For over a month, residents of Locust Point have been asking local and national authorities when the large, noisy military ships that berthed near their homes would quiet down. Thursday, they got an answer.

“As of July 10, we expect both ships to be switched to shore power within the next six (6) months,” wrote Brenna Jefferies, a spokesperson for the U.S. Maritime Administration, or MARAD, in an email to residents Thursday evening. “Simultaneously, MARAD teams are exploring potential solutions to help reduce noise levels.”

Federal officials have said the noise is coming from the ship’s diesel generators, needed to power them while they’re docked, but that they would be turned off as soon as the ships had shore power.

Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat who represents Baltimore, told The Banner this week that the two ships berthed at the North Locust Point Marine Terminal were supposed to be connected to shore power by now.

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“This was supposed to be done by July 1st,” Ferguson reiterated in a statement Thursday evening. “This isn’t a complex problem, and USDOT needs to fix it.”

News that his noisy new neighbors weren’t going anywhere or piping down left Locust Point resident Nolan McCoy stressed and fatigued.

“A six-month timeline is far too long for the residents who are living just a few hundred feet from the ships and dealing with constant diesel noise (70 decibels) and fumes,” McCoy, a member of the local homeowners association, wrote in a reply to Jefferies. “Given the circumstances, I strongly urge MARAD to consider repositioning or relocating the ships in the interim.”

Jefferies did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening about potential solutions or why the new timeline diverged from initial expectations that the ships’ generators would stop running in early July.

Residents of Locust Point, which sits across the Patapsco River from Fells Point and Canton, are accustomed to noise, from cruise ship horns and train whistles to the sounds of the Domino Sugar plant. But they have struggled to adapt to the new ships.

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The gray-hulled behemoths tower over nearby townhomes and condos, filling the air with diesel fumes and shining powerful floodlights in residents’ windows, The Banner reported Saturday.

McCoy, who says he cannot open his window without smelling diesel fumes, has sent an email to authorities almost every day since the USNS Pomeroy and USNS Charlton arrived at the marine terminal in early June. Until a few days ago, he had never heard back from the Maritime Administration, the federal government agency that leases the ships’ pier.

Senate President Bill Ferguson said the two ships berthed at the North Locust Point Marine Terminal were supposed to be connected to shore power by now. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Banner)

The military ships replaced two U.S. cargo ships known as the Antares and the Denebola, both of which used to be quiet, according to nearby residents.

“The new ships require more shore power and new shore hookups, which take time to procure and install,” Jefferies wrote in her email. “MARAD is working quickly to complete the installation.”

She said the shore power installation that would allow for the ships’ generators to be turned off falls under the purview of MARAD, which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. This statement contradicted earlier claims by MARAD that the Military Sealift Command, the federal agency that owns the ships, was in charge of mitigating the noise and light pollution.

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“They just acted without thought before they dropped these environmental bombs into the middle of [the] Locust Point residential community,” McCoy said. “Now they’re telling us that they can’t do anything about the noise level or the CO2 emissions until January 10 of 2026, and we need to just suck it up and live with it.”

McCoy worries about the ways in which the ships’ presence hurts the values of residences at Silo Point and Keys Overlook.

He has asked the area’s congressional representatives to intervene, and City Councilman Zac Blanchard’s office is working with them, as well.

McCoy said he is at least appreciative that MARAD has provided a direct response regarding the community’s concerns.

“Now that I know it’s going to take six months, at least I can mentally adjust,” McCoy said. “I don’t like it, but I can adjust to it. I mean, what else can I do?”