Port of New York/New Jersey sets container volume record

Port authority says container volumes last year were 5.4 percent higher than in 2013.    The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Monday that terminals at the port complex handled a record 3,342,286 cargo containers (or 5,772,303 TEUs) in 2014, an increase of 5.4 percent over the previous year and 4.1 percent more than in 2012.
   The record volumes allowed the port to maintain its position as the busiest on the East Coast with nearly 30 percent of the total market share.
   ExpressRail, the port authority’s ship-to-rail system serving New York and New Jersey marine terminals, also set a new record, handling 465,405 containers during the year, up 9.3 percent over 2013. The previous annual record was set in 2012, with 433,481 containers handled.
   The agency said its investment of more than $600 million in ExpressRail – and its upcoming plans to build a new ExpressRail facility in Greenville Yard in Jersey City – has been critical to addressing the need for on-dock rail to improve port efficiency, competitiveness and reduce emissions.
   “Our port is continuing to reap the benefits of an uptick in the economy, which has resulted in the hiring of more dockworkers and economic growth for the region,” said Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye.
   The port authority noted that during the past year, 601 new longshoremen and checkers have been certified by the Waterfront Commission to work at the port. Five hundred and seventy-seven are currently working, and 24 are preparing to start their employment.
   In 2014, the port reported a 12.8 percent decrease in vehicles handled in the port – from 451,900 units handled in 2013 to 393,931 in 2014. To attract new vehicle business to the port in 2015, the port authority began a targeted incentive program in April 2014 to attract new automobile manufacturers and provide incentives to existing ones calling the port.
   The top import commodities in 2014 were furniture, beverages and appliances. Last year, 923,975 containers imported through the port originated in China, 179,715 in Germany, and 176,621 in India.
   In 2014, there were 2,432 vessel calls at the port, down 2.3 percent from the 2,488 vessel calls in 2013. The port said the reduction in vessel calls illustrates that much of the cargo coming into New York/New Jersey is arriving in larger ships, a trend that’s expected to continue after the Bayonne Bridge is raised next year.
   Construction on the $1.6 billion bridge project is continuing, and when completed next summer of 2016, larger post-Panamax vessels will be able to travel underneath it.
   Work also continues on the 50-foot harbor deepening project, which is expected to be completed in early 2016.