The 350 acre APM Terminals Port Elizabeth facility, with an annual capacity of 2.3 million TEUs, is now undergoing a $200 million infrastructure investment program to prepare for the increase in ultra-large container ships into the global fleet and the US trade lanes.
Larger ship calls to the Port of NY-NJ’s Newark Bay terminals have been made possible by the raising of the Bayonne Bridge on the channel into Newark Bay.
The roadbed of the Bayonne Bridge, linking New Jersey with Staten Island, and originally completed in 1932, has now been raised to a height of 215 feet (65.5 meters), 64 feet (19.5 meters) above the bridge’s original 151 foot (46 meter) vessel passage clearance.
Watch: Tour New Bayonne Bridge
This will permit ships of up to 18,000 TEU to enter Newark Bay, including the APM Terminals Port Elizabeth terminal, as of June 30, 2017.
The channels of New York and Newark bay have also been deepened to 50 feet (15.2 meters) to accommodate the larger vessels.
As part of the infrastructure investment program, APM Terminals Port Elizabeth will be equipped with eight super Post-Panamax cranes (4 x 23-container wide reach, 4 x 21- container wide reach) and six Post-Panamax cranes with an 18-container wide reach, along with 24 inbound gates and 16 outbound gates to optimize truck traffic through the terminal.
Simulation Proves ULCV Safety at NY-NJ Ports
Gate and yard technology will feature optical character recognition, radio frequency identification, global positioning systems, closed circuit television and weigh-in-motion scales.
APM Terminals Port Elizabeth handled 1.33 million TEUs in 2016, or approximately 21% of the port’s total container throughput.
