In the shipping world, 2024 taught leaders to expect not just the unexpected, but the inconceivable, unprecedented and unbelievable.

“Just as you think there’s nothing else that can go wrong and you’ve experienced it all, we get hit with something that we never even thought about in our wildest dreams,” said Bethann Rooney, the port director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, at the agency’s annual State of the Port event held in Newark, N.J., at the start of 2025.

It had been a tumultuous year that saw a labor disruption for East Coast and Gulf ports, the temporary closure of an important peer port due to a bridge collapse and myriad ecological and geopolitical issues. In addition to navigating the year’s challenges, the Port of New York and New Jersey also surged forward on several long-planned major projects that look to enable even more growth and productivity for the East Coast’s busiest port in the years to come.

“As in past years, each and every partner, stakeholder, customer, of the port stepped up and did whatever was necessary to get things done and keep commerce moving,” Rooney said. She attributed much of the cooperative spirit to the innovative Council on Port Performance, which celebrated 10 years of collaboration last year.

That cooperation was on display following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse near the Port of Baltimore, when shippers, dock workers and auto processors quickly jumped into action to take in additional cargo destined for that port, and again months later following the three-day International Longshoremen’s Association strike in early October. Within a week, all delayed cargo was offloaded and operations rapidly returned to normal levels. Both occurred amidst a backdrop of continued challenges around the Panama and Suez canals, with the former related to drought restrictions and the latter related to attacks on container ship routes.

In spite of those numerous hurdles, the port’s cargo-handling performance was impressive as 2024 ended as its third-busiest year on record. The Port of New York moved 8.7 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), an 11 percent jump from 2023 and behind only the pandemic-driven cargo levels seen across 2021 and 2022.

Rooney noted 2024’s volume was 5 percent above the agency’s 2019 projections as part of the Port Master Plan 2050, which forecasted steady growth enroute to a doubling or tripling of the port’s cargo volume by 2050.

It’s good news for all of us. But we need to ensure that our investments, our infrastructure, our operations, our workforce, and our policies and procedures all keep up with this demand.

Bethann Rooney, port director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

In preparing for that future, the Port Authority spent 2024 putting myriad investments into place by getting several projects off the ground – or in some cases, into it. They included the landmark agreement between the Port Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in May 2024 to study the deepening of the port’s navigational channels to 55 feet, which would help accommodate the industry’s ever-growing ships. The port’s wharf rehabilitation program also got underway to repair decades-old wharf structures for terminal expansions on the horizon.

On land, the agency’s planned major overhaul of the northern entrance of the Newark-Elizabeth port complex advanced in 2024 with the demolition of the ramp from Port Street to Corbin Street. Truck traffic was detoured to a route that featured expanded roadways and safety measures. The new ramp, set to open by the end of 2025, will include a safer turning radius while accommodating more traffic than the previous midcentury structure.

2025 could prove to be game-changing, with the Port Authority working on lease negotiations that will pave the way for expanded operations and investments from its port operating partners. It will also begin disbursing funds from its historic Clean Ports Program federal grant, enabling major steps in the port’s future to incorporate cleaner and greener operations with more collaboration from the surrounding community. Four new electric truck chargers will open to advance more sustainable truck operations at the port, and work will advance on the Southbound Connector intermodal project to add more flexibility into the port’s ExpressRail system and make freight rail a more attractive option.

At the prior year’s State of the Port event, Rooney posited that 2024 might give a chance for the industry to catch its collective breath after the roller coaster ride of the pandemic. This time, with 2024’s many curveballs behind her, she refrained from making more predictions. 

“Who knows what 2025 is going to bring,” Rooney said with a smile. “I just pray that the challenges we face are nothing more than what we already know about. Whatever comes our way though, I’m confident that we will get through it together and ultimately keep commerce moving.”