Posted on February 6, 2018
By Holden Wilen, Baltimore Business Journal
The operator of the Port of Baltimore brought in six new cranes to help handle the increasing amount cargo coming into the Seagirt Marine Terminal.
Ports America Chesapeake, which operates the port’s Seagirt container terminal, purchased the six rubber-tired gantry yard cranes for $12 million, or $2 million per crane. The cranes are used to lift and place containers onto trucks.
Each crane weighs about 325,500 pounds and bring the total number of cranes to 22.
The cranes will help handle the record amount of cargo being hauled into the port as a result of big ships coming through the widened Panama Canal. The port handled 596,972 containers in 2017, 11 percent more than it handled in 2016 when the widened canal opened.
The Port of Baltimore ranks ninth among all U.S. ports for the total dollar value of cargo brought in and 14th for cargo tonnage.
Business at the Port of Baltimore generates about 13,650 direct jobs, while about 127,600 jobs in Maryland are linked to Port activities. The port is responsible for nearly $3 billion in personal wages and salary and more than $300 million in state and local tax revenues.
Source: Baltimore Business Journal
