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Baltimore’s Port Handled a Record Amount of Cargo Last Year

A bridge collapse closed the city’s port, an important trade hub that ranks first in the nation by the volume of automobiles and light trucks it handles.


Shipping containers stacked at the Port of Baltimore in 2022. Julio Cortez/Associated Press

By Jenny Gross
March 26, 2024
Updated 8:35 a.m. ET

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge has brought the Port of Baltimore, an important trade hub, to a halt. ... The port handled a record amount of cargo last year, making it the 20th biggest port in the nation ranked by total tons, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. It ranks first in the United States for the volume of automobiles and light trucks it handles and for vessels that carry wheeled cargo, including farm and construction machinery, according to a statement by Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland last month.

Around the world, about 40 ships, including 34 cargo vessels, have Baltimore listed as a destination, including 10 commercial ships with anchors dropped in nearby waters, according to MarineTraffic, which tracks ships.

Georgios Hatzimanolis, who analyzes global shipping for MarineTraffic, said he expects the bridge collapse to cause shipping delays. “We do expect there to be a ripple effect, but it’s a bit too early to say what the impact will be,” he said. Ships heading to Baltimore with cargo to unload may instead go to ports in New Jersey or North Carolina, he said.

The port has also increasingly catered to large container ships like the Dali, the 948-foot-long cargo vessel carrying goods for the shipping giant Maersk that hit a pillar of the bridge around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The Dali had spent two days in Baltimore’s port before setting off toward the 1.6-mile Francis Scott Key Bridge.

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