The phrase “supply chain issues” appears to have eclipsed “pandemic” in my thoroughly unscientific and entirely anecdotal and mental survey. The PANYNJ website does provide some “facts and figures” you can mine and crunch to compare 2021 container movement here to that in 2012.  An easy conclusion is that the container ships are generally larger, so throughput in and out is going to be greater.  Can you guess how much greater?

Let’s look at a sample of container ships I saw in January 2012.  I’ve no idea what the largest container ship serving P of NYNJ was in 2012, but CMA CGM Jules Verne, a 2013 vessel, is 1300′ x 176′ and carries 16,000+ teu.

Evergreen back then was operating Ever Devote. The 1998 Panamax ship is still around.  Numbers are 964′ length x 105′ width and 4211 teu.  That means it fit through the original Panama Canal, just barely;  anything over 105′ wide does not.

2005 Cosco Tianjin is also still working.  She’s 915′ x 131′ and 5752 teu.

 

Cosco Osaka, 2008, 849′ x 105′ and 4578 teu.  She’s still working.

MOL Endurance, 2003, 964′ x 125′ and 4578 teu.  She’s been scrapped.

APL Chile, 2000, 656′ x 89′ and 4038 teu.  She’s also scrapped.

OOCL Norfolk, 2009, 852′ x 105′  and 4506 teu.

By the PANYNJ numbers, I see that in 2021, a total of teu lifts (loaded and empties) is around 9 million, not quite double the 2012 figure of about 5.5 million.  Bigger ships calling, like CMA CGM Jules Verne, slows things down obviously;  one of those carries almost the same number of containers as FOUR times APL Chile.

All 2012 photos here are credited to WVD, and any errors in calculations get blamed to the same guy.

Keep in mind that besides container traffic, the port moves a significant amount of other cargo, including dry bulk materials, petroleum, other wet bulk cargoes [like orange juice], vehicles, and passengers. If I’ve left anything out, I’m sure you’ll tell me.