The Regina Maersk, a cargo vessel that requires 50 foot channels when loaded to its 6,000-container capacity, visited New York Harbor Wednesday to illustrate the need for port facilities able to handle new monster ships. World-class container carriers Maersk and Sea-Land have publicly threatened to leave the Port of NY/NJ unless channels deep enough for its biggest ships are provided. The Port Authority, which plans to dredge channels leading to Ports Newark and Elizabeth down to 45 feet over the next five years, has responded with a preliminary proposal to develop a new terminal for the carriers at Port Elizabeth, which will presumably involve blasting bedrock out of the bottom of the Arthur Kill to attain the necessary 50 foot depth.

Deep-water port development around NY Harbor could reduce some long-range truck trips to and from NYC, especially if the alternative is loss of maritime freight market share by the Port of NY/NJ. But for this effect to be realized, new port areas will need efficient rail links and support by sufficient intermodal yard capacity. In addition, truck impacts from port development must be made clear to relevant stakeholders, and extensive mitigation measures devised.

Press coverage of the Regina Maersk's visit presented more dredging or blasting of the channels to Newark and Elizabeth as the only option. These accounts, and a statement released by Governor Whitman's office, neglected to mention that naturally deep water sites already exist in the harbor, in particular the underused Brooklyn waterfront and the soon-to-be closed Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne (MOTBY), that are under consideration by New York City and the Port Authority for port development. Also not described were the immense fiscal and environmental costs and strong likely opposition that further blasting would create. The visit of the Regina Maersk will hopefully convince port experts at the agencies to take full advantage of current deep water locations.