What is "port charges"

Port \Port\, n. [AS. port, L. portus: cf. F. port. See Farm, v., Ford, and 1st, 3d, & 4h Port.]

1. A place where ships may ride secure from storms; a sheltered inlet, bay, or cove; a harbor; a haven. Used also figuratively.

   Peering in maps for ports and piers and roads.
   --Shak.

   We are in port if we have Thee.
   --Keble.

2. In law and commercial usage, a harbor where vessels are admitted to discharge and receive cargoes, from whence they depart and where they finish their voyages.

   Free port. See under Free.

   Port bar. (Naut,) (a) A boom. See Boom, 4, also Bar,

3. (b) A bar, as of sand, at the mouth of, or in, a port.

   Port charges (Com.), charges, as wharfage, etc., to which a ship or its cargo is subjected in a harbor.

   Port of entry, a harbor where a customhouse is established for the legal entry of merchandise.

   Port toll (Law), a payment made for the privilege of bringing goods into port.

   Port warden, the officer in charge of a port; a harbor master.