BALTIMORE: A supersized ship marked an historic event Tuesday at the Port of Baltimore. The Ever Lambent became the first commercial ship to pass through the expanded Panama Canal and dock at Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore. Thanks to years of work dredging the port, it can now handle the large ships, creating a new boom for the port.
According to port officials, Seagirt operates at a little under 60 percent capacity, and the new ships will help the port grow. When compared with ports in New York and Norfolk, Virginia, the Port of Baltimore has much to offer as far as new business.
Roy Amalfitano, president of Evergreen Shipping Agency America, which owns The Ever Lambent, said Baltimore is the perfect port to start receiving this next generation of ships. “The Ever Lambent is here because the ultimate completion of the present Panama Canal expansion has opened many opportunities for carriers and customers on America’s East Coast,” Amalfitano said. The Ever Lambent can hold more than 8,400 20-foot-long shipping containers and is almost 1,100 feet long.
“The arrival of the Evergreen Ever Lambent at the Port of Baltimore is a signal that the Port of Baltimore is the dominant force in container shipping,” Gov. Larry Hogan said. “With only three other East Coast ports able to handle ships of this size, we look forward to the arrival of many more megaships as we continue to grow cargo opportunities at the port and create jobs for Maryland.”
While the Port of Baltimore has been No. 1 in shipping cars, farm and construction equipment, aluminum and sugar freight has been lacking recently, and this will definitely help. Federal, state and local leaders are calling the occasion a “new era” in shipping for the Port of Baltimore.
“As the largest container ship coming from Panama, (this) marks a new era that will keep the Port of Baltimore steaming ahead to the forefront of international commerce,” U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger said. Ruppersberger and U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski have been working on this day for many years. Mikulski has been working on this for about 30 years, back to when the port wasn’t doing so well as a whole.
The Maryland Port Administration entered into a public-private partnership with Ports America Chesapeake in 2010. Under that agreement, Ports America Chesapeake agreed to construct a 50-foot deep berth and install four Super Post-Panamax cranes. Both of those elements, in addition to the 50-foot deep channel that the Port of Baltimore has had since 1990, are necessary in order to handle some of the world’s largest ships. Mikulski said that now with the 50-foot channel and new state-of-the-art cranes, it’s now one of country’s most efficient ports, which will help sustain more than 120,000 jobs and $3.6 billion in wages and salaries.
“(It took) six governors, the Maryland delegation getting the federal funds, the state funds to put the money in the federal checkbook so we could have jobs in the port of Baltimore,” Mikulski said. One thing working against the port is rail. As New York and Norfolk are able to stack freight two containers high, Baltimore cannot because of the Howard Street tunnel. Still, port officials said that will not hamper the overall effect.
