The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has authorised the expenditure of up to US$130 million for much-needed dredging projects.
The money, which is three to four times what the port authority would contribute towards port dredging projects in a typical year, is expected to solve the harbour's dredging crisis.
New York governor George Pataki said the move was timely because the continuing impasse over dredging had 'threatened our harbour's position as the leading port on the eastern seaboard'.
Dredging and channel-deepening projects, to enable the port to accommodate 48-foot draught vessels, had to be carried on as other aspects of the port were being refined.
New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman said: 'With some 166,500 jobs at stake, as well as nearly $20 billion in annual sales, preserving the shipping industry in the Port of New York and New Jersey must be among the states' highest priorities.'
