Maryland Port Administration buys 70 acres of land

The 70 acres of property at the Point Breeze Business Center is expected to be used as a container storage location, but can also be used for automobiles and roll-on/roll-off storage, the Maryland Port Administration said.    The Maryland Department of Transportation’s Maryland Port Administration (MPA) recently purchased 70 acres of property at the Point Breeze Business Center, located behind the Seagirt Marine Terminal on Broening Highway in Baltimore.
   The $54 million purchase was completed on March 14, MPA Director of Communications Richard Scher told American Shipper.
   MPA said it plans to utilize the additional land as a container storage location, but can also use it for automobiles and roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) storage.
   “This represents the first new land purchase for cargo opportunities by the MDOT MPA since 1987 when land was purchased at the Fairfield Marine Terminal for autos,” the port administration said.
   Approximately 1,650 direct jobs are expected to be generated from the purchase and subsequent development projects.
   “Since welcoming our first big containership through the newly expanded Panama Canal last year, the Port of Baltimore has seen a significant jump in its container business,” Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement.
   In the first quarter of 2017, the port handled 2.56 million tons of general cargo, up 5 percent from the first quarter of 2016. The increase was primarily fueled by a boost in car and container throughput, which rose 6 percent and 8 percent, respectively, from the first quarter of 2016.
   The Port of Baltimore is one of four U.S. East Coast ports currently equipped to handle the largest ships capable of transiting the newly expanded Panama Canal. The port’s Seagirt Marine Terminal, its primary container facility, has 11 cranes, four of which are neo-Panamax, the largest cranes in the world.
   According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting‘s Port Dashboard Tool, the port is currently called by 27 liner services, including 16 that deploy pure car/truck carriers or roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) vessels, seven that deploy fully cellular containerships, three that deploy container/ro-ro (ConRo) vessels, and one that deploys multipurpose vessels.
   Back in April, Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,100-acre multimodal industrial site in Baltimore, entered into a 10-year agreement with Host Terminals to oversee the vast majority of marine cargo operations. Tradepoint Atlantic and Host Terminals will put forth a combined investment of $30 million toward infrastructure improvements at the site.
   Looking ahead, the port is hopeful the federal government will approve an application for funding under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s FASTLANE grant program to help increase clearances in the Howard Street Tunnel and at several other locations along the CSX railroad in Baltimore to accommodate double-stacked intermodal trains.