BALTIMORE — It was gradual at first, but Maryland Port Administration Executive Director Jonathan Daniels says within the last couple of weeks - even the last couple of days - business is really ramping up at the Port of Baltimore. Shippers that were forced to use alternate routes while the port was closed after the Key Bridge collapse are starting to return.
"We finally have gone above 3,000 gate transactions on a daily basis. We’re actually averaging over the last few weeks about 2,700. Your typical day is about 3,500 gate transactions. So right now, we’re sitting at about 85% of where we would normally be," Daniels told WMAR-2 News' Elizabeth Worthington.
To compare - back in June, right after the port celebrated its official reopening, there were less than a thousand ships coming in and out per day.
But there's still a lag with the cargo coming back per vessel, specifically with Asian shipping lines which Daniels says were a little more cautious than others.
"Those lines were being extremely conservative on issuing bookings, making sure the channel was fully reopened, that they weren’t going to run into any significant congestion. We’re starting to see that Asian cargo return, and that’s being borne out by a lot of the numbers that we’ve seen in the last week or so," Daniels said. "We would’ve liked to have seen it a little bit earlier but now we’re starting to enjoy the fruits of those discussions and making sure that the promises that were made, and the promises that are being kept."
Daniels says they have not heard from any shipping lines that they don't plan to return to Baltimore at all.
The port is seeing a rebound in most places, but with roll-on/roll-off ships, Daniels says they're actually seeing an increase from last year.
According to July numbers they just got in this morning, the port saw a 12% increase in cars and light trucks compared to the same time in 2023.
But Daniels doesn't predict we'll return to "business as usual" until early 2025.
"I tend to be a little conservative on that. I’d like to be able to over-deliver," he said.
2025 is also when construction is expected to start on the new bridge. We asked Daniels about the potential for the port to shut down again during the rebuild.
“We hope to be able to work with the contractor to make sure they understand the importance of the channel, so that they’re doing work that’s over the channel and they’re not having to close for a significant period of time,” Daniels told WMAR-2 News. “If there is a closure, we’re gonna work on timing that during a particular day or period of time to minimize the type of impact certainly that we saw with the closure of the channel. We don’t anticipate anywhere near that type of impact going forward.”
We reported earlier this week that the Maryland Port Administration estimates the port lost 3 million dollars during the closure. Officials are now saying that was a preliminary number. They're still analyzing everything and the estimated financial loss is subject to change.
