Long time readers will know that the doctor has been telling you to set up operations in Halifax (if you haven’t already) if you’re doing business in North America and Europe or if you’re shipping between North America and Europe, India, and/or southeast Asia (including most of southern China) due to its strategic location (on a time-zone halfway between Los Angeles and London) and ready, quick access to many global ports from the Port of Halifax. (the doctor still stands by his 2006 post that said Halifax is The Best Place to Do International Business in Canada!)

The Port of Halifax has made considerable investments in infrastructure over the last five years — as pointed out in this post from 2010 pointing out that Halifax Can Handle Your Ocean Freight as a result of it’s $35 Million Berth Project to insure that it is the deepest North American port on the Eastern seaboard — and is now ready to handle the vast majority of your shipping needs (including heavy lift, special project, roll-on/roll-off, steel coils, forest products, dry bulk, and liquid bulk). At 16.2 m of depth, it can handle 8,800 TEU vessels with a 15.00 m Draft. Plus, it has transload capabilities direct to rail and cross-docking capabilities for efficient consolidation of shipments from 40 ft containers into 53 ft trailers and a full-service grain elevator.

The port’s ocean terminals have 13 berths with over 400,000 square foot of covered storage with direct loading to ship, rail, or truck; a 65,000 square foot cover shed with 20-25 foot vertical stacking capability with six rail loading/discharging bays and 5,000 linear foot of on-dock trackage; four truck loading docks equipped with levellers; and three dedicated cold storage warehouses with HACCP and CFIA approved programs.

As noted in a prior post, Halifax, via the Suez Canal, is a day and a half closer to southeast Asia than any other North American east-coast port and is two days closer to Europe. For example, it’s only 6 days to Rotterdam or Hamburg, 20 days to Singapore, and 21 days to Ho Chi Minh City. And rail to Montreal, Chicago, and Memphis is quite competitive. It’s only 1.5 days to Montreal, 3 days to Chicago, and 4 days to Memphis. And if you want to know how long it will take, the Port’s new HalifaxGetsItThere.com site has a spiffy new Transit Time Calculator in addition to Route Maps, a Schedule-at-a-Glance, and a Daily Status Report.

Just remember that HalifaxGetsItThere.com and come to Halifax. Your business will thank you for it.