Page 22 - Port of Baltimore Magazine Jan/Feb 2013

Port Report
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[20] The Port of Baltimore ■ January/February 2013
Container volumes
continued an uptick as the
Port of Baltimore handled
a new record of nearly 6.3
million tons of containers in 2012, good for a seven percent increase over
2011. Part of Baltimore’s success in containers was due to the continued
success of MSC’s Golden Gate and Evergreen’s AUE services from Asia.
The Port of Baltimore is also benefitting from existing long-term contracts
with the two container shipping giants. Additionally, Baltimore’s container
business was boosted by a 22 percent increase in volume from CSAV’s
East Coast South American service. An ongoing, continuing effort to attract
additional volume from Beneficial Cargo Owners (BCOs) was identified.
Key BCO accounts such as IKEA, Pier 1 and Restoration Hardware all
moved additional TEUs through Seagirt Marine Terminal in 2012.
As an added boost to the container business, 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-deep container berth at
Seagirt Marine Terminal under a public-private partnership with Ports
America Chesapeake concluded in 2012. In addition to completing the
50-foot-deep berth, four new super-post-Panamax cranes arrived in Baltimore and are fully operational. Baltimore is one
of only two ports on the East Coast that are able to accommodate some of the largest container vessels in the world.
The CSX railroad, the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland announced in 2012 that a site had been
identified for a new intermodal container transfer facility that will give the Port of Baltimore long-awaited access
to double-stacked container trains. This, coupled with a new deep container berth and supersized cranes,
promises a great future handling containers at the Port of Baltimore.
Containers
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
in Tons
2011
2012 6,297,486 Tons
2011 5,873,196 Tons
PERCENT CHANGE +7%
PREVIOUS RECORD
2011 – 5,873,196 Tons
NEW
RECORD
SET
2012
TONS