upward of 1,200 feet in length, have complex naviga- tional needs to ensure safe navigation of the harbor. Adding further complexity to the navigation, container ships must share the Kill Van Kull with tankers pro- viding the full spectrum of petroleum products to the entire Northeast United States. Arriving via tanker and departing via tug and barge, the port transfers the larg- est amount of refined petroleum of any seaport in the United States. Each month, roughly 4,500 tugs and barges transit throughout the port, with many transiting between Manhattan and Brooklyn, through the heart of New York City, via the East River, infamous for its strong cur- rents. Most carry petroleum products, while others carry building materials to areas not easily reachable by road or the bulk of the city’s trash and other waste streams to final disposal sites. As with many other ports, the Port of New York and New Jersey is constantly changing. The size of commer- cial ships calling on the port has dramatically increased as the harbor has been deepened and key bridges have been raised. These ships transported 8.9 million TEUs of container cargo in 2021 alone.2 Most New Yorkers live on an island, and commuting by boat has exploded in pop- ularity over recent years, topping more than 1 million transits per year throughout the harbor. Furthermore, more area residents have been drawn to recreational use of “blue space” as the harbor gets cleaner and green space gets more crowded. Portions of the harbor that have been exclusively commercial for hundreds of years are now occupied by sailboats, jet skis, kayaks, and pad- dle boards. The region has also become a popular cruise destination with some of the world’s largest cruise ships operating out of the port. As might be imagined, the number of stakeholders with interest in management of the port is impressive. Two states and one, rather large, municipality have overlap- ping jurisdictions through- out the harbor. Although the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey provides oversight of the region’s con- tainer terminals, there is no specific management body for the numerous petroleum facilities in the region. Four separate pilot organizations conn ships entering the port dependent on route and type private companies manage commuter ferry operations throughout the region. The consequences of failing to manage the safety and efficiency of the Marine Transportation System in the port are huge. Within 48 hours after the Captain of the Port restricted commercial maritime traffic after the events of 9/11 and Super Storm Sandy, supply chain shortfalls rip- pled throughout the Northeast United States. Even rou- tine port-wide activities, such as the annual convening of the United Nations and Fleet Week have to be carefully planned to minimize impact on daily commerce. These consequences highlight the need to promote waterway efficiency as well as safety, since critical supply chains are dependent on the timely arrival of cargo to the port. All of this complexity drives a critical need for close and continuous coordination between stakeholders on the water and shoreside. The Harbor Safety, Navigation, and Operations Committee, fondly known as Harbor Ops, successfully meets this need. The Harbor Ops Committee The port’s Harbor Ops Committee is not a Coast Guard- run committee. The Coast Guard, as well as other gov- ernment agencies, serve solely in an advisory capacity to the voting members of the committee. This structure, in which committee governance is reserved for nongov- ernmental stakeholders, provides greater flexibility for the community to freely discuss issues, provide advice to decision-makers, and nimbly develop navigational safety guidelines. Due to the size and complexity of the port, the full committee has open membership, allowing any inter- ested individual to attend and participate in bimonthly meetings. As a result, the full committee meetings are of vessel. A wide variety of Three dredges work simultaneously to deepen the Kill Van Kull, part of the New York and New Jersey Harbor. municipal organizations and Coast Guard photo 66 Proceedings Summer 2023