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The Port of Baltimore
■
May/June 201 2
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5
T
he Far East. South America. The
western Mediterranean.
Name just about any exotic
destination and Mediterranean
Shipping Company (MSC) links
it to the Port of Baltimore via five trade-lane
services.
Without a doubt, Baltimore is “well-
served worldwide,” according to Mauro Dal
Bo, who manages MSC’s Baltimore office.
The company’s five trade lanes have
helped the Port of Baltimore achieve record
numbers when it comes to containers:
The most-used service is the Far
East route, which MSC started in 2009.
“People really appreciate that service,”
said Dal Bo, noting that it utilizes 8,000- to
9,000-Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU)
ships. The least-used service is South
Africa and Australia, but the company
is committed to meeting its customers’
needs. “It’s important to serve your
clients,” Dal Bo said. “Our philosophy is to
FAR EAST
➜
Jeddah, Salatah,
Colombo,
Singapore, Hong
Kong, Chiwan,
Yantian, Ningbo
and Shanghai.
NORTH
ATLANTIC
➜
Bremerhaven,
Rotterdam,
Antwerp,
Felixstowe and
Le Havre.
SOUTH AFRICA
(continuing to
Australia)
➜
Cape Town,
Port Elizabeth
and Durban.
SOUTH
AMERICA
➜
Suape, Rio de
Janeiro, Santos,
Navegantes,
Rio Grande
Montevideo and
Buenos Aires.
BY NANCY MENEFEE JACKSON
shipping
HIGH FIVE
MSC’s Five Trade Lanes – and Five Ships
Per Week – Contribute to Baltimore’s
Thriving Container Business
Container numbers at the Port have shown
continued growth since 2009, with a new
container record set in 2011.
“It is no secret that the growth of the
container business in the Port of Baltimore
has been directly linked to the success
of MSC,” said Joseph M. Greco, Sr.,
Maryland Port Administration (MPA) Deputy
Director, Marketing. “The Maryland Port
Administration, in coordination with Ports
America Chesapeake, is extremely proud
of the partnership it has created with MSC.
From the very beginnings to where we are
today, the partnership has not only fostered a
mutually beneficial success story for the MPA
and MSC, but for the entire Port community.”
Greco added that, as the MPA and
Ports America Chesapeake position them-
selves to take advantage of the expanded
Panama Canal and the emergence of
the Suez Canal, “We are confident that
MSC will take advantage of our new
capabilities with even larger vessels and
have one-stop shopping — they call us up
and we can go everywhere and anywhere.”
Five MSC ships call on Baltimore each
week. “With all the vessels we have, and
with five vessels calling here weekly,
we hope people understand and realize
that we can export and import cargo
from anywhere in the world,” said Jack
Bohli, Line Manager with MSC. These
vessels give us many options for both
direct service and trans-service.” Bohli,
who has been with the company since
1996, remembers when it operated just
one service to South Africa with small
ships under 2,000 TEUs. “Little by little,
year after year, we added the services
to better serve this market,” he said.
The company owns more than 200 ships
and operates more than 400 vessels world-
wide. To date, the largest MSC ship to call
on Baltimore is the 9,200-TEU MSC
Sindy
.
MSC’s services are a vital part of the
Port of Baltimore’s container growth.
Five Trade Lanes Serving Baltimore & Other North American Ports
WESTERN
MEDITERRANEAN
➜
Sines, Valencia,
La Sperzia,
Leghorn, Naples
and Gioia Tauro.