The Massachusetts Port Authority's (MPA) Paul W Conley Container Terminal in the Port of Boston handled 248,391 TEU in 2016, a 5 per cent increase over the previous year marked by increases in exports and imports.

Specifically, the port's imports grew by more than 5,000 TEU (4.5 per cent) over 2015, while exports increased nearly 10,000 TEU (11.7 per cent).

According to the MPA, more than 1,600 businesses in New England currently use the Port of Boston to import and export their products. By April 2017, 12 of the world's top 15 shipping lines will be calling the Port of Boston compared to just five of them four years ago, the port authority said.

Massport said it expects 2017 to be another "record-breaking" year in terms of container volumes at the Port of Boston, with the addition in April of new Asia services operated by Ocean Alliance and The Alliance, respectively.

Conley Terminal, which is owned and operated by Massport, already serves seven shipping lines, including MSC, COSCO, "K" Line, Yang Ming, Evergreen, Maersk and CMA CGM.

"With the April 2017 service changes, five new shipping lines ?Hapag-Lloyd, OOCL, APL, NYK and MOL - will start service to Boston," the port authority said.