Port of Baltimore adds new ‘around the world’ container service

Maryland’s Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore has been added to an existing international container service with the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) that will include port visits between Asia and the Panama Canal as well as the U.S. and the Suez Canal. The MSC Santana service will now include port calls in Baltimore and Boston, as well as Da Chan Bay Port in China. The first sailing under the new schedule will leave the Port of Haiphong in Vietnam onboard the MSC Ellen on July 15, 2022.

“The international maritime shipping industry continues to speak loudly and favorably about the convenience, service, and reliability of Maryland’s Port of Baltimore,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “Mediterranean Shipping Company was the first container shipping company at the Seagirt Marine Terminal and now it has added another service in Maryland at a time when we’re heavily investing in infrastructure upgrades at the Port.”

The full rotation of the Santana service will be: Haiphong – Da Chan Bay (China) – Shanghai (China) – Busan (South Korea) – Panama Canal – Charleston – Baltimore – New York – Boston – Suez Canal – Singapore – Haiphong. This new service for the Port of Baltimore follows a recently announced new container service for Baltimore on ZIM Shipping Lines as well as another service on MSC through the Indian Subcontinent and Mediterranean.

“Maryland’s Port of Baltimore and its outstanding work force have fueled the state’s economic rebound from the pandemic,” said Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Secretary James F. Ports, Jr. “The investments we and our partners are making at Maryland’s Port create good-paying, family-supporting jobs, and this new service will add even more to our overall economic impact.”

“MSC is one of the top container shipping companies in the world and a great partner of ours,” said Maryland Port Administration- Port of Baltimore Executive Director William P. Doyle. “We love the around-the-world services with the Port of Baltimore in between the Asia-Panama Canal and U.S.-Suez Canal routes. With our infrastructure and incredible supply chain network, there’s no better port in the country right now for handling containers than Baltimore.

There is a need for utilization of more gateways such as Baltimore to land cargo in the United States. Import/export demand for containerized cargo has substantially increased over the past year. With that demand, port congestion is an all-time high. Baltimore is a prime gateway for goods heading to the ecommerce market and for cargo sent to the Midwest via rail. Maryland’s Port has handled more than 50 “ad hoc” ship calls during the recovery stages of the pandemic – vessels diverted to Baltimore that were not on a regularly scheduled service call.

Maryland’s Port of Baltimore has begun to put into operation four additional supersized, Neo-Panamax container cranes. The cranes are part of a $166 million investment made by Ports America Chesapeake (PAC) at the Seagirt Marine Terminal and are serving the new second deep-water berth. Having an additional deep berth allows the Port to serve supersized cargo ships simultaneously.

“We are thrilled to welcome our trusted partner MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company’s new service to Seagirt Marine Terminal,” said PAC Vice President Bayard Hogans.