NORTH-EAST USA\\\


Like a phoenix from the ashes


A new building is rising defiantly on the New York skyline to take the place of the Twin Towers and show to the world that the US is still very much in business. And that is especially true of the North- East where government efforts to encourage exporting have spearheaded a surge in trade.


Issue 6 2011


35


Port Authority gets ready for the New York giants


T


he Port of New York and New Jersey is looking ahead to a


future of bigger ships and deeper water in its $283m 2011 capital programme. A $70m Harbor Deepening Program will continue the work of dredging the main channels to 50 feet and, when completed in 2012-14, vessels will be able to enter into the harbour at 50ft mean low water. A $45m Cross Harbor Program


will develop a barge to rail facility. Roadway congestion and pollution will be reduced and an important rail freight corridor will be reinvigorated, says the Port Authority. On the roads, there is a $26m


improvement scheme and a $24m Intermodal Rail Program, which will continue construction of a comprehensive rail system


throughout the port. Not only will this reduce the port’s carbon footprint but it will bring the port authority increased revenues, along with an additional 50% in intermodal rail capacity. Much of the investment in the


port of New York and New Jersey has been by the terminal operators. Over the past five years, Maher


Terminals has invested nearly $400 million in technology, infrastructure, and equipment acquisitions and now, at 180 units, has one of the world’s largest fleets of straddle carriers. It has also doubled the number of reefer plugs, and can now maintain up to 900 refrigerated containers on the terminal. Next in line is an upgrade to its data- processing capabilities to the state- of-the-art NAVIS terminal-operating


system, resulting in even faster and more efficient handling of containers. APM Terminals has added 84


acres, bringing the terminal’s overall size to 350 acres, and recently installed four new cranes whose extended 22-row reach can handle the largest cargo vessels afloat. It also introduced two new low-emissions, rubber-tyred gantry cranes and added enough


refrigerated


container racks to triple its overall reefer capacity to 1,284 units at any given time. Port Newark Container Terminal


(PNCT) announced a plan in 2011 to expand from 180 to 287 acres. Deepening of


additional berths


at PNCT is also planned which, ultimately, will give it three 50-foot berths and one 45-foot berth, boosting


overall capacity to 1.2 million boxes a year. In addition, forecasts indicate that cargo volumes will nearly triple between now and 2030 for Mediterranean Shipping Company, one of the terminal operator’s biggest clients. The Port Authority itself has


acquired the 98-acre Global Container Terminal on the Port Jersey peninsula in Jersey City and Bayonne. When coupled with the agency’s adjacent 70 acres in the former Northeast Auto-Marine Terminal, Global Container Terminal will expand to a total footprint of 170 acres. The Port Authority will provide Global with up to $150 million to develop and construct new container terminal space. New York Container Terminal also plans to add a fourth berth


to expand its annual capacity to 950,000 boxes. APM and Maher Terminals are


served by ExpressRail Elizabeth, which, with 18 tracks and 45,000 linear feet of rail, is the largest of the three on-dock intermodal rail facilities at the port with an annual capacity of 1 million containers. A new intermodal rail support yard west of Corbin Street will improve efficiency and capacity for both the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal and nearby Port Newark. Construction also began this year


on a flyover that will connect PNCT’s intermodal facility (ExpressRail Port Newark) to the marine terminal. Once the Flyover is completed in 2012, ExpressRail Port Newark will expand from its present two loading track capacity to four tracks. And the ExpressRail Port Jersey


agency will develop an intermodal rail transfer facility on the adjacent Greenville property that could handle up to 250,000 lifts annually. Overall, traffic looks to be


recovering with loaded imports in the seven months to July 2011 up 5.5% over the same period last year


to 924,500teu and loaded exports up 6% to 510,000teu. Total teu including empties are up 6.2% at 1.84m. Intermodal rail continues to grow


at a faster rate than overall containers – up 14.5%. The Port Authority adds that,


despite the recession, it has lost only one service in last 12 months – the CSAV Asia service. Indeed, most carriers are increasing the size of their vessels – for instance MSC now regularly brings in 9,200 teu ships and Maersk and CMA 7-8,000 teu vessels. CKYH has made NY/NJ first call


on its AWE4 service, bringing the number of first calls at the port to 32. The Port of New York and New


Jersey generates close on 280,000 jobs, according to a study of the economic impact study of its operations produced for the New York Shipping Association. (NYSA) and New York Maritime. The report, published by A. Strauss- Wieder published on 18 October, also showed that despite the economic downturn, jobs directly associated with port activity increased by nearly 3.5% since the last study in 2008.


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