Seagirt

Baltimore, founded as an inland deep-water port, now finds itself losing a competitive struggle for the container traffic that carries much of the world's commerce. The Seagirt Marine Terminal, opened 18 years ago to help the port of Baltimore compete for this lucrative business, is struggling to cope with an array of operating disadvantages that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to remedy with no assurance of future success. A possible answer, port officials believe, is to lease the entire Seagirt facility for 30 to 40 years to a private operator willing to invest in making the facility a success.

Eighteen years after its opening was hailed as the beginning of a renaissance for the port of Baltimore, the Seagirt Marine Terminal is operating at less than half capacity, despite longtime state efforts to bolster traffic at the only port terminal that exclusively handles lucrative container cargo. Containerized cargo remains the port's bread and butter, accounting for 65 percent of the business at Maryland's public terminals. But Seagirt continues to lose ground to its East Coast competitors, as container volume growth in Norfolk, New York and Savannah has far outpaced Baltimore.

Midwest cutting air service Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines, scrambling to avoid bankruptcy, will drop service to Baltimore and 10 other cities in September as it cuts more than a quarter of its daily schedule. The reductions follow the airline's recent decision to lay off 40 percent of its work force and ground its entire fleet of older, gas-guzzling Boeing MD-80 planes. 3,000 customers to test meters More than 3,000 utility customers in Baltimore and Westminster will participate in a test of advanced electric meters that could save them money and reduce energy usage during times of peak demand, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said.

Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Corp. will sign today an agreement to continue service to Baltimore for 10 years as it eyes an increase in traffic between the East Coast and Asia. The new longer-term contract keeps Evergreen's guarantee to move at least 40,000 loaded containers through Seagirt Marine Terminal annually. Evergreen is the second largest container line operating in the port and the only one to provide direct service to Asia, a market port officials have tried to expand in recent years.

Port officials are sounding out potential investors to help fund a $120 million project to deepen a berth at the Seagirt Marine Terminal - a project they say is needed to accommodate bigger ships passing through a to-be-widened Panama Canal. If the initiative moves forward, it would be the first time the state has turned to private investors to finance improvements at the public terminals of the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore. The Maryland Port Administration said it needs to add a 50-foot-deep berth at Seagirt to stay competitive as the shipping industry moves to larger vessels.

Crowds celebrating New Year's Eve in Baltimore's Inner Harbor will be taking in a fireworks display paid for by a new player in town they've likely never heard of: Ports America. It is the first time a corporate sponsor is picking up the tab for the entire event. Spending big bucks to underwrite a public spectacle may seem an unusual move for a company that, unlike a bank or retailer or credit card, has little to do with average consumers. But Ports America Inc. wants to raise the profile of what has previously been a fairly obscure business -- running the biggest container cargo terminal at the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore, one of the state's major economic engines.

A computer glitch at a port of Baltimore terminal kept dozens of trucks from entering the port yesterday and forced them to line up for more than three hours on nearby streets, snarling traffic and taxing police officers. "There was a whole slew of trucks," said Sgt. Robert Ways of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. "I've never seen so many trucks. But the drivers cooperated pretty good." The problem was traced to a computer system that records the identity and contents of trucks entering and leaving Seagirt Marine Terminal.

After three weeks of absorbing heavy criticism, the companies involved in a deal that would shift work at six U.S. ports from a British-owned firm to one owned by the government of Dubai are building on their Washington lobbying effort with a high-powered public relations offensive in the port cities. Officials from P&O Ports North America Inc., a subsidiary of the British cargo company, made its first stop outside the entrance to Seagirt Marine Terminal yesterday, hours before a House panel voted to block the deal.

When it comes to Dubai Port World's possible takeover of a company with significant operations at six U.S. ports, including Baltimore's, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. "has concerns," but he's also "hopeful." One day he's looking into canceling the firm's Maryland contract, but he later says the matter is on the "right path." Such floundering must be contagious. During a hearing Friday in Annapolis, Mr. Ehrlich's transportation secretary told state legislators he agreed with the reservations expressed by Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, who said she has "no confidence" in the Bush administration - but he also said he expected the matter to work out in the end. If the sale of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. has been a nightmare for the Bush administration, it's been no picnic for the Ehrlich administration either.

The British parent company of P&O Ports, the terminal operator and stevedoring firm that handles much of the cargo at the port of Baltimore, agreed yesterday to be sold to the government-owned Dubai Ports World. No job cuts or other major changes are expected at the company, which operates at about 100 ports in 18 countries, after the sale of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. The sale price is 3.3 billion pounds, or $5.7 billion, in cash. Per share, that's 443 pence, or $7.60.