Large Cargo Ship Trend Spurs $82M In Upgrades At NJ, NY Port System

NEWARK, NJ — One of the most important cargo shipping destinations on the East Coast is getting some big upgrades.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey recently announced that its busy port system will be seeing some multi-million-dollar investment through an ongoing partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The port district – which includes the Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal on Newark Bay – supports over half a million jobs in the Newark-New York region. It moves more than $200 billion in goods every year.

“For about 50 million people across several states, this port is the reason why we have food to eat, shoes on our feet and beds to go to sleep,” Port Authority chair Kevin O’Toole said.

The new investments between the Port Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers include more than $50 million through the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for the seaport’s berth maintenance dredging, berth rehabilitation and berth reconstruction.

A separate $32 million project will deepen and widen the Gravesend Anchorage outside the Kill van Kull waterway from its current depth of 47 feet to 50 feet. The goal? To give large cargo ships a place to anchor between Ambrose Anchorage in the Atlantic Ocean and the seaport’s container terminals.

With some truly massive cargo vessels regularly passing through the region’s waterways, there’s an increasing need for more anchorage space, which will allow large ships to move closer to the port during inspections, refueling or inclement weather. It will also help to create an emergency refuge area in the event of a mechanical or navigational issue, authorities said.

The effort to deepen the harbor has been ongoing.

In December 2023, the Port Authority’s Board of Commissioners authorized participation in a $20 million project engineering and design (PED) effort, split evenly between the Port Authority and U.S. Army Corps, to further refine the cost and schedule for the New York/New Jersey Harbor Deepening and Channel Improvement Project, which will further deepen and widen the navigational channels in the port by an additional five feet.

In May, both parties signed an agreement at the port’s marine facility in Bayonne to move the project forward to the PED phase. This phase will include inspections of the current channel, ship simulation modeling and design, and the composition of plans and specifications for the project.

The construction schedule would be subject to further appropriations by Congress and authorization by the Port Authority Board of Commissioners.

Things have been bustling at the port in the past few years, officials say.

During the pandemic, the Port of New York and New Jersey handled cargo volumes that ranged from nearly 19 percent to more than 47 percent above the amount of cargo handled before the pandemic. In 2022, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was the country’s busiest for four consecutive months during the industry’s shipping peak period. The Port of New York and New Jersey is now the country’s second-busiest port and a critical link in the global supply chain.

Federal assistance such as the partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has helped to get some vital maintenance and expansion work done, Port Authority officials said:

“The Port Authority’s longstanding partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Channel Deepening Program dates to 1989, when both parties started work on a $2.1 billion project that deepened New York Harbor’s federal navigational channels to its current depth of 50 feet. Work on that initiative was completed in 2016, after which the Port Authority raised the roadway of the Bayonne Bridge to a navigational height clearance of 215 feet that allowed the largest container ships in the world at the time to sail through the Kill van Kull to access the port’s terminals in New York and New Jersey. The harbor deepening project helped keep the Port of New York and New Jersey competitive within a global logistics industry that is increasingly using larger container ships to move containerized oceangoing cargo.”

The Port Authority expects the seaport’s cargo volumes to double or triple by 2050, as forecasted in the seaport’s capital and operating improvements blueprint known as the Port Master Plan 2050.

“This plan is a major priority for the Biden administration and sets forth a consensus vision and strategy for future ecosystem restoration in the region that, in concert with our navigation improvements to come, will ensure the Port of New York and New Jersey remains a premier port for the years to come,” said Michael Connor, assistant secretary of civil works of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

• See Related: Major Construction Begins At Port Newark, Elizabeth Terminal
• See Related: Newark Starts Planning For Future Of Port-Industrial District
• See Related: Port Authority Approves $1 Billion Budget Hike In NJ, NY

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