Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd replace Baltimore with Philadelphia in their North Europe-North America routes amid ongoing recovery efforts.
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have announced the removal of Baltimore from their North Europe-North America service rotations, replacing it with Philadelphia, according to reports from New York's FreightWaves.
Starting January 4, the Maersk Fredericia will initiate the new rotation from Southampton, which will include stops in Rotterdam, Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven, Newark, Norfolk, Philadelphia, St. John, and back to Southampton.
Hapag-Lloyd confirmed that its AL1 and Americas Service Northbound will also omit Baltimore for 'schedule recovery.' These changes come as Baltimore continues to recover from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024, a project that is now expected to take longer and cost more than initially planned.
Recently, CSX resumed operations on the Howard Street tunnel after upgrades to accommodate doublestack trains, which are projected to increase Baltimore's volume by 160,000 containers annually. Despite these challenges, Baltimore remains a leading northeast ro-ro hub, handling 750,000 cars and light trucks and 850,000 tons of equipment in 2024.
However, container throughput fell by 41 percent last year, dropping to an estimated 741,215 TEU from a record 1.26 million TEU in 2023, primarily due to disruptions caused by the bridge collapse. Carriers have noted that Baltimore adds several days to transit times compared to Norfolk and Philadelphia, requiring navigation of 150 miles through the Chesapeake Bay and multiple pilot services.
