Fort Johnston, Southport NC
Southport NC is located near the mouth of the Cape Fear River into the Atlantic Ocean. All oceangoing ships have to go by Southport on their way north to the NC State Port of Wilmington NC or the US Military Ocean Terminal at Sunny Point. The port at Wilmington is a small port by international standards but is growing, and usually has at 1 to 2 large ocean going merchant ships calling on it daily, sometimes more.
Interestingly, Southport is listed on AIS as a separate port and the Marina is also owned by the NC State Port Authority. There has been talk of building container ship terminals closer to Southport, but nothing has come of it so far.
There is some (limited) public parking located on Bay Street associated with old Fort Johnston (the red brick building). The white building beside it is the NC Maritime Museum at Southport and is both worth the visit and free. There are public bathrooms open in the daytime located in the back of the red brick building. There is a public pier located on Bay Street in front of Fort Johnston that can be used for ship spotting purposes.
Southport is also home to the Southport-Fort Fisher ferry run by NC DOT over the Cape Fear River and the private ferry to Bald Head Island. The town itself is a funky little seaside village well worth the visit, IMHO.
Some links-
http://www.ncbrunswick.com/activity/fort-johnston-southport-museum-visitor-center-southport
http://ncmaritimemuseumsouthport.com/