Ports America to run Baltimore intermodal facility

The Ports America Chesapeake next week will begin intermodal transfer service operations at the the Port of Baltimore under an agreement with CSX, the port announced Wednesday.

The agreement, reached earlier this year, calls for Ports America to replace CSX as the lessee and operator of the Seagirt container transfer facility at the Baltimore port on Oct. 31, the parties announced in a press release.

CSX's domestic and international intermodal rail service will continue to be served at the facility.

The new agreement is designed to support future intermodal growth by connecting Maryland to Midwest and southern markets via the CSX network, officials said.

"With the newly expanded Panama Canal, the Port of Baltimore is well positioned to handle increased volumes and ultra-large neo-Panamax container vessels," said Bayard Hogans, general manager of Ports America Chesapeake. "Our four super-post-Panamax cranes and on-dock rail service gives us a higher level of competitiveness to attract new freight to the region."

Ports America assumed operational control of the Seagirt Marine Terminal through a public-private partnership in 2010.