Ports · June 23, 2026
Which ocean carrier you ship with helps decide which harbor — and which terminal — your container lands at. Here's who calls where across the Northwest Seaport Alliance.
The Ports of Seattle and Tacoma run together as the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), but the individual ocean carriers are assigned to specific terminals in one harbor or the other. Your steamship line and its alliance decide where your box discharges — so knowing who calls where tells you which terminal, and which gate, your freight is headed to. Below are the carriers at each terminal, as listed by the NWSA. (Carrier-to-terminal assignments shift when alliances reshuffle, so treat this as the current picture, not a permanent one.)
Seattle's largest container terminal carries the widest carrier mix:
ANL · CMA CGM · COSCO SHIPPING Lines · ESL · Evergreen · Hapag-Lloyd · Maersk · OOCL · SM Line · Swire Shipping · UWL
The rebuilt big-ship terminal is served by:
MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company)
So in Seattle, the Ocean Alliance carriers (CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, OOCL) and the Gemini partners (Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd) work T18, while MSC — the world's largest line — anchors the modernized T5. See the Port of Seattle terminals guide for the terminal detail.
Hapag-Lloyd · HMM · Maersk · Ocean Network Express (ONE) · Yang Ming Line
HMM · Ocean Network Express (ONE) · Yang Ming Line
CMA CGM · COSCO SHIPPING Lines · Evergreen · OOCL
Tacoma's breakbulk and roll-on/roll-off terminal serves the auto carriers rather than container lines:
EUKOR · Hyundai-GLOVIS · "K" Line · MOL · NYK · Wallenius Wilhelmsen · Liberty Global Logistics
In Tacoma, the Premier Alliance lines (ONE, HMM, Yang Ming) cluster at WUT and Husky, the Ocean Alliance lines (CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, OOCL) run PCT, and the auto/RoRo carriers work EB1. See the Port of Tacoma terminals guide for more.
You don't usually pick the terminal — your carrier and its alliance do. But notice the overlap: several lines (CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, OOCL, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk) appear in both harbors depending on the service. That's exactly why a drayage carrier needs to work every terminal in both Seattle and Tacoma — your box from a single steamship line could land north or south depending on the loop it sailed. From our Kent hub, central to both harbors, we dispatch against all of them daily and track each container's Last Free Day, so whichever terminal your line chose, the dray is short and the empty return is quick. (See Seattle and Tacoma drayage, or how the harbors compare in Tacoma vs. Seattle.)
At Terminal 18: ANL, CMA CGM, COSCO SHIPPING Lines, ESL, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, OOCL, SM Line, Swire Shipping and UWL. Terminal 5 is served by MSC. Assignments are set by the NWSA and can change.
Husky Terminal serves Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, Maersk, ONE and Yang Ming; WUT serves HMM, ONE and Yang Ming; PCT serves CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen and OOCL. EB1 handles auto/RoRo carriers like EUKOR, Hyundai-GLOVIS, "K" Line, MOL, NYK and Wallenius Wilhelmsen.
Usually not — your steamship line and its alliance determine the harbor and terminal. What you control is using a drayage carrier that works both Seattle and Tacoma so the choice doesn't limit you.
Several do, depending on the service. Lines like CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, OOCL, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd appear in both harbors across different terminals, which is why working all terminals matters.