Page 9 - Port of Baltimore Magazine Jan/Feb 2013
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January/February 2013
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The Port of Baltimore
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PORT
SOUNDINGS
SHIPPING
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SC Line Starts Calling On Baltimore
S
C Line, a Panama-based company that transports roll-on/roll-off
(ro/ro) and project cargo to Central and South America, has added
Baltimore as a port of call.
“SC Line’s call into Baltimore will have much success due to their fast
vessels and great service,” said Ricardo L. Schiappacasse, Maryland Port
Administration Trade Development. “They have a very experienced manage-
ment team who always makes quality their first priority.”
The company, which began shipping trucks
between Mexican and Peruvian ports in 2006,
quickly expanded to the Colombian
market and began moving North
American-manufactured trucks.
Today it calls on more than 16 ports in
more than a dozen countries.
SC Line operates five ships,
including two state-of-the-art vessels
built within the last three years,
the
Strait of Gibraltar
and
Strait of
Dover
. Ignasi Sola Matas, Director
of Marketing, noted that SC Line is
changing its fleet over to Pure Car and Truck Carriers with a capacity
for 2,000 cars and 200 trucks on each vessel.
SC Line handles an average of 1,000 trucks a month, calling on major
ports in Central and South America. The
Strait of Gibraltar
was the first of its
ships to visit Baltimore late last year. (See the Maiden Voyage announcement
on page 43.)
AUTOS
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Mercedes-Benz VPC
Reaches Record in 2012
T
he Mercedes-Benz Vehicle Processing
Center (VPC) at the Port of Baltimore
reported a record number of
automobiles handled in 2012. The total of
141,455 processed vehicles, which surpassed
the previous record of 120,944 in 2011, included more than
95,000 Mercedes-Benz autos and 44,000 BMW autos.
The Maryland Port Administration (MPA) and Mercedes-Benz
signed a 20-year contract in 2004 to bring vehicles through
Baltimore, where the VPC handles nearly half of the Mercedes-
Benz vehicles that arrive in the United States. The Port’s
mid-Atlantic location is ideal to serve one of the largest American
consumer markets, said Ted Boudalis, Strategic VPC Operations
Manager for Mercedes-Benz USA. He also noted that members of
the team at the Baltimore VPC are regularly deployed to the com-
pany’s Regional Learning and Performance Center in Montvale,
NJ, to receive the latest diagnostic, technical, mechanical and
bodywork training. “Our focus is on providing the highest level
of customer experience,” Boudalis said. “From the processors’
perspective, that means taking every step possible to ensure that
we are shipping the best vehicle you can get.”
NEWSMAKERS
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Chenowith
Stepping Down at
T. Parker Host
E
xpressing “mixed emotions”
regarding his decision, David
Chenowith announced that he
is “stepping down” as President of T.
Parker Host, Inc., effective March 1.
Chenowith has spent 35 years in the
maritime industry.
“My 14 years serving at T. Parker
Host in various roles has been
the best of my maritime career,
allowing me to grow along with the
organization from two offices to 14
different office locations,” Chenowith
said in a letter circulated through the
Baltimore Maritime Exchange. Though
he and wife Kim are taking advantage
of an opportunity “to pursue the next
chapter in our lives at a slower pace
as we both ease into retirement,”
Chenowith added that he will
continue his employment in the Host
Organization, “serving in a business
development role” while splitting time
between Baltimore and his new home
in North Carolina.
BILL MCALLEN
