NY/NJ container terminals reopen

   Container terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey are reopening in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
   The Maher and APM Terminals in Elizabeth, N.J., received ships on Sunday and the Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT) and Global Terminal in Jersey City were scheduled to open for business on Monday morning. Both Port Newark and Global will open their gates for truckers at 7 a.m. Monday.    
   The first ship is expected to arrive at the Global Terminal at 7 p.m. Monday. Port Newark Container Terminal also is expecting vessel traffic to resume Monday night. New York Container Terminal was scheduled to open its gates a 7 a.m. and Red Hook Container Terminal in Brooklyn at 8 a.m.
   The port authority said trucks would be allowed in the Elizabeth and Port Newark area from 7 a.m to 6 p.m. only until further notice. Trucks will not be allowed on the port outside of these hours.
   It said not all traffic signals are operating, so driver caution and awareness is required. The port authority asked port users to spread container pickups and deliveries throughout the day to avoid undue wait times at terminals. It said there would be no queuing allowed on the street and this ban will be strictly enforced by Port Authority Police.
   The port authority provided contact information for the main container terminals in the port here.
   Evergreen said it was declaring force majeure and “switching vessel calls to Baltimore or Norfolk or any other alternative ports until the port of New York resumes normal vessel operation.”
   The liner carrier urged shippers and logistics providers to contact their local sales personnel for the import shipment’s arrangement. “We shall nevertheless be entitled to full freight and charges on goods and the merchant shall pay any additional costs of carriage to and delivery and storage at such port,” Evergreen said.
   Evergreen also suggested shippers “contact your cargo insurers in order to obtain your insurers’ requirements under your cargo insurance coverage.”
   Geoff Giovanetti, managing director of the Wine and Spirit Shippers Association, said he has seen similar notifications from other carriers that are diverting cargo originally bound for New York to ports such at Baltimore, Norfolk or Philadelphia.
   For a shipper bringing wine into Boston through the Port of New York and New Jersey, he said the additional cost of trucking a container from Norfolk could potentially double inland transportation costs from $800-$1000 to $1,600-$2,000, on top of the ocean freight an importer might be paying to get his cargo from overseas.
   “Carriers want to minimize exposure to hardship to cargo, but on the other hand, they have a business to run,” Giovanetti said. And he said it could be worse, recalling how one carrier during the 2002 International Longshore and Warehouse Union strike on the West Coast discharged Los Angeles-bound cargo in Korea.
   Giovanetti said he has seen some carriers waive demurrage on cargo that was at the port when the storm surge from the hurricane hit the New York/New Jersey port, and encouraged other terminals and carriers to do the same, especially in light of the fact that it’s likely that some cargo will have storm damage.
   The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) noted on Thursday the container ship APL Indonesia discharged more than 1,000 containers at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) and the car carrier Prestige unloaded 1,300 vehicles at Newport News Marine Terminal. It said it expected as many as 3,000 additional containers to be diverted to Virginia terminals.
   Rodney W. Oliver, VPA’s interim executive director, said his port will seek to get that cargo “off the ship and up to the Northeast as efficiently and as quick as possible, because they’re going to need it.”
   VPA said rail operations are already operating around the clock and VIT had implemented weekend gate hours.
   “It is important to note that we’re not capitalizing on someone’s misfortune,” Oliver said. “Any diverted cargo is temporary and it is important that New York/New Jersey get back on its feet as soon as it can because of its critical role in U.S. East Coast trade.” – Chris Dupin