Port of Baltimore to receive funding for second deepwater berth

Governor Larry Hogan has announced that the Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Port Administration (MDOT MPA) will receive $6.6m in U.S. Department of Transportation grant funding to contribute to a project that will deepen a second container berth to 50 feet at the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal.

The state of Maryland will contribute $7.8m and Ports America Chesapeake, which operates the Seagirt Marine Terminal for the MDOT MPA, will add $18.4m for a total project cost of $32.7m. The federal funding is from a program called Better Utilising Investment to Leverage Development (BUILD). Construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2019 and should take approximately one year to complete.

A second 50-foot deep draft container berth will allow the Port of Baltimore to handle two supersized container ships simultaneously. Under a public-private partnership agreement signed in 2010 with Ports America Chesapeake, a 50-foot deep draft berth was constructed at the Seagirt Marine Terminal. The Port of Baltimore is one of a few U.S. East Coast ports with the necessary 50-foot deep channel to accommodate these massive container vessels. Earlier this fall, the Port of Baltimore welcomed the largest container ship to ever visit Maryland when the 11,000 TEU container ship Gunde Maersk arrived at Seagirt.

For more information visit www.mpa.maryland.gov

17th December 2018