Ocean carriers and marine terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey are working overtime to move as many containers as possible ahead of a potential dockworker strike that would close all US East and Gulf coast ports on Oct.1, with inland exporters facing the tightest deadline to move their cargo. Contract negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) remain on hold, with just ten days before the current collective bargaining agreement covering 45,000 dockworkers expires. The ILA has said it will not work without a new contract in place, nor under an extension of the current contract, setting the stage for coastwide container terminal closures. In response, Maher Terminals, operator of the largest container terminal in the Port of New York and New Jersey, said Thursday that it will be keeping its truck gatesopen until 9 pm —two hours later than usual —through next week. “Although we are hopeful for a positive outcome, we must prepare for a potential work stoppage,” Maher said in a customer advisory. “We strongly encourage you to use the extra hours to pick up your imports.” APM Terminals Elizabeth, too, will have its truck gates open for an additional two hours next week as it seeks to move cargo off-dock ahead of the potential closure. It will also open for the two remaining Saturdays in September. The additional gate hours set the stage for a week of heavy truck traffic throughout the port, which has already been dealing with strong inbound container volumes as shippers frontloaded their imports ahead of a work stoppage. Container imports through New York-New Jersey rose 15% year over year through August, the highest rate of import growth since the comparable 2021 period, according to data from PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Bethann Rooney, port director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), said the port is expecting heavy cargo flow through the end of September. “There are quite a few ships out there with about 150,000 containers that we expect to receive before the strike,” Rooney said during a PANYNJ board meeting earlier this month. She added that ships arriving in October are likely to anchor, or otherwise drift, outside the port until the threat of a strike has passed. “We’re working to bring in as many ships as possible and encouraging shippers to remove as much of their cargo as possible,” she said. “All the activity taking place now is so we don’t have cargo stuck on the terminal that cannot get on a ship or the rail or a truck.’

D&D charges during strike? 

There are currently 36 container ships with a combined 273,000 TEUs in nominal capacity destined for New York-New Jersey, according to maritime tracking service Sea-web, also part of S&P Global. Ten of those ships are expected to arrive after Sept. 30. Hapag-Lloyd said in a customer advisory that it will not be possible to divert containers that are already on the water due to the difficulties of restowing cargo. Any cargo that is not on a ship can be rerouted at origin for a $400 diversion fee, Hapag-Lloyd said, adding that it will honor routings and rates outlined in service agreements. The ocean carrier also announced cut-off dates for shippers to bring refrigerated and hazardous export containers to East Coast ports, with freight at Chicago railramps bound for New York-New Jersey being cut off on Friday, while Savannahbound intermodal freight will be cut off on Monday. Refrigerated containers stuck inside the ports during a strike will not be monitored, Hapag-Lloyd said. Ocean Network Express (ONE) said in an advisory Thursday that it has “paused” new US export bookings for refrigerated containers on vessels scheduled to arrive after Sept. 30, although it is still accepting bookings for dry export containers. Ocean carriers and marine terminals are also laying out how they will handle per diem fees for containers in the event of a strike. APM Terminals Elizabeth said that it will stop the clock on free time for import containers stuck at port during a strike, but any container that is already accruing demurrage will continue to do so during the port’s closure. Hapag-Lloyd said that it would not charge detention on empty or export containers during the port strike. However, it said that empty containers can still be delivered to off-dock depots. ONE said that it will also stop the clock on detention charges for export containers at coastal locations, but export containers at inland locations will be subject to detention “until further notice.” As for empty containers, ONE said it will charge detention based on the availability of returning empties to an off-dock depot. Import containers at inland locations will be subject to detention ‘as per standard policy,” the carrier said.