Its anchorages made it the closest deepwater port to the coal and manufactured products being shipped out of the nation s heartland. It has 126 miles of navigational channels more than any other port in the nation. Over the past decade or so, dredging has been necessary to accommodate today s bigger ships many are more than 1,000 feet long and up to 110 feet wide, with a draft of 45 feet. Thanks to the port s outstanding highway access, trucks can reach 35 percent of America s manufacturing base overnight and 32 percent of its population. The port s highway network includes more than 22,000 miles of public roads, including six interstates.
Cargo moves quickly through the terminals.
The Seagirt Marine Terminal s computer system and an innovative flextime program allows the terminal to process trucks continuously from 7 a.m. to midnight. Computerized gates and flextime policies at private terminals operated by Universal Maritime Service Corporation bring the same efficiencies to the Dundalk Marine Terminal.