NEWS
Port Commerce

97-99: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , August 4, 1999

PORT AUTHORITY'S STATEN ISLAND CONTAINER TERMINAL IS SITE OF FIRST MILITARY DEPLOYMENT FROM NEW YORK CITY IN 30 YEARS


In the first deployment of a combat task force from New York City in 30 years, longshoremen at the Port Authority's Howland Hook Container Terminal today loaded more than 50 helicopters and hundreds of other combat items aboard a cargo ship bound for Bosnia.

The equipment includes more than 100 military vehicles -- Humvees, armored personnel carriers, tractors and trucks from the Army's 10th Mountain Division. The Division will assume command of the Multinational Division North Sector of Bosnia in August. About 1,000 soldiers from the division are already there, and another 2,000 troops are scheduled to depart for Bosnia shortly.

The Howland Hook Container Terminal has been named by the Army as a new "Seaport of Embarkation" for the Northeast following the federal Base Re-Use and Closure Commission's decision to close the Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey (MOTBY).

Port Authority Executive Director Robert E. Boyle said, "This is the first time since the Brooklyn Army Terminal closed 30 years ago that a combat force is deploying from a New York City marine terminal. We are proud that the Port Authority's Howland Hook Marine Terminal is playing an important role in this vital international peacekeeping operation, and that New York City has, once again, become a major embarkation point for troops and equipment, just as it was in World War I and World War II.

"It's also good news for Staten Island and local longshoremen. It shows the versatility of the Howland Hook terminal, our port's fastest growing marine cargo terminal." Mr. Boyle noted that last year Howland Hook handled nearly 200,000 containers (20-foot-equivalent units), a dramatic 62-percent increase over the previous year.

The military load-out today includes 56 helicopters (Apache attack helicopters, as well as Blackhawk and Kiowa choppers), more than 100 road vehicles, several bulldozers and construction vehicles, and more than 170 containers of other military hardware and supplies. They are being loaded aboard the "Saudi Taif," a Saudi cargo vessel contracted through the U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command.

The military deployment marks the 10th Mountain Division's first return to Europe since the last months of World War II, when it dislodged the enemy from its Appenine mountain stronghold and helped end German resistance in Italy. The Division has also served in Somalia and Haiti.

Port operations at Howland Hook are being conducted by the Military Traffic Management Command's 600th Transportation Group from Fort Monmouth, N.J., and the 1176th Transportation Terminal Brigade, an Army Reserve unit from Baltimore, MD.

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