Posted on December 11, 2018
The Port of Baltimore is getting a $6.5 million federal grant to build an additional 50-foot-deep berth to accommodate large containerships.
“The more cargo, the more money we make and the more jobs we create,” said U.S. Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, whose district includes the port. “This is really going to help the port.”
Ruppersberger said he received a call Dec. 6 from the deputy secretary of transportation, notifying him that the Maryland Port Administration would be awarded a grant through the BUILD — Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development — program.
The port administration had applied for an $8 million grant to expand one of the berths at the Seagirt Marine Terminal from 45 to 50 feet, and was awarded the $6.5 million.
Seagirt has one 50-foot-deep berth, which “has been appealing to ocean carriers,” Maryland’s congressional delegation wrote in a letter supporting the grant application. That berth and four new cranes went into service in 2013.
“As all vessels continue to grow in size, the Port of Baltimore will face berth constraints and will soon be excluded from continued international trade growth unless it can provide more than one deep-draft berth and additional cranes,” the delegation wrote.
Ruppersberger said the delegation was successful in arguing that creating a second, 50-foot berth would facilitate increased business at the port, which in turn leads to more jobs and money.
He said with so much partisanship in Washington, he was glad the delegation could deliver federal assistance to a worthy local project.
“When you can bring home the bacon to your district, this is what I think taxpayers want us to do,” said Ruppersberger, a Baltimore County Democrat.
“We appreciate Secretary [Elaine] Chao working with us on this important issue,” the Maryland lawmakers wrote in a statement Dec. 6. “Team Maryland stands united to use every opportunity to ensure these kind of investments in Maryland’s economy continue through the next Congress.”
Maryland Port Administration officials declined to discuss the grant the evening of Dec. 6.
This is the second time this year the federal government has given a significant transportation grant in the Baltimore area.
Earlier this year, the feds awarded $20 million to Baltimore County and Tradepoint Atlantic for upgrading the company’s port facilities in Sparrows Point. Tradepoint is redeveloping a former steel mill site into an industrial, logistics and manufacturing hub.
While Tradepoint already has some shipping activity, company officials have said the property’s port was long neglected during the decline of the steel mill and is in need of an upgrade. Tradepoint also is planning to dredge its approach channels and basin to accommodate larger ships.
The grant to Tradepoint came through the federal government’s predecessor to BUILD, known as Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER.
Source: Transport Topics
