Signing of Evergreen Marine Agreement Transcript
July 21, 2008
I want to thank our MDOT Secretary John Porcari and MPA Executive Director Jim Wyden for the terrific work they do here in continuing the proud tradition that is the Port of Baltimore, which is so critically important to our economy and to our connections to this global economy.
To everyone here today from Evergreen Marine, thank you all for your faith in us and in our ability to make timely investments here at the Port that will allow this to be an important place for Evergreen. I really, really appreciate this signing today.
For more than 3 centuries, ships have been coming here into this Port from lands very, very far away indeed. And opportunity has rolled in on the waves. Today, we continue to serve as a gateway to the world, to a global economy. This Port provides 50,000 jobs to our people and is the driving force behind our trade based economy.
And it’s also been a place where we actually have some good economic news. Exports from the Port of Baltimore are up some 33% in the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of last year. Much of the $8.9 billion in goods that we export sails out of this harbor, and as we recover as a State and come through these tough economic times, we can point to the fact that we’ve seen an 18% increase in exports since 2006 and a 35% increase since last year.
Our Port is also rightly proud of the productivity and effectiveness of our workforce. In fact, we have the most productive crane operations in the nation, right here in the Port of Baltimore.
In a few minutes we’ll be signing an agreement that will help to ensure that our Port continues to bring opportunity to our State, keeping us connected to this global economy. At the same time, we’re going to strengthen our partnership between Maryland and one of the most environmentally conscious container shipping companies in the world.
Under the terms of this agreement with Evergreen Marine, this group has agreed to ship a minimum 40,000 containers through our Port annually over the next decade. This will continue a three decade long partnership between our State and Evergreen that actually dates back to 1975… when I was in third grade.
Today, the company is now our Port’s second highest revenue producing customer. They’ve doubled their cargo over the past seven years.
And this agreement today is part of our overall vision for the Port…
- Working together, we’ve been able to attract Carnival Cruise lines to begin year-round service.
- Working together, we’ve been able to attract a major paper manufacturer to open a new 215,000 square foot facility.
- Working together, we’re making real progress cleaning up across the water at the Masonville site – a very polluted site. We’ve removed 30,000 tons of trash and debris – including 30 tons of tires, 1,200 tons of scrap metal, more than 5,000 feet of electric wiring and cable. How’s that for a measurable result and a measurable export?
The point of today’s agreement is this – we are a strong State. Our economy is faring very, very well compared to other states’ economies. And a big, big part of the reason for that is this place, this Port, this workforce that connects us to an ever more vibrant and growing international trade and global economy.
So I want to thank all of you for being here today.
