APM Terminals Elizabeth welcomes largest container ship to call US East Coast

APM Terminals Elizabeth proudly welcomes the 16,022 TEU CMA CGM Marco Polo - the largest container ship to call the US East Coast. The previous record was held by the 15,072 TEU CMA CGM Brazil which also called APM Terminals Elizabeth last September. 

“Today’s port call was made possible by APM Terminals $200 million investment in port infrastructure that helped usher in the new era of larger ships calling the United States East Coast.  We are proud to partner with our customer CMA CGM – our labor partner, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) - and the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey who raised the Bayonne Bridge, enabling larger ships to enter the inner harbor, “ said Jon Poelma, Managing Director of APM Terminals Elizabeth, New Jersey. 

APM Terminals Elizabeth launched a multi-year construction investment in 2017 to strengthen the berth area for the taller and heavier Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes necessary to handle the larger vessels now calling the Port of NY and NJ.  The new berth can accommodate three Ultra-Large Container Ships (ULCS) simultaneously. The deep-water berth, dredged to 50 feet (15.2 meters) is also a key component of the necessary new infrastructure.  Other terminal features include four new STS cranes, a new gate complex, and the refurbishment and removal of outdated terminal structures. 

The 350-acre APM Terminals Port Elizabeth facility is 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. The new gate complex provides 24 inbound gates and 16 outbound terminal gates to optimize traffic through the terminal and reduce truck turn-around times during peak operations. Gate and yard technology include optical character recognition, radio frequency identification, global positioning systems, closed circuit television and weigh-in-motion scales. 

APM Terminals’ Port Elizabeth facility is one of the largest container terminals in the Port of NY & NJ port complex, handling over 2,100 trucks a day, 4000 terminal gate transactions and more than 500 vessel calls per year. The terminal handled 1,777,711 TEUs in 2020. 

“Our goal is to make APM Terminals Port Elizabeth safer, more productive and easier to use for customers so they can compete at the peak of global shipping and logistics efficiency,” added Mr. Poelma.