Governor Wes Moore announced that the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore’s state-owned public and private marine terminals handled 45.9 million tons of cargo in 2024, making it the second-best ever year after 2023 when the port handled a record 52.3 million tons.
Article continues below
More than 25.5 million of the nearly 46 million tons of cargo were handled during the last six months of 2024.
The total cargo had a value of $62.2 billion, third-most in the Port’s history.
“The Port of Baltimore is one of the top ports in the nation and one of Maryland’s leading economic generators,” said Governor Moore. “These numbers reveal the hard work happening at the Port to finish the year strong, despite a challenging start.
The Port of Baltimore handled 848,628 tons of roll on/roll off farm and construction machinery, which again was number one among all U.S. ports.
Baltimore also handled more imported forest products and imported gypsum than other ports. The Port handled 749,799 cars and light trucks in 2024, ranking second nationally. It also ranked second for salt and exported coal.
Overall, the Port of Baltimore finished 10th nationally for total cargo and 11th for dollar value among U.S. ports.
Other significant achievements in 2024 for the Port of Baltimore included:
The launch of double-stacked containers on rail to and from the port as part of the Howard Street Tunnel Project. A temporary route allowing double-stacked containers became operational in October along the CSX network in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and onto the Midwest.
When reconstruction work on the tunnel is completed in 2026, the permanent and more efficient route would go from Baltimore through the tunnel and onward into the Midwest.
The Howard Street Tunnel project benefits from investment from the federal government, the State of Maryland, CSX and others.
A new five-year contract with Carnival Cruise Line that keeps the world’s largest cruise provider serving the Port of Baltimore.
The agreement took effect on January 1, 2025 and includes a five-year renewal option. Carnival offers five to 14-day cruises from Baltimore to wonderful destinations like the Bahamas, Bermuda, Caribbean and New England/Canada.
The Port of Baltimore attained all of these achievements despite interruptions in service at the Port caused by the allision of the M/V Dali with the Francis Scott Key Bridge and resulting collapse of the bridge.
But for the collapse of the Key Bridge, it is expected that 2024 would have achieved even better results.
The Port of Baltimore generates about 20,300 direct jobs, with more than 273,000 jobs overall linked to Port activities. ■