On Monday, Barbours Cut Terminal at the Port of Houston was shut down due to a collision between two vessels which caused a leak of flammable liquid cargo. The volatile and colorless liquid, known as methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) is an additive used to raise the oxygen content of gasoline. It is difficult to determine how much liquid was actually spilled, but the leak was contained in 90 minutes.
In light of the harsh winter weather hitting the East Coast, please see the following statement about the operating hours at the Port of NY/NJ :
“Please note that GCT Bayonne will keep it’s inbound gate open till 9pm next Monday (9th), Tuesday (10th), and Wednesday (11th). Cutoffs for double moves will be 9pm. Reefers will be 5pm.
On Thursday and Friday, the inbound gate will return to 6pm closure.
Double move cutoff will be 6pm. Reefers will be 5pm.”
For the Port of Newark:
“Saturday, March 7, 2015, PCNT will be open 7:00am to 3:00pm servicing all imports.
Due to the deteriorating weather conditions, the Maher Terminal at the Port of NY/NJ closed their truck line operations at 12 noon today. They will process the remaining trucks on terminal and plan to resume operations at 6:00 a.m. Should there be any changes they will notify via burst email and the Maher website. Additionally, APMT cut inbound processing today at 12:30.
According to the top executives at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, in three months, the ports should be free from the congestion and backlog that has built up during the months of negotiation between the ILWU and PMA. “We need about three months to get back to a sense of normalcy,” said Gene Seroka, the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles at the TPM transpacific maritime conference in Long Beach.
With the contract negotiations finally in the past, the West Coast can now focus its efforts on tackling the massive congestion that has built up over the past nine months. According to the Journal of Commerce, it is estimated that it could take six weeks to three months before the congestion can be conquered and the ports can go back to operating normally.
