Humongous Ship Cruises Into Newark Bay, Sets Record In NJ, NY

NEWARK, NJ — It was a monster of a ship that cruised into Newark Bay to dock at Maher Terminals Berth 68 on Monday. In fact, it was so big – longer than four football fields – that it set a record as the “largest container ship to enter into the Port of New York and New Jersey.”

Port Authority officials lauded the record-setting arrival of the “OOCL Berlin” of the Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) of Hong Kong and Salt Lake City, Utah, which is the first vessel over 13,000 TEU to enter the Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal.

“A 13,208 TEU vessel, the Berlin measures longer than 1,200 feet and is the largest vessel to transit under the newly elevated Bayonne Bridge roadway," officials stated. "To date, the longest ships to enter New York and New Jersey terminals have been 1,000 feet long.”

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Docking pilots from McAllister Towing and Transportation handled the Berlin, which is operated in a vessel sharing agreement with Ocean Alliance (OA), partners CMA-CGM, COSCO Shipping and Evergreen.

The vessel was rotated to the Port of New York and New Jersey to load empties on one of its many all-water East Coast services, Port Authority officials stated.

The Berlin will be joined by a sister ship of identical size, the OOCL Malaysia, later this summer, officials said.

In addition, three other ships from the same group — the OOCL Korea, the OOCL Chongqing, and the OOCL France — are being considered for future rotation to New York and New Jersey, based on market conditions in the second half of 2017, Port Authority officials said.

But if you think that four-football-field-long ships are big, then hold onto your hat.

According to the Port Authority, the OA and other carrier alliances have announced their intention to deploy even larger vessels of up to 18,000 TEUs to the Port of New York and New Jersey “as cargo demand grows and as fewer East Coast ports are able to provide infrastructure sufficient to safely handle and work ships of this size.”

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Photos: Port Authority of NY/NJ