Record-Breaking Arrival: Evergreen Ever Max Becomes Largest Ship To Dock In Baltimore

BALTIMORE - The Evergreen Ever Max, a 165,350-ton container ship hailing from Samsung shipyard in Korea, set a new record for the largest ship to ever dock at the Port of Baltimore on Friday.

At more than 1,200 feet in length, the Ever Max is longer than four football fields. Previously, the largest container ship to visit the Port of Baltimore was another Evergreen vessel, the Triton, which first visited in 2019 and has a capacity of 14,424 TEU containers.

Not every port can accommodate such behemoths. The Port of Baltimore has a 50-foot-deep channel and an array of the ultra-large, Neo-Panamax cranes needed to serve vessels like the Ever Max.

“It’s no secret why these massive container ships want to call on the Port of Baltimore,” said Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld. “They know Maryland’s Port is a valuable resource and a terrific partner in moving goods efficiently across the state and throughout the region.”

The Port of Baltimore continues to have a strong 2023. The most recent figures through May show major commodities at the state-owned, public marine terminals, such as roll-on/roll-off farm and construction equipment, containers, and general cargo, are all up year-to-date compared to 2022. Roll-on/roll-off cargo is up 30%, containers are up 10%, and general cargo is up 8%.

The strong start to 2023 follows an outstanding 2022 when the Port handled a record $74.3 billion in foreign cargo and established other new records for roll-on/roll-off, containers, general cargo, and forest products despite worldwide supply chain issues.

The Port’s rising container business will be further buoyed by the ongoing CSX-owned Howard Street Tunnel expansion project in Baltimore, which will allow for double-stacked container rail cars, clearing a longtime hurdle for the Port and giving the East Coast seamless double-stack capacity from Maine to Florida.

The project involves clearance improvements in the 127-year-old tunnel and 21 other locations between Baltimore and Philadelphia. With the tunnel expansion project, Baltimore will be able to send double-stacked containers by rail into the Ohio Valley and onto Chicago.

The Howard Street Tunnel project benefits from public-private investment from the federal government, Maryland, CSX, and others. It is scheduled to be completed in 2026 and is expected to increase the Port’s business by about 160,000 containers annually. It also will generate about 6,550 construction jobs and an additional 7,300 jobs from the increased business.

Maryland’s Port of Baltimore currently generates about 15,300 direct jobs, with nearly 140,000 jobs total linked to Port activities. The Port is responsible for almost $3.3 billion in personal wages and salaries, $2.6 billion in business revenues, and $395 million in state and local tax revenues annually.

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