Port of Baltimore

Port of Baltimore
Cargo loading cranes at the Sea Girt and Dundalk Marine Terminals along the northeast shore of the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River towards the Inner Harbor and downtown Baltimore
Map
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Details
Owned byMaryland Port Administration
Draft depth50 feet
Air draft182 feet (Chesapeake Bay Bridge). Previously also restricted to 185 feet by the Francis Scott Key Bridge (1977-2024)
Aerial view – looking up the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River towards the Inner Harbor and downtown Baltimore. Historic Fort McHenry from the War of 1812 is on Locust Point / Whetstone Point is at center left.

The Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore is a shipping port along the tidal basins of the three branches of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, on the upper northwest shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is the nation's largest port facility for specialized cargo (roll-on/roll-off ships) and passenger facilities. It is operated by the Maryland Port Administration (MPA),[1] a unit of the Maryland Department of Transportation.[2]

Founded in 1706, the port was renamed in 2006 for Helen Delich Bentley (1923–2016), who represented Baltimore as a U.S. Representative for a decade and who had also been a maritime reporter and editor for The Baltimore Sun daily newspaper.[3]

On March 26, 2024, the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge blocked ships' access to the port; the channel was fully reopened on June 10, 2024.

  1. ^ "The Port of Baltimore's Waterbourne Commerce – 2012" (PDF). Maryland Port Administration. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  2. ^ "Officials Report Record Quarter For Baltimore Port". June 11, 2018.
  3. ^ Meredith Cohn (June 2, 2006). "Port 'godmother' honored". The Baltimore Sun.