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The Port of Baltimore
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January/February 2014
The happenings in and around the Port
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RAIL
Direct-to-Rail Operation at
Dundalk Shows Off Efficiency of
Heavy-Lift Berth
T
he Maryland Port Administration (MPA) completed
its first direct-to-rail discharge at the Dundalk Marine
Terminal in early December. Three transformers,
each with a weight of 104 metric tons, were lifted from the
Spliethoff
Snoekgracht
to Norfolk Southern railcars waiting
on tracks alongside the vessel. Ports America handled
stevedoring duties.
“The ship-to-rail operation worked exactly as planned and we
look forward to handling more of this type of cargo,” said
Sam
Azzarello
, MPA General Manager, Logistics.
Over the summer, the MPA opened its new heavy rail spur
that runs along Dundalk Berth 5/6 without crossing other tracks.
The E80 track supports a railcar at 80,000 pounds per axle and
provides a seamless connection between ship and rail.
Azzarello called the direct-to-rail operation “cost-effective
and efficient,” adding that the three transformers were moved in
less than three hours.
DISTRIBUTION
MTC Logistics Expanding
to Meet Demand
T
he MTC Logistics distribution
center located at the Chesapeake
Commerce Center adjacent to
Seagirt Marine Terminal is undergoing
an expansion. As announced in
early December, the facility will
exceed 9 million cubic feet and offer
approximately 32,000 racked pallet
positions when the expansion is
completed.
“Our distribu-
tion center’s
location imme-
diately adjacent
to the Port of
Baltimore’s Seagirt
Marine Terminal
and within a half mile of two entrances to
I-95 has lived up to our expectations,” said
Harry Halpert
, MTC Logistics Chairman.
“Since opening in 2009, the feedback from
our customers about this facility’s ability
to integrate international and domestic
services and to timely serve markets with
our transportation affiliate, MLogistcs™,
has been overwhelmingly positive and has
placed us in a position to expand.”
ARCO Design/Build, the Atlanta-based
company responsible for design and
construction of Phase I of the facility,
has also been contracted to design and
construct Phase II, which will encompass
5 million cubic feet of temperature-
controlled space complete with more
than 15,000 specialized rack positions.
MTC Logistics has been operating
temperature-controlled distribution
centers since 1928.
“With the expansion of the Panama
Canal slated for 2015, we needed to be
ready to support the expanding demands
for refrigerated cargo in the Mid-Atlantic
region,” said MTC Logistics President
F. Brooks Royster, III
. “Due to the Port of
Baltimore being one of only two ports on
the East Coast able to accept the newly
defined Panamax vessels, we needed
to be ready for the additional business.
Additionally, the recently announced P3
Alliance of Maersk, MSC and CMA/CGM
will continue to accelerate the expansion
of the Port of Baltimore.”
COURTESY OF MPA
BILL MCALLEN
ZZZ PWFFROG FRP
