How giant cargo ships transformed the Port of Baltimore — and raised new risks

At rush hour one June day in 2012, authorities held traffic over the Francis Scott Key Bridge while a transport ship passed underneath, delivering a set of 14-story super cranes that would herald a new era for the Port of Baltimore. These gantry cranes were final pieces in a much-anticipated expansion of Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal. The port would soon be able to accommodate some of the newest — and biggest — cargo ships on the ocean.