Gateway at a Glance: U.S. Northeast

By Joe Zelasney

For more than 300 years ports in the Northeast have been vital centers of international commerce. Extending from the waters of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland north toward the U.S.-Canada border, numerous ports line the protected bays, inlets and navigable rivers of the Northeast.

Northeast ports provide a gateway to one of the most concentrated and affluent consumer markets in the world.
Northeast ports are preparing for growth. Rising costs and congestion at west coast ports have forced shippers to seek alternative gateways to the United States. Northeast ports are well positioned to serve over 170 million U.S. and Canadian customers within 24 hours of their docks. When the Panama Canal expansion project is completed in 2014 larger ships could make Northeast ports
even more competitive in attracting imports from Asia.

Boston
The Massachusetts Port Authority owns, operates and leases approximately 500 acres of property in Charlestown, East Boston and South Boston. The port’s access to the Atlantic Ocean is virtually unmatched in the Northeast, with a mere four miles of harbor navigation separating it from open-ocean.

The Port of Boston handles more than 1.3 million tons of general cargo, 1.5 million tons of non-fuel bulk cargo and 12.8 million tons of bulk fuel cargo annually. The Port of Boston holds private oil and gas terminals that supply most of the State’s petroleum. It contains two shipyards, ferry operations, marine research organizations, marinas, and a major U.S. Coast Guard facility.

Conley Terminal, the center of Boston’s dense cargo handling network in South Boston, handles the ports container shipments. The 101 acre fully dedicated container terminal boasts 2000 feet of berthing space and four post-Panamax container cranes. At 45 feet deep, Conley Terminal can service the largest container ships currently in service on the Atlantic.

In 1998 the Boston Autoport opened in Charlestown at the 65-acre Moran Terminal. Automobile imports and exports are an important business line at the Port of Boston, which processes approximately 50,000 autos annually. The Moran Terminal offers covered storage for high-end automobiles as well.

Cruiseport Boston is considered one of the fastest growing high-end cruise markets in the country. The Black Falcon Cruise Terminal, located in the Boston Marine Industrial Park, served over 233,000 cruise passengers in 2008. Currently, 15 major cruise lines call at the Port of Boston. In Boston the cruise season extends from April through November, and in 2009 more than 100 vessel calls are anticipated.

New York-New Jersey
The bi-state Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was formed in 1921. The Port Authority manages Port Newark, Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal, Howland Hook Marine Terminal, Brooklyn-Port Authority Marine Terminal and Red Hook Terminal. These Port Authority facilities, combined with Global Marine Terminal and other privately owned and operated facilities make up the Port of New York and New Jersey.

NY/NJ is the largest port complex on the East Coast of North America and the second largest port complex in the United States. The port handles every type of cargo, including: containers, automobiles/Ro-Ro, liquid and dry bulk, breakbulk and specialized project cargo (including live circus animals). The port boasts immediate access to extensive interstate highway and rail networks. In 2008, more than 33 million metric tons of waterborne general cargo, and 5.3 million loaded and unloaded TEUs moved through the port.

NY/NJ is investing billions of dollars in infrastructure projects designed to accommodate growth in Asian container cargo. The port spent $2 billion over the past five years to deepen its harbor to 50 feet and build on-dock rail at most of the port’s container terminals. The port plans to invest an additional $1.7 billion to improve road and rail access.

The Bayone Bridge, which spans the channel that leads to container terminals in the Port Newark-Elizabeth complex in New Jersey and the New York Container Terminal on Staten Island, has a clearance of 151 feet. The bridge is too low for ships able to carry more than 8,