Port of New York/New Jersey reports record October

Box volumes at the largest U.S. East Coast port were up 11 percent year-over-year in October, driven primarily by a 9.8 percent spike in loaded import containers.    The Port of New York and New Jersey handled a record number of containers in October, 544,677 TEUs compared with 531,302 TEUs in October 2014.
   “So far this year (January-October), container volumes in the Port of New York and New Jersey are up 11 percent and remain on record pace for the year. The year to date increase is driven by a 9.8 percent hike in import loaded containers,” the port authority said.
   The port handled 269,674 TEUs of imported containers that were loaded, 1,574 imported containers that were empty, 118,106 TEUs of exported containers that were loaded and 155,323 exported containers that were empty.
   The port authority’s ExpressRail on-dock rail system set a new all-time monthly record in October as well, handling 48,859 lifts of containers of all sizes for the month and surpassing the previous monthly record set in April 2015 of 47,661 container lifts. So far in 2015, rail volumes are 12.5 percent ahead of 2014 levels.
   Automobile traffic in the Port of New York and New Jersey also continued to rise in October, with 45,319 vehicles handled during the month, up 21.9 percent over the 37,170 vehicles handled in October 2014.
   Last week the agency’s board of directors today approved a three-year extension to an incentive program for ocean vessels that call on the Port of New York and New Jersey.
   The board approved an additional $3.12 million for the “Ocean-Going Vessel Clean Vessel Incentive Program” so that it will continue through the end of 2018. Launched in January 2013, the program encourages ship operators to improve their engines, use cleaner fuels and upgrade their technology to reduce emissions from ocean-going vessels, which are the largest source of air pollutants at port facilities.
   Based on scoring, vessels can receive incentives between $1,000 and $2,500 per vessel call on the port. To encourage vessel operators to send their cleanest ships to the port, an additional incentive is provided for ships equipped with newer engines of $1,000 to $2,000 per vessel call depending on the type of engine.