Port of NY/NJ posts drop in box volumes

On a bright note, the port authority said it will be using a $1.6 million grant awarded by the U.S. Maritime Administration to improve the barge program that transports containers between Red Hook in Brooklyn and Port Newark.    The Port of New York and New Jersey in September experienced an 11.3 percent decline in loaded import containers from a year prior, handling only 254,033 TEUs during the month, according to the port authority.
   Loaded exports in September fell 5.2 percent year-over-year to 106,170 TEUs.
   Total TEUs through the port during the month, including loaded and empty containers, reached 497,704 TEUs, down 12.7 percent from September 2015.
   According to American Trucking Associations’ news outlet, Transport Topics, Lenis Rodrigues, a spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, attributed the overall decline in box volumes primarily to the Hanjin bankruptcy and the COSCO-China Shipping merger.
   During the first nine months of 2016, loaded and empty containers combined through the port totaled 4.66 million TEUs, a 3.5 percent decline from the corresponding period in 2015. However, Rodrigues noted how 2015 was a record year for the port, while 2014 was a more typical year, and the port’s year-to-date container volumes this year are 8.6 percent higher than in 2014, Transport Topics said.
   Looking ahead, the port authority said it will be using a $1.6 million grant awarded by the U.S. Maritime Administration to improve the barge program that transports containers between Red Hook in Brooklyn and Port Newark.
  The grant will help support various projects, including the creation of the New York Harbor Crane Operators Training Center, improving the fender system at Berth 6 in Port Newark, and the procurement of two new high-tech machines to augment existing container handling equipment at Red Hook Container Terminal.