By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOT The big news coming from the Maryland Port Administration’s Port of Baltimore is the March groundbreaking of the new berth for the Seagirt Marine Terminal by Port America Chesapeake. Only last year AJOT reported on the fact MPA was in need of a private partner to help fund necessary infrastructure improvements at the terminal. “We get our capital money from a state trust fund, and look out six years, the money was not there for us to be ready. So we turned to private industry,” comments James J. White, MPA executive director, in an AJOT interview. MPA solicited bids from major operators around the world asking for their interest. Having met qualifications to submit bids to run the 200-acre Southeast Baltimore terminal, at that time two of the largest stevedores in the United States—Ceres Terminals Inc./Alinda Capital Partners LLC and Ports America Group/Highstar Capital – were in the running. In December, Maryland Board of Public Works officials announced that bid was awarded to Port America Chesapeake despite the fact the company’s president has been reported as saying Port America plans to sell its stake in the operations in the next five to seven years either through public offering, to another infrastructure fund or to a strategic port operator. White is not concerned about the sale. The state has right of first refusal of any sale. “Ports America came back with the best deal available,” White says. “They had the experience from working at Seagirt.” In fact, Ports America has operated Seagirt Marine Terminal since it opened in 1990 and the Dundalk Marine Terminal since 1996. It is one of the largest port operators in the nation, operating 84 other terminals. “They have an excellent reputation and are growing,” he says. “Many stevedore services are scalilng back or satisfied with their position. Ports America seems to have a strong strategic plan for moving forward. Plus we know the local management here and feel comfortable with it.” The agreement with the MPA calls for Ports America to shift container operations from Dundalk to Seagirt and to give 65 acres to the Dundalk terminal back to the state, a move that will allow the expansion of automobile and rolling cargo operations there. The deal also guarantees the state $3.2 million annually and incremental profit sharing once the volume of business exceeds 500,000 containers. Over its lifetime, Seagirt has averaged $1.8 million in annual profits, making $2.8 million in its best year and losing $4.6 million in its worst. The conditions of the bid required the would-be operator to lease Seagirt from MPA for a minimum of 30 years and put up an estimated $80 million needed to build a new 50-foot berth. Ports America Chesapeake signed a 50-year lease with MPA and wasted no time beginning construction of the 50-foot berth. “Around mid January they took position of Seagirt and the transition has been seamless,” White says. Much to the delight of White, Ports America Chesapeake began work on the berth quicker than MPA had expected. “It’s been much quicker than we expected,” White exclaims. “They’re not only doing it.They’re doing it quicker than anyone had planned.” The contract states that the berth must be completed by June 2014. But according to White, Ports America will have the project finished two years earlier in 2012. Dredge material for the site is already coming in from the project. “There’s not a lot of dredging that has to be done – only about 200,000 cubic yards,” he says. Officials see that berth as critical to accommodating the larger ships expected to call on the port after the widening of the Panama Canal is completed in 2014. That expansion is expected to literally change the face of maritime shipping business. When work at Seagirt is completed, the Port of Baltimore will be only the second port on the East Coast with a 50-foot berth and 50-foot channel. The other is Virginia’s Port of Norfolk. “We have 50 f