Thursday, February 14, 2002
Re: PNCT Crane Problem

Dear NASA Member,
Please be advised that the Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT) lost the use of a vessel crane on Monday evening. This means that PNCT is currently operating with only two functional cranes to service incoming vessels.

The required repairs are expected to take a minimum of 14 days. This adds to an already difficult situation because of vessel bunching due to seasonal bad weather in the North Atlantic. This will unfortunately reduce vessel productivity, prolong vessel calls and further impact vessel schedules.

All possible solutions are being explored and information will be made available as soon as an alternative is in place. Customers looking to pick up import boxes will face longer than normal delays since the imports cannot be cleared against the working vessels. This will also impact gate activity and trucker delays on certain heavy days since the delivery of imports will not be spread out in their normal way.

Areas looking for surplus equipment from vessels scheduled to pick-up empties in NY/NJ will also be affected as vessels will not load empties in an attempt to reduce vessel moves as well as reduce the time in port.

We will keep you informed as soon as the situation changes. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact your customer service representative. Thank you for your continued support of North American Shippers Association.
Regards,

Judy Mannix
Administrator, North American Shippers Association