Largest-capacity container ship visits East Coast port

The largest-capacity container ship ever to visit an East Coast port has sailed under a bridge that was elevated to handle such vessels.

The Theodore Roosevelt passed under the Bayonne Bridge on Thursday on its way to its dock in Elizabeth.

The ship is 1,202 feet (366 meters) long — the length of four football fields — and 166 feet (50 meters) wide. It can carry more than 7,200 standard 40-foot (12 meters) shipping containers above and below its decks.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has spent $1.6 billion to raise the bridge and deepen the channel so very large ships can use the container ports in Elizabeth and Newark.