Cargo Market Development: Cleveland, New York/New Jersey

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The Port of Cleveland on April 22, welcomed the first vessel of the Cleveland-Europe Express cargo service. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has initiated a targeted incentive program aimed at boosting the seaport’s auto business.

Cleveland Welcomes New Express Ocean Service

The Port of Cleveland on Tuesday, April 22, welcomed the first vessel of the Cleveland-Europe Express cargo service. M/V Fortunagracht arrived from Antwerp, Belgium, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway carrying cargo from seven countries destined for customers in five states.

The Cleveland-Europe Express is the only regularly scheduled international container and non-containerized cargo service on the Great Lakes. Fortunagracht is a 12,178 dwt multipurpose cargo vessel capable of carrying up to 665 TEUs. The vessel is being operated under a charter agreement with The Spliethoff Group approved last November 23 by the port authority’s board of directors (Advisory, December 2, 2013).The advertised transit time between Cleveland and Antwerp is 13 days.

"The express service is the most direct route to Europe from America’s heartland. It allows businesses to cut down on transport time, and increase the time their products are available to sell on the market," said Port President & CEO Will Friedman. "We look forward to seeing the service grow. We estimate the service will carry anywhere from 250,000 to 400,000 tons of cargo per year."

Bart Peters, manager of The Spliethoff Group’s America Service, said: "The goal of the Cleveland-Europe Express is to provide a more efficient method for cargo owners in the heartland of America to trade with Europe, and we believe this first voyage is the first step in establishing a new service that will benefit companies on both sides of the Atlantic."

ACO Polymer Products, Inc., a trench drainage manufacturer located in Chardon (OH) is shipping a full-size school bus to their corporate headquarters on the Fortunagrach’s first return voyage to Europe.

"The opening of the Port of Cleveland will give ACO the advantage of a faster route to get materials to our facility for manufacturing, which gets the finished goods to our customers quicker," said Vickie Morenz, purchasing manager at ACO Polymer Products. "The construction industry is very sensitive to lead times, and getting product to a site faster is a game changer. We plan to use this route as much as possible."

The vessel’s inbound cargo included wind energy components, machinery and containerized cargo. It departed late that same day carrying a school bus, road building machinery and containerized cargo originating in five states for final delivery throughout Europe.

M/V Fortunagracht working containers at Cleveland’s Dock 22 North.
Photo/Port of Cleveland

New York/New Jersey Port Authority Announces Targeted Incentive Program to Boost Auto Business

The board of commissioners of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey on April 23 approved a targeted incentive program to boost the seaport’s auto business. The five-year program is designed to attract new automotive manufacturers and to provide incentives to existing ones to increase automobile volumes through the port.

Under the program, manufacturers that are new to the harbor will receive a discount worth 50 percent of the charge to use the port authority's wharves for every eligible vehicle – defined as an individual automobile or truck – that they import or export through the Port of New York and New Jersey during the first year they participate in the incentive program.

Existing manufacturers can also participate in the program and would receive a financial incentive for all eligible vehicles that exceed the automotive manufacturer's 2013 volume of eligible vehicles shipped through the port by more than 3 percent, the baseline growth rate the port has projected. For example, if manufacturer A shipped 10,000 eligible vehicles in 2013, for every eligible vehicle that they ship above 10,300 (which is 10,000 plus 3 percent), they would qualify for the incentive for each eligible vehicle they ship above the threshold.

In calendar year 2015, new and existing automotive manufacturers will need to exceed their previous year total of eligible vehicles by one percent to receive the incentive. The threshold for the remaining years of the program (2016-2018) will be reset using the same protocol established for the second year (2015) of one percent higher than the prior year's volume or threshold of eligible vehicles.

In 2013, the port moved 745,419 new and used vehicles, a five-year high but well short of the 1.0 million vehicle record set in 2007.

The port’s vehicle processing facilities are located at the Auto Marine Terminal in Jersey City and at the Port Newark/Elizabeth Marine Terminal complex. Each terminal provides immediate access to major interstate highways and a number of rail services.

The port authority hopes the incentives will auto traffic through its terminals and generate additional port revenue.