Maersk is moving their New York operations from the GCT New York terminal on Staten Island to the APM Terminals (APMT) facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey. After Maersk announced the transfer of three services, GCT requested a restraining order, arguing that the service contract signed by Maersk could not be terminated until December 31, 2021, and only then with six months’ notice. Maersk argued that GCT knew of their plans to transfer its container business to a competitor terminal in the port operated by Maersk’s corporate affiliate, APM. Maersk initially offered to pay GCT a settlement of $5.5 million, including an early termination fee of $2.1 million and additional consideration of $3.4 million. GCT fought back – and lost, at least in terms of securing the temporary restraining order. The three affected services are: a Caribbean-U.S. East Coast (USEC) service operated by Maersk; an East Coast South America-USEC service operated by Hamburg Sud and Hapag-Lloyd; and a West Coast South America-USEC service operated by Hamburg Sud and Hapag-Lloyd (Hapag-Lloyd had no service contract with GCT New York).
