Harbor Guy,

Thanks for the link to the Port Authority website. Gleaned a few tidbits. Any comments?

1. Under Port Commerce, Trade Statistics, NJ/NY Port Authority says 1998 volume (latest data available on website) was 2.5 million containers annually or 20 ft. equiv or TEUs. Can these numbers be worked to somehow compare to volume you are observing since January 1?

2. Site also says the promotion of the Suez Canal Route gives Port of NY and NJ important cost advantage over West Coast competition. This is interesting in light of Panama Canal situation. Any comments?

3. Link to International Association of Ports and Harbors has a page for y2k problems reported around the world. Note China, New Zealand, Japan, India, Australia and Oman y2k reports not updated since January 1, 2000 (all were A-okay at that time, of course). Yet most other countries y2k reports were updated as of January 6, 11 or 12. Just an oversight?

The Port Authority website is so full of links, I could surf my life away for the rest of the week! I had to laugh that Ship 2000 (linked to Port Authority's site) had a link to Gary North and Yardeni's websites. Another site linked to de Jager's Year 2000.

Just an Indiana housewife,

-- J Wheel (motherof5@wellprepared.noregrets), January 12, 2000

Answers

J wrote:

:

1. Under Port Commerce, Trade Statistics, NJ/NY Port Authority says 1998 volume (latest data available on website) was 2.5 million containers annually or 20 ft. equiv or TEUs. Can these numbers be worked to somehow compare to volume you are observing since January 1?

Not really feasible by casual observations of ships by me. The only way would be to review the January 2000 ledger, which I don't think will be forthcoming.

2. Site also says the promotion of the Suez Canal Route gives Port of NY and NJ important cost advantage over West Coast competition. This is interesting in light of Panama Canal situation. Any comments?

Panama Canal, shmanama canal; the Port Authority of NY/NJ is looking toward a major expansion in the harbor, and they're inviting a little shipping firm named COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) to operate the new port. It's a situation very similar to the Long Beach Naval Yard situation of about one year ago, except here, Port Authority is looking to hand over the recently closed Military Ocean Terminal--Bayonne (MOTBY) to China. (MOTBY is a man-made peninsula that juts out into NY Harbor, with 2.5 miles of coastal frontage. It had been seized as a staging area and port during WWII.)

3. Link to International Association of Ports and Harbors has a page for y2k problems reported around the world. Note China, New Zealand, Japan, India, Australia and Oman y2k reports not updated since January 1, 2000 (all were A-okay at that time, of course). Yet most other countries y2k reports were updated as of January 6, 11 or 12. Just an oversight?

Interesting. I didn't get to that part.

-- Harbor Guy (HarborGuy@OnThe.Waterfront), January 12, 2000.

I lost track of the Long Beach - COSCO saga. Did COSCO get it, did it fall through, or other?

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), January 12, 2000.

The Port authority link is a great resource. If you go there, click on Port Commerce. Then Click on Port of NY/NJ. Next click on ocean carriers. From there you get to a listing of 60 international shipping lines, most of whom have Web sites. (I'd give you the direct URL, but AOL doesn't allow me to cut and paste onto this forum, and if I try to type out something long, I'm sure to get it wrong).

Most of these companies have ways for us to find out what the schedules were for theIr various ships, and where those ships are currently located. For example, I went to the CSAV Chilean lines. I loOked up the schedule for a shipment between New York and Santiago. This led to a chart that indicated that the ship, CSAV Atlanta was scheduled to leave NYC on January 10; Baltimore, January 11; Charleston, January 13. Another part of the Web site allows us to find the location of each of their vessels. The information for CSAV Atlanta covers most of last year. However, it also shows that the boat left Miami January 8 (confirmed), The next postings are for the rest of the trip. New York is still shown as arriving 1/10 and departing 1/11. However, these entries are listed as estimated. In any event, the ship can't be too far behind schedule. We can keep track of this, and others for the next few weeks to see is any bottle necks seem to be forming.

I am quite sure that, when I was exploring these sites this afternoon from my office, I found one company that had a page showing what delays were existing on the rail lines in the US that it moves containers on. Unfortunately, I couldn't find this site again tonight. My recollection is that there were no delays at present between Chicago and Mexico City. However, going by rail from Atlanta to another destination out West involved delays of 48 - 72 hours. When I get back to work tomorrow, I'll find this site again and post the URL. Anyhow, this would be another place to track (no pun intended) to see if delays start to build up or get reduced.

Best wishes,

-- Jay Golter (JGolter@aol.com), January 13, 2000.

Jay,

Thanks for that research!

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), January 13, 2000.