Ships carrying up to 9,800 TEUs can now call terminals west of the Bayonne Bridge without worrying about tidal conditions now that U.S. Coast Guard Sector New York and pilot organizations lifted air draft restrictions.
Up until now, vessels have been required to maintain at least two feet of air draft clearance under the bridge.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Tuesday some ships will immediately benefit from the work that has already been done on the project to increase the height of the Bayonne Bridge.
The port authority has built a new roadway higher up in the bridge, and is currently in the process of demolishing the older roadway.
Since hundreds of feet of the older roadway have already been removed, air draft restrictions for existing vessels traveling under the bridge have been lifted with approval from U.S. Coast Guard Sector New York and pilot organizations.
Up until now, vessels have been required to maintain at least two feet of air draft clearance under the bridge, which has a vertical clearance mid-span at mean high water (MHW) of 151 feet.
Consequently, for years, depending on how much cargo and ballast is on a containership, sometimes ships would have to leave early rather than miss a low tide that would allow the ship to sail beneath the bridge with the required two feet of clearance between the topmost part of the ship and the bottom of the old roadway.
In the past, ships as small as 5,000 TEUs have had to do a “careful dance” to make sure they could safely sail beneath the bridge, “coordinating their departure and arrival with the tides and their ballasting and cargo load accordingly,” explained Beth Rooney, assistant director at the port authority’s port department. “This rescission of the limitation takes that all out of the equation. It’s not every vessel, but it is often that it happens.”
Now, any class ship that has sailed west of the bridge in the past – and that includes ships up to 9,800 TEUs – will be able to pass beneath the bridge without air draft limitations, because at mid-span, where only a new upper roadbed remains, the bridge has a clearance of 215 feet at MHW.
They will now be able to operate without any air draft restrictions affecting their schedule, and schedule affects cost, Rooney explained.
When the remaining sections of the lower deck are demolished, much larger ships will be able to pass beneath the Bayonne Bridge and reach the container terminals of APM Terminals and Maher Terminals in Elizabeth, N.J.; the Port Newark Container Terminal in Newark, N.J.; and the GCT New York terminal on Staten Island.
In the coming days, the port authority said it plans to announce the date of when the navigational clearance will be completely removed, allowing the new class of larger vessels to access port terminals.
Last year, a simulation study concluded that both 14,000-TEU and 18,000-TEU ships will be able to enter the terminals in Newark and Elizabeth.
Today’s action “is a first step that will make it more efficient and economical for vessels to reach our port terminals until the Bayonne Bridge’s navigational impediment is completely removed,” said Port Department Director Molly Campbell. “We’re pleased with the progress on that project and we expect to soon be welcoming 14,000-TEU vessels to our port terminals.”
To learn more about the project to raise the Bayonne Bridge and other developments at the Port of New York/New Jersey, read American Shipper’s May cover story.
