Moore tours Port of Baltimore as 2025 ship visits and container volumes set new records

A port visit framed by record performance and post-collapse recovery

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore toured the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore after the port’s public and private marine terminals posted record totals in 2025 for cargo vessel visits and container activity, state officials said in late January. The visit came as Maryland leaders highlight the port’s operational rebound following the March 26, 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which temporarily blocked the main shipping channel into the harbor.

The Fort McHenry Federal Channel was restored to its original operating dimensions in June 2024, allowing deep-draft commercial traffic to resume at standard depth and width. Port officials have characterized the subsequent period as a recovery phase that carried into 2025’s record-setting results.

What the 2025 records show

For 2025, the port’s state-owned public marine terminals together with private terminals recorded 2,223 cargo vessel visits, surpassing the previous high of 2,137 set in 2023. State officials also reported the 2025 total was 21% higher than 2024.

Container movement through the Seagirt Marine Terminal reached a new record of 1,113,309 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), exceeding the prior record set in 2023 by more than 5,000 TEUs. Seagirt also set a record for ship calls, reporting 689 individual vessel visits—nearly 100 more than the 2023 benchmark. Port officials attributed part of the increase to an expanded schedule of weekly container services, rising from 12 in 2024 to 15 in 2025.

• 2025 cargo vessel visits (public + private terminals): 2,223 (record)
• Seagirt container volume: 1,113,309 TEUs (record)
• Seagirt ship calls: 689 (record)
• Weekly container services: 12 (2024) to 15 (2025)

Infrastructure and competitiveness: rail clearance and terminal capacity

State officials have linked the port’s outlook to freight-rail upgrades designed to improve intermodal connections between Baltimore and inland markets. The long-planned Howard Street Tunnel modernization is intended to remove a major clearance constraint and enable double-stack container trains to move through Baltimore. The project’s completion and corridor work tied to it have been presented as a catalyst for additional container volume and job creation.

The port’s leadership has emphasized that recent gains depend on terminal operators, longshore labor, truckers, freight forwarders, and other supply-chain partners working in coordination.

Other operational highlights and economic footprint

Officials also pointed to longer-term commercial anchors and operational benchmarks, including a five-year cruise contract extension that took effect Jan. 1, 2025, ensuring continued year-round cruise service from Baltimore. Port officials reported the port received its 16th consecutive top security assessment for state-owned public marine terminals and noted a November 2025 call by one of the largest vessels to ever visit Baltimore, enabled by a deep channel and modern cranes.

State figures estimate the Port of Baltimore supports about 20,300 direct jobs and more than 273,000 jobs statewide linked to port activity, with an annual economic impact exceeding $70 billion. In 2024, officials said the port handled 45.9 million tons of cargo valued at $62.2 billion, and ranked among the top U.S. ports by cargo value and total tonnage.