European Shipping Company Brings Jobs to Baltimore

More than 600 jobs will be created in Maryland following the announcement Friday that Germany-based Hapag-Lloyd will be bringing its business to the Port of Baltimore.

Hapag-Lloyd, the fifth-largest container shipping company in the world,  announced during a news conference Friday at the Port of Baltimore, that it will ship roughly 30,000 containers annually from northern Europe to be unloaded in Baltimore. According to a Maryland Port Authority statement, the new business would also result in 255 direct jobs at the port.

“It's always a great day when we have a new company coming to Maryland with new jobs,” Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger said. “If there is one thing we need right now it's jobs.”

The port’s new 50-foot deep container berth, along with access to CSX railways allowed Baltimore to secure the contract. The new berth was built to capture the new business from the Panama Canal expansion, which will allow modern large ships to move through the canal.

“This new call at the Port of Baltimore offers importers in Baltimore and the surrounding catchment area a direct call with a fast transit time of nine days from Germany,” ” said Hapag-Lloyd Senior Vice President Area Southeast Stuart Rattray. “The service also provides direct links from the United Kingdom, France and Belgium.”

The new service will be part of Hapag-Lloyd’s Gulf of Mexico Express. According to a news release, it will begin in Thamesport, England and will transit to Le Havre, France; Antwerp, Belgium, and Bremerhaven, Germany.  It will then travel to the U.S. and stop in Baltimore, then travel to Veracruz, Mexico;  Altamira, Mexico;  Houston;  New Orleans, and Charleston, Va.. 

With this new service, according to state port authority officials, the Port of Baltimore will include three of the world’s top five container carriers in its portfolio.