The Port of New York/New Jersey (Port of NY/NJ) is stepping up its efforts to help ease the impact of the Baltimore Bridge collapse on shipping.

Bethann Rooney, the Port Authority's port director, announced a series of measures up and down the East Coast to keep the regional supply chain running smoothly after the Port of Baltimore, one of the nation's busiest ports, went offline.

In a statement, the Port of NY/NJ said, for one, the port is helping to move additional cargo offloaded from ships that already stop here.

Just 24 hours after the bridge collapse, the port was already accepting cargo from ships berthed in New York/New Jersey that were supposed to call next at Baltimore. 

"What would typically happen is we take 60 to 65% of the ship's capacity off at our terminals here before they go on to other ports," Rooney said. "Now, we're going to take 70 to 75% of the ship's capacity off here."

Notably, the port is not expecting more ship traffic.

The Port of New York and New Jersey is the first stop for the vast majority of transatlantic container ships coming to the US East Coast, with ports south of New York-New Jersey becoming stops along a "milk run" — shipping industry slang for when cargo ships stop at multiple East Coast ports on a single journey.

Rooney said the port noted that all 10 shipping services that traditionally call at the Port of Baltimore also stop at the Ports of New York and New Jersey, making the transition seamless. 

"The additional diverted cargo from Baltimore isn't expected to be a heavy lift for New York/New Jersey, which is the East Coast's busiest container port and among the top three busiest in the country," the statement said.

The port noted that it ably handled the pandemic-driven surge in activity through 2021 that pushed cargo volumes more than 20% above their current levels.

Truck drivers who normally service the Port of Baltimore will have access to port facilities in New York/New Jersey to bring Baltimore cargo to its final destinations.

In addition, the New York/New Jersey port's on-dock ExpressRail system provides access to the regional freight rail network.

The port said newly scheduled trains from this region bound for Baltimore are departing every other day, thanks to close coordination among the Port Authority, ocean carriers, container terminal operators and freight railroads.

The new scheduled freight rail service will increase the efficiency and reliability of outbound cargo while limiting roadway traffic between New York/New Jersey and Baltimore.

With the Port of Baltimore being the busiest for handling vehicles in the country, some cars and trucks that would've been destined for Baltimore will instead be offloaded at New York/New Jersey and trucked to Baltimore via car carrier.

Port of NY/NJ noted that there, auto processors will be able to continue their usual work, adding accessories and other customizations to the new vehicles.

"The maritime industry is one that is very resilient and very supportive of each other. So as much as we may compete with each other when something goes wrong in one port, everybody else steps up to assist," Rooney said.