The Port of Baltimore is getting a nearly $6.6 million federal grant to build an additional 50-foot-deep berth to accommodate large container ships.
“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 Thursday 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 feet to 50 feet, and was awarded $6,554,575 million.
The total cost of the project will be $32.7 million. The state will contribute $7.8 million, and Ports America, the company with a long-term contract to operate the port, will contribute $18.4 million.
Construction on the berth expansion is scheduled to begin in late 2019 and is expected to last about one year.
Seagirt already 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.
“These funds will expand the Port’s capacity, spurring economic growth and creating more good-paying jobs across Baltimore and the state,” said Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who backed the project. “The Port of Baltimore connects the Maryland economy with businesses and opportunities across the globe.”
Ruppersberger said with so much partisanship in Washington, he was glad the delegation could deliver federal assistance to a worthy local project.