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The Port of Baltimore
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September/October 2012
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BILL MCALLEN
The happenings in and around the Port
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CARGO
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Rukert Tackles
Wind Turbines
R
ukert Terminals Corp. once
again proved its expertise with
large wind project equipment by
recently handling the tower sections,
turbine housing and hubs of gigantic
wind turbines bound for Pennsylvania.
The wind turbines, which when finished
loom nearly 300 feet tall with blades that
are 140 feet long, will be erected on the
Twin Ridges Wind Farm in Somerset, Pa.
The wind farm will have 68 wind turbines
generating a total of 140 megawatts
of electricity, enough to power 45,000
households for a year.
Each of the 68 towers consists of five
sections that were discharged in tandem
using Rukert’s new Liebherr Mobile
Harbor Crane and ships cranes. The
tower sections were loaded onto three
ships in Singapore and South Korea,
while the housing, which contains the
turbine, and the hubs that connect the
blades to the generators were loaded
onto three ships in India.
Not only is the Port of Baltimore
skilled in handling such unusual cargo,
it also offers ideal road access for the
oversized pieces.
“
These are very specialized cargoes,
and they need specialized handling on
the roads because they don’t fit through
tunnels and under some bridges,” said
Rick Schiappacasse, with Maryland
Port Administration Trade Development.
“
The Port of Baltimore has handled wind
projects before, and with the expert
handling by Rukert Terminals, we hope to
see more of this in the future.”
Rukert Terminals Corp. President John
Coulter explained, “Diversification of cargo
has been the key to success at Rukert
Terminals. In this case, Rukert employees
can also be proud that these projects are
helping America go green!”
CARGO
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Port Sets Record
for General
Cargo Tonnage
T
he Port of Baltimore’s
public marine
terminals recently set
a record for handling the
highest amount of general
cargo tons in a one-month
period. Governor Martin
O’Malley announced
that the 853,818 tons
handled in July eclipsed
the previous record of
852,522
tons set three
months earlier in April.
General cargo includes
containerized goods,
autos, forest products, and
roll on/roll off (farm and
construction) equipment.
“
The Port of Baltimore
continues to lead the way
as we recover from the
challenging economic
conditions of the past few
years,” said Gov. O’Malley.
“
In Maryland, we have one
of the best cargo ports in the
nation, and that’s good news
for jobs and good news for
strengthening and growing
our economy.”
General cargo in July
was up 24 percent from
June. Through the first
seven months of 2012,
general cargo tonnage
was up 11 percent from last
year. Among individual
commodities, roll-on/
roll-off was up 32 percent,
auto units were up 22
percent, containers were
up eight percent, and
wood pulp (for producing
napkins, paper towels
and other paper products)
was up two percent.
In 2011 the Port of
Baltimore saw a 15 percent
increase in cargo from 2010,
which marked the greatest
increase of growth by any
major U.S. port.