Page 8 - Port of Baltimore Magazine November/December 2016

PORT MESSAGES
GOVERNOR’S MESSAGE
Revamped Howard Street Tunnel Key to Future Success
2016 has been yet another incredible year for the Port of Baltimore. Although we all join in mourning the loss of the Port’s namesake, Helen Delich Bentley, I know that she took great pride in seeing her hard work continue to foster such a vibrant, thriving economic engine for our state.
Recently, I had the opportunity to see the Port in action and take a special tour of Baltimore’s Howard Street Tunnel with CSX Chairman and CEO, Michael Ward, as well as Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn. I was proud to announce that Maryland would once again apply for a U.S. Department of Transportation FASTLANE grant to finally move forward with the reconstruction of the Howard Street Tunnel.
The 121-year-old Howard Street Tunnel is a Baltimore City landmark. It’s also a major hurdle for the Port because height restrictions do not allow for the passage of double-stacked container trains — a huge competitive disadvantage for the Port against other East Coast ports with this capacity.
Allowing double-stacked trains to travel through the Howard Street Tunnel is not only important for the long-term health and success of the Port, but also for the long-term health and success of Maryland. It would dramatically increase production and create thousands of jobs. Furthermore, it would allow the Port to significantly improve its frequency of handling containers destined for Midwest markets. Currently, due to the tunnel’s height limitations, most of the Port’s container business is destined for our local region. An improved Howard Street Tunnel
EXECUTIVE VIEW
would provide the necessary rail links to the heartland, opening the Port up to even more opportunities for growth.
This is not a new issue for the Port. For years,
reconstruction of the tunnel was believed to cost between $1 billion and $3 billion, and be highly disruptive to the surrounding community. However, CSX has begun utilizing recent advances in construction technology that will significantly reduce the cost of reconstruction — estimated to be less than $500 million — with minimal impact to the community.
Our administration is fully committed to finally completing the reconstruction of the Howard Street Tunnel. This project is long overdue, and one that must be completed for Maryland and the Port to remain competitive with our neighbors.
The State of Maryland and CSX have already committed a combined minimum of $270 million, in addition to the federal funds we are seeking. We are confident that our federal partners know the critical importance of this project to the State of Maryland and the entire mid-Atlantic region, and we look forward to working with them to make this important improvement to our Port a reality.
The reconstruction of the Howard Street Tunnel will be yet another signal to the nation and beyond that Maryland is indeed “Open for Business.”
Larry Hogan, Governor
Maritime Industry Braces for Change in 2017
We have all been monitoring the continually evolving alliances in container shipping. As they stand now, the three alliances currently represent the majority of the world’s total container capacity. The alliances have allowed the larger ocean carriers to better allocate their resources. The smaller lines can serve more destinations without spending billions to increase their individual fleets.
As far as the impact on ports, it could bring new business if an existing customer in a new alliance brings a partner to a port. It could also have the opposite effect if that same existing customer cannot convince their partners to visit that port. There are still lots of wheels in motion.
The recently completed presidential election was historic on many fronts. Now as our nation moves forward under a new administration, the maritime industry will
be closely watching for any changes in our trade policies. President-elect Donald Trump has talked about many issues that directly impact our industry, from the Trans- Pacific Partnership to NAFTA to imposing stronger tariffs on countries like China.
There is no other industry in the world that better reflects the global economy than maritime shipping. As we move forward in 2017, our industry will be very tuned in to see how key trade policies may be affected.
James J. White, Executive Director Maryland Port Administration
[6] The Port of Baltimore ■ November/December 2016