A container ship the length of the Empire State building is set to arrive in the New York Harbor on Thursday.
The Marco Polo is the largest cargo ship to call on the East Coast and its massive size is comparable to the length of about five Manhattan city blocks, or 1,300 feet by 176 feet. The ship is just slightly smaller than the Ever Given, the container ship that got stuck in Egypt's Suez Canal in March.
The ship operated by CMA CGM Group, a French transport company, came from southeast Asia through the canal and it's here to unload up to 5,000 TEUs which contain clothing, pharmaceuticals, furniture, appliances, holiday decorations, building materials, home fixtures and food, according to Port Authority.
“The CMA CGM MARCO POLO’s arrival at our seaport underscores the Port of New York and New Jersey’s ability to serve the ultra-large cargo container ships that increasingly carry the food, supplies and goods needed to sustain millions of residents, support thousands of jobs and keep businesses open,” Rick Cotton, executive director of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said in a news release.
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The colossal vessel will be a spectacle as it arrives to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge area around 7 a.m. The best locations to witness the ship's historic arrival are best vantage points from Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island or along the Bay Ridge Promenade in Brooklyn.
Then the ship will cruise through the New York Harbor, near the Statue of Liberty, before heading to the Bayonne Bridge area around 10 a.m. It will then arrive at Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal, spending two days there before leaving for Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday.
