TRENTON — The East Coast's busiest port got back to business today after being swamped Hurricane Sandy's surge.

Longshoremen began unloading a variety of cargo this morning at the Maher and APM container terminals along Newark Bay in Elizabeth, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said. Several ships were expected at the two terminals today, said the Port Authority.

The Port Newark terminal in Newark and the Global terminal in Jersey City are scheduled to open its gates on Monday morning, followed by the first vessel’s arrival at Global at 7 p.m., the Port Authority said.

Joe Curto, president of the New York Shipping Association, which represents stevedores and other companies that do business at the port, said the companies and their union workers from the International Longshoremen’s Association were eager to be back on the job.

“Of course, the longshoremen were most anxious to return to work — those that could — because if they don’t work they don’t ‘get paid,” said Curto, adding that there was a full turn out today at Maher and APM. “Naturally, we’re in a 24-7, 365-day industry, and to be shut down for three or four days like this, it hurts.”

Jim McNamara, a spokesman for the ILA, said it wasn’t just wages at stake.

“The members were anxious to get back to work not only for their own employment, but to get things back to normal,” McNamara said. “Commerce is moving again, and that’s very important for everybody, and we’re anxious to be part of that.”

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection service said it was working closely with the Coast Guard and the Port Authority to speed overseas vessels into local terminals, which included conducting immigration checks on tanker crews to facilitate the flow of gasoline into the region.

Officials did not have estimates for how much the storm had cost the port in terms of damage, lost wages and earnings or other expenses. But an analysis done by the Port Authority in advance of potential strike this fall put the cost to the region at $136 million a week in personal income and another $110 million in economic output. The strike was averted when federal labor mediators intervened.

Sandy, on the other hand, struck hard last Monday, inundating terminals and forcing ships tied up dockside or moored close to shore to flea to open water to avoid damage by waves or a storm surge well above the normal high tide.

Floodwaters have receded, and port roads have been cleared for tractor trailers that haul 40-foot shipping containers. However, power was still out in some areas and would have to be restored for the port to resume full operations, the Port Authority said. The agency said crews have worked around the clock to clear hundreds of containers floated by floodwaters, and to repair roadways, rail lines, electrical systems and other port facilities damaged by the storm.

"Reopening of the port is critical to the region's economic recovery from the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy,” the Port Authority said in a statement. “The port contributes billions to the region's economic activity and accounts for more than 269,000 jobs. We continue to work around the clock with all of our port partners to get all of our maritime facilities open quickly to ensure that our port — which enables the flow of goods to approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population in fewer than eight hours — is back in business and fully operational."