Blizzard shuts down container terminals at northeast ports

Seven states declared state of emergency

The nor'easter shut down container operations at the Port of New York-New Jersey. The Port Liberty truck dispatch gate was empty Monday morning. (Photo: Port Liberty gate cam)

Seven states declared a state of emergency prior to the blizzard, which moved into the New York metropolitan area midday Sunday. There was a travel ban ahead of a forecast calling for as much as 24 inches of snow for some locations along the coast. 

At Port Newark, 13 inches of snow had fallen as of 9 a.m. ET, shutting down container and ro-ro operations at the busiest East Coast maritime gateway.

All gates and operations at APM Terminals, Port Newark Container Terminal, Maher Terminals, Ports America, Port Liberty, and Red Hook Barge Terminal were closed. C&C, Elizabeth Chassis Depot, Columbia Container & Bayonne Chassis Depot were also shut down by the nor’easter.

APM in an update said that the terminal will also be closed Tuesday, and that the earliest it would resume vessel operations is Tuesday at 7 p.m.

It plans to make a decision on resuming gate operations by noon Tuesday.

The Port Authority of New York-New Jersey said another three to six inches of snow was expected to fall by 8 p.m. Monday.

At the Port of Baltimore, the Seagirt Terminal was closed, while other public terminals had delayed openings.

Most terminals announced they would make decisions on re-opening late Monday.

This article was updated Feb. 23 to add reopening information from APM.

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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Stuart Chirls

Stuart Chirls is a journalist who has covered the full breadth of railroads, intermodal, container shipping, ports, supply chain and logistics for Railway Age, the Journal of Commerce and IANA. He has also staffed at S&P, McGraw-Hill, United Business Media, Advance Media, Tribune Co., The New York Times Co., and worked in supply chain with BASF, the world's largest chemical producer. Reach him at stuartchirls@firecrown.com.