Page 21 - Port of Baltimroe Magazine - Jan Feb 2012

To subscribe or renew, visitwww.marylandports.com January/February 2012 ■ The Port of Baltimore [19]
CONTAINERS
Y 2011 proved to
be a good year
for containers at
the Port of Baltimore. Container
volumes continued an uptick as
the Port handled 7.3 million tons of
containers, an 11 percent increase
over FY 2010.
Part of Baltimore’s success
in containers during FY 2011 was
due to MSC’s Golden Gate and
Evergreen’s AUE services from
Asia. The Port of Baltimore is
benefiting from existing long-term
contracts with the two container
shipping giants. Baltimore’s
container business was also
boosted when Hapag-Lloyd AG
announced it would begin using
the Port of Baltimore as its first U.S.
port of call for a North Europe-Gulf
of Mexico service in 2012.
The Port of Baltimore had its best
12-month period ever for containers
as it handled more than 632,000
TEUs from April 2010 through March
2011. In addition, the Maryland
Port Administration, along with
Ports America Chesapeake and
CSX, hosted a seminar in May on
container business opportunities at
the Port of Baltimore. The seminar
was attended by Maryland Governor
Martin O’Malley and more than 120
current and prospective container,
logistics, manufacturing, retail
and other container supply chain
companies.
The Maryland Port
Administration and the Panama
Canal Authority renewed their
Memorandum of Understanding
for five additional years. This
was particularly critical while
the Panama Canal expansion
project continues. The goal of the
agreement is to generate new
business opportunities between
Asia and the Port of Baltimore
through the Panama Canal and
exchange best practices between
the two organizations.
Construction on the Port of
Baltimore’s 50-foot container
berth at Seagirt Marine Terminal
continued to progress at a brisk
pace. Besides the new berth,
the project also includes four
new super Post-Panamax cranes
capable of handling some of
the largest container ships in
the world. Project completion is
scheduled for August 2012, a full
two years before the completion of
the Panama Canal expansion. ★
F
0
1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
6,000,000
7,000,000
8,000,000
CONTAINERS
Change FY ’10 FY ’11
FISCAL YEAR 2011
7,373,137 Tons
FISCAL YEAR 2010
6,668,087 Tons
PERCENT CHANGE
+11%