Port of New York and New Jersey has record high

Raising of Bayonne Bridge helped drive increase in container volumes.    Cargo volumes at the Port of New York and New Jersey set a new record for the first half of 2018, with container volumes up 6.8 percent over the same period in 2017.
   The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said, “A primary factor driving the cargo increase is last June’s completion of the $1.6 billion Bayonne Bridge Navigational Clearance Project, which raised the clearance capacity under the bridge from 151 feet to 215 feet, allowing ships as large as 18,000 TEUs to pass underneath it. Previously, the maximum vessel size was 9,800 TEUs.”
   The port said currently 9.1 percent of the port’s cargo is carried on vessels that are 13,000 TEUs or larger.
   The raising of the Bayonne Bridge allows larger ships to access terminals in Elizabeth and Newark, N.J.
   Between January and June this year, the port handled 3,450,469 TEUs, compared to 3,229,675 TEUs handled during the same period in 2017. The increase was fueled by a 7.8 percent hike in loaded import containers, carrying commodities such as furniture, appliances and beverages. Export loaded containers also increased by 9.2 percent. Fewer inbound empty containers were handled.
   In June, total container volumes were 625,366 TEUs, up 7 percent from June 2016. Details are available here.
  During the first half of the year, ExpressRail, the Port Authority’s on-dock intermodal rail facilities, handled 315,011 lifts, 15 percent more than in the same 2017 period. The Port Authority anticipates that cargo transported by rail will continue to grow after its newest rail facility, ExpressRail Port Jersey, opens at the end of this year.
   In addition to cargo containers, the port said 281,224 vehicles were handled at the port in the first half of the year, 6.2 percent more than in the first half of 2017. It said the increase is due in part to a program launched in 2014 to provide financial incentives to auto manufacturers who bring new or increased business to the port.