Cargo Boom Lifts Port of NY/NJ in International Maritime Rankings

The Port of New York and New Jersey has benefited from a growing trend among ocean carriers to transport goods through the U.S. East Coast to avoid congestion on the West Coast, driving the port into eigth position on the Xinhua–Baltic index ranking.

The port has been a big winner in the container trade as more logistics companies diversify away from the West Coast, where ports are grappling with congestion and inefficiency. Its throughput overtook Athens/Piraeus to take the eighth place on the index, which provides an independent ranking of the performance of the world’s largest seaport / shipping business hubs.

In 2021, New York / New Jersey handled slightly below nine million TEU, and it has set a target to grow its cargo throughput to 17 million TEU by 2050, according to its port master plan. In recent years significant investments to upgrade the infrastructure of the port have allowed it to meet the growth needs of the shipping industry and create a significant economic contribution for the region. This year, the facility has continued to record an increase in monthly cargo volumes, with growth averaging 11 percent for the period from January to May.

The top 10 global leading maritime centers on the inded remain largely unchanged since 2021. The rankings include four Asian, four European, one Middle Eastern and one U.S. location.

Yet again, Singapore secured its top spot as the top location for the ninth consecutive year. The center has earned its longstanding spot at the top of this index due to its wide and established ecosystem of professional global maritime services, good governance, ease of doing business and a large and strategically located port.

The city-state scored 94.88 out of a possible 100 points, well ahead of London, which is a maritime professional services stronghold with 83.04 points. Shanghai, home to the world’s largest container port, took third place with 82.79 points.

“As the maritime sector continues to build up resilience and future-ready capability, we will continue to work with our maritime colleagues around the world to drive transformation, particularly in the areas of decarbonization, digitalization and talent development,” said Ms. Quah Ley Hoon, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore CEO.

The index shows that Hong Kong, Dubai, Rotterdam and Hamburg maintained their positions at fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh place respectively. Although Athens/ Piraeus dropped one point to ninth place, it remains strong with good throughput figures.

Like last year, the Chinese port of Ningbo-Zhoushan comes in tenth, thanks almost entirely to its status as the third busiest container port in the world.

Maritime hubs were rated on containerized cargo throughput, number of cranes, length of container berths and channel depth. Other factors include the strength of maritime business services, including shipbroking, ship management, ship financing, insurance and law, as well as business-environment factors like customs tariffs, electronic government services and logistics performance.