The clearing of the channel has begun. The containers are unloaded from the Dalia using a floating crane. Huge crane ships are standing by in Baltimore to direct the work.
It was announced this week that a 35-foot channel will be available by the end of April. This would allow ships of a certain size to call at the terminals in the Port of Baltimore. However, the largest container ships require a draft of 50 feet and the goal is to achieve this by the end of May.
RO/RO ships may be able to transit as long as they are not too heavily loaded.
Shipping companies are still not accepting bookings to or from Baltimore until the port is officially open. Trucking capacity in Norfolk is becoming very tight for containers that need to be trucked to Baltimore. Breakbulk/Mafi freight is suffering from delays in loading in Norfolk as appointments at the terminal are not readily available.
The port of New York is apparently coping with the additional container volume with minimal delay. This could change if more ships are diverted there. Both New York and Norfolk could start experiencing congestion surcharges in the near future.
The warehouses in Norfolk, where containers are unloaded, have reached their capacity limits. We are in close contact with our partners there. There does not seem to be the same capacity problem in New York. But that can change at any time.