Port of Baltimore logged record cargo traffic in 2016

In 2016, the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore handled more than 10 million total tons of general cargo at its public terminals for the first time in the port's history.

The port last year handled 10.1 million tons of general cargo, marking a 5 percent increase compared with 2015, port officials said in a press release.

In addition, the port in 2016 handled a record 538,567 containers, a 3 percent year-over-year increase.

Container traffic soared 23 percent in December 2016 compared with container traffic in the same month in 2015.

Last year, the port began handling larger ships moving through the expanded Panama Canal. The Port of Baltimore is one of four U.S. East Coast ports with the necessary infrastructure to accommodate the mega ships moving through the canal.

"Maryland's strategic investments in the Port of Baltimore have enabled the port to directly benefit from the expanded Panama Canal by serving the new mega ships," said Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.