Focus on the top US container ports


Photo: Port of NY & NJ 
Container ports of USA are significantly crucial for not even the national shipping and transportation, but also for the global market. Though US ports may not have the huge capacity and the massive impact of the Chinese ones, they remain strong and important players of the container shipping industry.
Container News  focuses on the US box ports and presents the nine of them, which are included in the World Top 100 largest container ports.

Countdown begins:


9. Port of Charleston -No. 84 in the world- 

Location: South Carolina
Operator: South Carolina Ports Authority
Annual container volume: 2.2 million TEUs in Fiscal Year 2018
A moment to remember: The CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt, a 14,414 TEU vessel, arrives in Charleston Harbor with only blue containers visible following a celebratory voyage to the Port of New York and New Jersey for the inauguration of the new Bayonne Bridge.

8. Port of Oakland No. 76 in the world-

Location: California
Operator: Port of Oakland
Annual container volume: 2.55 million TEUs in 2018
A moment to remember: Port of Oakland announced on February 2019 the order of three 300-foot-tall gantry cranes, which will probably be the tallest in Unites States.

7. Port of Houston -No. 73 in the world-

Location: Texas
Operator: Port of Houston Authority
Annual container volume: 2.7 million TEUs in 2018
A moment to remember: Commissioners at the Port of Houston Authority on April 9, 2019 voted to impose limits on large container ships calling on Houston Ship Channel terminals after petroleum shippers complained that the big ships would threaten export growth. The consequences of that decision will be seen in the future.

6. Port of Virginia -No. 61 in the world-

Location: Virginia
Operator: Virginia Port Authority
Annual container volume: 2.8 million TEUs in Fiscal Year 2018.
A moment to remember: In January 2018, construction on the $375 million NIT expansion got underway, with the project completion scheduled for 2020. The centerpiece of the expansion is the construction of 30 semi-automated container stacks at South NIT, served by 60 new rail-mounted gantry (RMG) cranes. This project will expand NIT’s annual throughput capacity by 400,000 container units, going from 850,000 to 1.25 million container units; a 46 percent increase.

5. Port of Seattle/ Tacoma – Seaport Alliance -No. 44 in the world-

Location: Washington
Operator: The Northwest Seaport Alliance (Commissions of Ports of Seattle and Tacoma)
Annual container volume: 3.6 million TEUs in 2017
A moment to remember: On October 2018, NWSA welcomed first PIL vessel since 2014. Six months later, ZIM also returned to the NWSA since the spring of 2017. With that way, NWSA gained back two important players of the container shipping market.

4. Port of Savannah -No. 38 in the world-

Location: Georgia
Operator: Georgia Ports Authority
Annual container volume: 4.35 million TEUs in 2018 (4.2 million TEUs in Fiscal Year 2018)
A moment to remember: In response to the growth in traffic at Port of Savannah and the Port of Charleston, the states of Georgia and South Carolina have entered into a partnership called the Jasper Ocean Terminal Joint Venture to develop a container port along the Savannah River in South Carolina. Best estimates as of today demand this terminal to be operational in 2035.

3. Port of New York and New Jersey -No. 22 in the world-

Location: New York-Newark metropolitan area
Operator: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Annual container volume:  7.18 million TEUs in 2018
A moment to remember: Container vessel “CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt” passed under the raised Bayonne Bridge and called at the Port of NY and NJ in July 2017, signaling a new era of container capacity in the region.

2. Port of Long Beach -No. 21 in the world-

Location: California
Operator: City of Long Beach
Annual container volume: 8.0 million TEUs in Fiscal Year 2018
A moment to remember: In August 2018, the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners approved a proposal by Toyota Logistics Services to redevelop its facility at Pier B and build a renewable energy fuel-cell power plant and hydrogen fueling station.

1. Port of Los Angeles -No. 17 in the world-

Location: California
Operator: City of Los Angeles
Annual container volume: 9.45 million TEUs
A moment to remember: In 2012, the port and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deepened the port’s main navigational channel to 53 feet, which is deep enough to accommodate the draft of the world’s biggest container ships.

Author: Antonis Karamalegkos 

Comments