MSC extends Baltimore contract for 6 years

MSC extends Baltimore contract for 6 years    Mediterranean Shipping Co. on Thursday signed a six-year extension to its existing contract with the Port of Baltimore.
   The extension, valid through Dec. 31, 2014, requires MSC to bring a minimum of 100,000 containers annually to the port — three times the amount required in the original 10-year contract.
   MSC began a weekly service to Baltimore in 1988. That year, about 4,500 containers were brought to the port on MSC vessels. By 2008, the number increased 30-fold to more than 136,000 containers, according to the Maryland Port Administration. MSC also was the first container shipping company to work out of the Seagirt Marine Terminal after in opened in 1990.
   'At this time of great uncertainty in the global economy it's refreshing that the relationship between Mediterranean Shipping Co. and the Maryland Port Administration is stable and based on mutual respect and cooperation,' said Capt. Nicola Arena, MSC's chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement. 'We look forward to many more years at the Port of Baltimore.'
   In addition to the MSC contract, the Port of Baltimore has signed 10-year contracts with Taiwan-based liner carrier Evergreen Marine Corp. and Finland-based paper manufacturer UPM within the last year.