East coast thrives

Speaking exclusively to Port Strategy, a PANYNJ spokesperson said the congestion that has rocked US west coast ports, notably Los Angeles and Long Beach, hasn’t impacted operations or throughput.

“Operations at the Port of New York and New Jersey remain strong,” said Amanda Kwan, Senior public information officer, media Relations at PANYNJ.

There are no labour shortages or significant shipping backlogs. As of this morning (15 November), there are just 4 vessels at anchor off port waiting to dock. Year to date, container vessels have averaged less than 1.5 days at anchor. Dwell time has been running about twice normal throughout the pandemic.”

The port has had record-setting growth in cargo volumes for 14 consecutive months. We moved 724,418 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in September 2021. This was a record for the month of September.

What’s the score in California?

Multiple recent initiatives have been put in place to combat congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, including extending truck operation hours, a dwell penalty for import containers and a new queuing process to reduce the number of backlogged ships at anchorage off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in the coming months.

The US Government has also recently announced a US$17b 10-step action plan to accelerate investment in ports, waterways and freight networks.