The Port of New York-New Jersey has been closed indefinitely
due to Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged the area earlier this week.
“Port Authority staff and engineers remain on site at all
Port Authority facilities to inspect conditions and assess damage,” the Port
Authority of New York-New Jersey said in an Oct. 31 news release regarding the seaport’s
status. “Our primary goal is to ensure the safety of our workers and those who
use our facilities. We will resume operations at our facilities as early as
possible, but only when it is safe to do so.”
With the port’s closure, ships have been forced to either
idle offshore or leave for other destinations. In an interview with the
Virginian-Pilot newspaper, Virginia Port Authority spokesman Joe Harris said
that on Nov. 1, the Port of Hampton Roads was expected to receive two shipments
of containers and vehicles originally bound for New York-New Jersey.
The US Coast Guard, which has been assessing damage caused
by the hurricane, has said one of its highest priorities now is seeing that the
port returns to full operations.
“The United States is a maritime nation and we rely heavily
on the ports for commerce – 95 percent of our goods come to us by way of sea,”
USCG Vice Adm. Parker said following an Oct. 31 survey of the devastation. “The
port of New York and New Jersey is vital to our nation’s economy and we are
doing everything humanly possible to get the port back to full operations. This
is an all-hands on deck evolution.”
Although the hurricane led to the closings of numerous ports
along the Eastern seaboard, including facilities in Maine, Connecticut, Virginia
and Maryland, most of those have reopened. New York-New Jersey, which is near
where the hurricane struck hardest, is still without power.
NY-NJ is the third busiest port in the US, after Los Angeles
and Long Beach. It handles between three and four billion cargo containers
annually, valued at a combined $175 billion.
