Page 44: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2020)

Profile | Port New York/New Jersey 2020 SHIPPING & PORT ANNUAL

Port NY/NJ

Container Volume

Stands Strong

Por New York/New Jersey

By Greg Trauthwein orts are economic engines for the regions they serve, • Visits from 304 cruise vessels.

and the impact from business activities at the Port of “What de? nes this port is the water infrastructure (a 50 ft.

New York/New Jersey runs as big as the area it serves: draft); the land side infrastructure (led by the recent raising

P46 million consumers in a four-hour radius. The port of the Bayonne Bridge) and the facilities,” said Ruda. “Prior is an economic giant in and of itself, providing for more than to COVID, the cruise activity in Bayonne (RCCL) was doing a half a million jobs in the region (including 239,100 direct well, too. We were well on our way to becoming a 1 million jobs), a cumulative $36 billion in personal income and a cu- passenger cruise port.” mulative $99 billion in business income.

When Sam Ruda took over as Port Director in April 2019, Investment Strategy it helped bring the New Jersey native’s career full circle. A With 3,000 acres of maritime facilities, Ruda and his team graduate of Rutgers University with an economics degree, are embarked on deploying the Port Master Plan which will

Ruda has led a maritime life, spending more than two decades help shape the port’s investment, activities and impact for in the container shipping industry starting with SeaLand and coming generations. “Infrastructure upgrades have enabled ending with NYK, followed by a stint with NIKE managing the port to attract larger ships,” said Ruda. “(Since deepening its global supply chain and ? nally a dozen years running the the channel to 50-ft.) we’ve seen year over year growth in

Port of Portland before joining the Port NY/NJ in 2015 as the the number of containerships over 10,000 TEU calling on the assistant director. Port NY/NJ is primarily a containerport, but port.” Recently, the CMA CGM Brazil, at 15,000+ TEU ves- it has diverse operations as a vehicle transport hub, both im- sel, called Port Elizabeth the largest ever containership call in port and export, as well as bulk cargo, breakbulk and cruise. the port. On 75% of those containership calls “we are the ? rst “2019 was a record year for the port,” said Ruda, noting: port of call, which is obviously a great place to be,” said Ruda.

• Nearly 7.5 million TEU containers “Investment never stops,” said Ruda. “You want to always • Nearly 578,000 vehicles stay ahead of the demand curve, but that can be tricky. Our • Nearly 50 million tons of bulk cargo Port Master Plan takes a 30-year view and tells us that we • Nearly 102,000 tons of breakbulk cargo, and need to be planning for our next-generation waterway infra- 44 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • October 2020

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