate for all segments of the tri-state port industry, the Exchange works closely with public port organizations, the tri-state Federal Congressional Delegation, and federal regulatory agencies on issues which impact the port and related businesses, both financially and operationally.
Communicating these important issues to members is a top priority. To keep members informed, the Exchange maintains an extensive library of publications, both its own newsletters, directories and legislative summaries, and a host of shipping guides, vessel registries and other publications critical to vessel and cargo operations.
When the Exchange was formed, Philadelphia was not yet lighted by electricity and the telephone had yet to be invented. Although times change, one certainty remains:. the Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay will continue to work to promote the best interests of the region’s ports and will stay responsive to its needs now and in the future.
