Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal is the name for the port facility in Newark Bay that serves as the principal container ship facility for goods entering and leaving the metropolitan region of New York City and the northeastern quadrant of North America. It consists of two components (Port Newark and the Elizabeth Marine Terminal, sometimes called "Port Elizabeth") which exist side-by-side and are run conjointly by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The facility is located within the boundaries of the two cities of Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey, just east of the New Jersey Turnpike and Newark Liberty International Airport.
The Port is fifteenth busiest in the world today, but was number one as recently as 1985.
Planned and built during the 1950s by the Port Authority, it is the largest container port in the eastern United States and the third largest in the country. Container goods typically arrive on container ships through the Narrows and the Kill Van Kull before entering Newark Bay, a shallow body of water which is dredged to accommodate the larger ships (some ships enter Newark Bay via the Arthur Kill). The port facility consists of two main dredged slips and multiple loading cranes. Metal containers are stacked in large arrays visible from the New Jersey Turnpike before being loaded onto rail cars and trucks. The building of the port facility antiquated most of the waterfront port facilities in New York Harbor, leading to a steep decline in such areas as Manhattan, Hoboken, and Brooklyn. The automated nature of the facility requires far fewer workers and does not require the opening of containers before onward shipping.
Since 1998 the Port has seen a 65 percent increase in traffic volume. In 2003 the Port moved over $100 billion in goods. Plans are underway for billions of dollars of improvements - larger cranes, bigger railyard facilities, deeper channels, and expanded wharves. New longshoremen are being hired as well.
Today, the major Port operators include Maher Terminals, APM Terminal (Maersk), Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT), NYCT, and Global Marine Terminal.
