Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. ports along the East and Gulf

Coasts are extending delivery hours for importers as they rush

to clear cargo ahead of a potential strike by dockworkers on

Oct. 1.

Ports from New York to Virginia are also working on

contingency plans to avoid disruptions after some 45,000

dockworkers aligned to the International Longshoremen's

Association threatened a walkout if they did not have a new

labor contract in place when the current deal expires on Sept.

30.

A potential closure of 36 ports along the East and Gulf

Coasts, including five of the 10 busiest ports in North America,

is expected to choke the already strained supply chain and make

it a logistical nightmare for companies to divert their freight

to other areas.

Maher and Maersk's APM, which are members of

the employer negotiating group (USMX), said they were keeping

their terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey open for

two additional hours to clear cargo.

The Port of New York and New Jersey is the busiest on the

East and Gulf Coasts. It handles on average 15,000-16,000 TEUs

(twenty-foot equivalent units) daily, or about $240 billion

worth of goods moved each year.

"We are coordinating with partners across the supply chain

to prepare for any potential impacts," Port Authority of New

York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) spokesperson Steve Burns said.

As of Saturday, there were 42 container ships scheduled to

arrive at the Port of New York and New Jersey, one of the

biggest ports involved in the labor dispute, according to S&P

Global's maritime tracking service Sea-web. Thirteen ships are

scheduled to arrive after Sept. 30.

The Garden City Terminal at the Port of Savannah and the

Norfolk International Terminal at the Port of Virginia have also

extended their gate hours for the weekend before Sept. 30 to

clear cargo.

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil

D'Silva)