Port Of Baltimore Steps Up As Shipping Industry Wrestles With Supply Chain Issues
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Port of Baltimore is ramping up its cargo volumes to relieve backlogs at other domestic ports.
The port on Monday greeted the Noble Ace, a cargo vessel that unloaded 1,800 brand new Mercedes-Benz vehicles, roughly 600 of which are destined for the West Coast.
That shipment was the latest in a series of steps taken by the port to contend with supply chain issues that have jammed other ports across the country.
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Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan attributed the growing cargo volume to the maritime industry's confidence in the Port of Baltimore when it comes to shipping.
"Throughout the pandemic, the men and women who work at Maryland's Port have maintained it as a solid, reliable link in our nation's supply chain," the governor said. "Today, cargo is moving through the Port and heading to homes, retail stores, and other businesses across the country."
Besides the Mercedes-Benz shipment, the port has recently begun handling shipments of fuselage parts for the Airbus A220 aircraft, in addition to shipments of farm and construction equipment from Kubota, a multinational corporation based on Japan.
The new cargo is on top of dozens of unscheduled arrivals of vessels rerouted to Baltimore because their intended destinations were too congested to receive them.
This past year the port has added container services for Mediterranean Shipping Company and Maersk, two of the largest international container shipping companies in the world. That includes servicing eight MSC hips and as many as 13 Maersk vessels.
Down the road, the port anticipates the expansion of the Howard Street Tunnel will increase the port's business by about 160,000 containers a year, which could lead to the creation of approximately 6,550 construction jobs and ,7300 other positions.