Maersk Group-owned APM Terminals says it plans to invest $70m for a new berth capable of handling neo-panamax size container ships at the Port of New York and New Jersey.
The new berth, which will be capable of handling containerships up to 13,000 teu, will be located at the APM Terminals’ Port Elizabeth facility. The facility, which currently handles 1.5 million teu of container volume annually, will grow to 2.3 million teu with the new berth.
APM Terminals will issue a private tender for construction of the berth in the fall of 2016.
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the largest port on the US East Coast, handling some 6.37 million-teu worth of volume last year. But it still lacks the ability to handle the larger neo-panamax containerships.
The Port Authority completed a project to deepen to 50 feet (15 metres) three berths at APM Terminals, which will allow the terminal to take in larger containerships. But an ongoing project to raise the height of the Bayonne Bridge to allow larger ships to pass underneath has yet to be completed.
