Diverted hurricane-struck US cargo triples Port of Halifax throughput

EASTERN Canada's Port of Halifax has tripled throughput with cargo diverted from US ports in the wake of damage from Hurricane Sandy.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has closed the port as berths were rendered useless through power outages or destruction from the storm, reported the CBC News.

"Normally we don't stack containers in this part of the yard over here and as you can see that's quite full at the moment now," said Halterm container port CEO Ashley Dinning said.

"To avoid ships bunching up in New York waiting for the port to open, our biggest customer here at Halterm decided to discharge not only the Halifax cargo but also the New York cargo. We've even brought some people out of retirement to do some work," he said.

Cruise ships have also shown up in the region, with the last one leaving Saint John, New Brunswick on Friday. Natalie Kenrick, of the Halifax Port Authority, said three others docked in Halifax earlier this week to avoid running into bad weather.

"So that represented about 3,000 additional passengers that weren't scheduled to come to the city," she said.