Port

After a string of bad-news announcements, the Port of Baltimore finally received some uplifting news last month: A giant corporation in the shipping world has decided to reestablish ties to Baltimore. If the Hong Kong line, Orient Overseas Container Line, likes what it sees (and it should) Baltimore could wind up with oodles of new containership business.Cargo at the ultra-modern Seagirt Marine Terminal should rise 20 percent because of OOCL's weekly ship arrival. And discussions with longshoremen's unions and officials of the bay pilots association could ensure a remarkably smooth -- and cost-effective -- stay in Baltimore.

GOOD NEWS from the port of Baltimore. Not only does the state have a new executive director at the Maryland Port Administration, but a refreshing hands-off attitude is coming with him. That's right, the Ehrlich administration has promised to give its new hire, F. Brooks Royster III, the actual authority to run the organization. That includes the right to hire and fire. What a difference a public outcry makes. Had Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his transportation secretary, Robert L. Flanagan, shown such judgment in February, Baltimore's maritime community wouldn't have been thrown into its recent upheaval.

Bargainers for port employers and dockworker union leaders were scheduled to return to the bargaining table today amid hope that a tentative agreement could be reached in time for a vote this week.Members of the International Longshoremen's Association at the Port of Baltimore overwhelmingly approved last week a national contract agreement. Talks are still under way for a supplemental, local agreement that defines work rules unique to the port.ILA leaders have asked for three days' leeway to schedule a meeting and membership vote before Friday's midnight deadline.

In a recent speech to a French audience, Claude Abraham,president of CGM, a large French steamship and transport company, gave his audience a history lesson. Mr. Abraham, who spent a number of years as a professor, is an educator at heart. He maintains that maritime history is in the process of repeating itself. The port of Baltimore should take heed.His premise is persuasive. During the 1990s we will witness the swelling of one of those waves of international trade that have risen periodically over the centuries.

The port of Baltimore stands a good chance of retaining its most important customer, Maersk Line, Maryland Transportation Secretary O. James Lighthizer said yesterday."

State Transportation Secretary O. James Lighthizer today named Adrian G. Teel, chief administrative officer for Anne Arundel County, to be the new executive director of the Maryland Port Administration.Lighthizer said he chose Teel, 47, over 13 other candidates after working with him when Lighthizer was Anne Arundel County executive.Lighthizer said he would later name a deputy port director with maritime experience.See story, Page C14.

A labor leader at the Port of Baltimore is calling for a special conference and mediation committee to ease the contentious relationship between the port's labor and management.Horace W. Davis, president of Local 1429 of the International Longshoremen's Association, sent a letter Saturday to leaders of state, private industry and labor associated with the port."I'm just hoping it will make a contribution to all parties," said Davis, whose union local represents shipping-container repairmen, line handlers, ship cleaners and warehouse workers, among others.

The Mediterranean Shipping Co. will increase by several thousand containers the cargo it moves through the port of Baltimore under an agreement announced yesterday with the Maryland Port Administration.The agreement gives the company special rates for cargo moved through the Seagirt Marine Terminal to and from southern and western destinations. The increased business in the port stems largely from improved rail service at the 2-year-old Seagirt terminal.Last year, the CSX Corp., one of two major railroads serving Baltimore, opened a rail yard at Seagirt as it closed its Potomac Yards facilities in Alexandria, Va. That will enable companies like Mediterranean to ship more cheaply by rail directly from the port, rather than trucking cargo first to Alexandria.

The Port of Baltimore enters the year hoping to continue its steady growth in cargo by capitalizing on last year's agreements liberalizing world trade.Both the North American Free Trade Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade accord are expected to increase trade in Baltimore and elsewhere by significantly reducing or eliminating tariffs."We're anticipating a positive impact at the port of Baltimore," said Michael P. Angelos, executive director of the Maryland Port Administration, which oversees the state's five public marine terminals.

Because of an editing error, an article about the Maryland Port Administration in the Business section of yesterday's Sun incorrectly identified the guest of honor at a reception Tuesday. The event was held to honor Adrian G. Teel, the port agency'sTC new executive director.Charged with reorganizing and revitalizing the Maryland Port Administration, Adrian G. Teel, the port agency's new executive director, announced yesterday the hiring of an executive assistant and confirmed the resignation of the MPA's director of personnel.