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ThePort of Baltimore
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March/April 2014
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Ports America Chesapeake has an environmental track record at the Port of Baltimore that just keeps getting
more impressive.
The terminal operator was the first company at thePort todemo the Tier 4 (i) Hyster top loader inmid-2012. The
resultswere sopositive that the company decided tobuy three of them later that year. Then, in2013, PortsAmerica
added threemore loaders and the original demounit to its fleet.
“Since thedemo in2012,wehavepurchaseda total of sevenTier 4 (i) top loaders, and, at theendof 2013,wealso
purchased two 9,000-pound-capacity Hyster forkliftswith Tier 4 Final engines,” said PatrickHowell, Ports America
Chesapeake’sCrane andEngineeringManager.
Howell saidHyster presentedPortsAmericaChesapeakewith informationwhen thecompanyfirst purchased the
top loaders showing that theywould result ina significant reduction inemissionsover Tier 3engines. UsingHyster’s
reductionestimates, over theexpected lifeof themachine (20,000hours), PortsAmericaChesapeakewill be reducing
the effective emissions by the following:
h
CO
2
(carbondioxide) reductions
of 396 tons—2,772 tons for all sevenmachines
h
PM (fineparticulatematter) reductions
of 2,326pounds– 16,282pounds for all sevenmachines
h
NOx (mono-nitrogenoxide) reductions
of 31,584pounds—221,088pounds for all sevenmachines
TheHyster purchases are just part of PortsAmericaChesapeake’s commitment to the environment and thePort of
Baltimore.
In 2009, the company signed a 50-year lease with theMaryland Port Administration to operate Seagirt Marine
Terminal. The company agreed to invest $500million in the project and provide $140million to the state fund for
highway, bridge and tunnel projects near the Port.
In June 2012, Seagirt received four new all-electric, high-efficiency, super-post-Panamax gantry cranes that can
reach22containersacross. Theexisting sevencranesat Berths 1-3weremodified to reach 18containersacross, and
they can trolley to a newberth that became fully operational in January 2013.
The 1,200-linear-foot Berth4, whichhas a 50-foot-draft, canhandle 14,000 TEU vessels.
FromAugust 2012 toAugust 2013, Seagirt hada5.8percent increase inbusinessand successfullyexecutedmore
than $142million in equipment upgrades and environmental initiatives. Annual volume is 630,000 TEU and current
vessel container production is 37 netmoves per hour, one of the highest on theU.S. East Coast.
PORT
ENVIRONMENTAL SUMMARY
Top-NotchEfforts
Seagirt’sNewTopLoadersarePartofPortsAmericaChesapeake’sContinuedCommitment
Electriccranesare
one facetofmore than
$142million inequipment
upgradesandenvironmental
initiatives recentlyunder-
takenatSeagirt.
KATHYBERGRENSMITH
