The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit for construction of an all-new ocean container terminal on the site of a former steel mill that could eventually double container traffic through the Port of Baltimore.
The USACE said in a release that the permit was issued Dec. 18 for the Sparrows Point Container Terminal (SPCT) project, a $1 billion joint venture between developer Tradepoint Atlantic and Terminal Investments Limited, a subsidiary of Mediterranean Shipping Co.
Tradepoint Atlantic since 2014 has been redeveloping the former U.S. Steel mill site for warehousing, distribution facilities and other businesses. The terminal is the first container project along the property’s extensive waterfront on Baltimore harbor, where TPA already hosts a marine bulk and ro/ro facility.
The terminal will cover 330 acres within the existing Tradepoint Atlantic site in Baltimore County with a 3,000 linear foot marine terminal; wharf with as many as nine ship-to-shore cranes; container yard; gate complex; and on-dock rail and intermodal yard.
CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) serve Tradepoint Atlantic, which operates its own short line railroad.
Dredging of 4.2 million cubic feet of material will extend the depth of the Sparrows Point Channel and turning basin to 52 feet. The USACE also included a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the review.
The permit follows the opening of Baltimore’s Howard Street Tunnel, which was rebuilt by CSX to accommodate doublestack intermodal trains. The clearing of a major chokepoint on the I-95 rail route is also expected to help boost container volumes at the Port of Baltimore.
Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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