The ambitious makeover of the Baltimore port enabled the port last year to process record numbers of cargo, but also tied the city’s fortunes to giant oceangoing vessels that some warned were prone to accidents.
Cranes move into position on April 15 as workers try to clear the channel to the Port of Baltimore. After Baltimore’s Bethlehem Steel mill tumbled into bankruptcy and a nearby General Motors plant closed its doors, state and local officials were not about to let the city’s port follow them into commercial oblivion.
One of those ships was the Dali, which collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, leading to its collapse and the deaths of six people. The Dali was not the largest ship Baltimore had ever seen. But it was plenty big: almost 1,000 feet long and nearly 160 feet wide. It weighed in at more than 116,000 tons.
But for several years, Allianz, which insures many of these behemoths, has warned that putting so much cargo on a single ship guaranteed a massive bill if something went wrong. The largest ships, able to carry more than twice as many containers as the Dali, pose especially costly dangers, according to the insurer.
“What carriers do best is play ports against each other,” said John Porcari, who was Maryland’s transportation secretary at the time. In waters south of Manhattan, teams blasted through solid rock to deepen 35 miles of navigation channels for the new ships. Dredging in Savannah was forced to work around a lost Confederate ironclad warship, resting near the mouth of the city’s river.
A 2008 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assessment concluded that most East Coast ports would not be able to handle the post-Panamax vessels. “Larger ships require the terminal to have longer docks, more storage area, deeper water at the dock and a capacity to move containers from the terminal to truck or rail,” the corps concluded.
State officials prepared an across-the-board menu of improvements, including identifying new sites to dump material dredged from the seabed, and construction of a 17-acre container storage facility.Funds also were set aside to rehabilitate facilities and deepen the waters at Dundalk Marine Terminal, which handled auto imports and other roll-on, roll-off cargo. The berths there dated to the 1930s when the Harbor Municipal Airport stood on the site.
“Jobs, jobs, jobs. This deal is all about job creation in Maryland and job creation now,” O’Malley said when it was announced.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Baltimore bridge disaster being blamed by leading Republicans on DEI decried by Baltimore mayorThis is additional taxonomy that helps us with analytics
Read more »
Baltimore Ravens and Orioles Donate $10 Million to Maryland Tough Baltimore Strong Key Bridge FundThe Baltimore Ravens and Baltimore Orioles have donated $10 million to the Maryland Tough Baltimore Strong Key Bridge Fund, which provides support to families, port workers, small businesses, first responders, and communities affected by a recent disaster.
Read more »
Baltimore Orioles Leadership Joins Baltimore Ravens During NFL DraftBaltimore Orioles GM Mike Elias and assistant GM Sig Mejdal returned the favor they extended Ravens GM Eric DeCosta two years ago.
Read more »
A giant crane arrives in Baltimore, but leaders see a 'daunting' cleanup job aheadFederal money and resources are flowing to Maryland as authorities scramble to remove the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. But they acknowledge the effort will not be easy, cheap or quick.
Read more »
A giant crane arrives in Baltimore, but leaders see a 'daunting' cleanup job aheadFederal money and resources are flowing to Maryland as authorities scramble to remove the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. But they acknowledge the effort will not be easy, cheap or quick.
Read more »
$60M and a giant crane: Resources pouring into Baltimore after Key bridge collapseThe Biden administration swiftly approved $60 million in emergency funds on Thursday.
Read more »