More containers — the lifeblood of international shipping — than ever made their way through Baltimore last year. And the port set a record for ship visits, too.

The record-breaking year came amid a barrage of tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump that were expected to hamper imports. Across the country, container imports decreased slightly (0.4%) last year compared with the year prior.

Some of the Port of Baltimore’s annual data, such as the number of vehicles handled, have yet to be finalized.

Baltimore posted strong numbers one year after port activity was stunted by the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024.

Before tariffs took effect, shipping lines rushed to bring in goods in the first quarter of last year, and Maryland Port Administration Executive Director Jonathan Daniels said that “early-season surge” helped Baltimore and others.

“We had very, very strong initial year numbers. And that carried many of the ports through the rest of the year,” he said in an interview.

Overall, the port handled 1.11 million TEUs, or twenty-foot equivalent units, a standard container measurement. That narrowly eclipsed totals from 2023 by 5,000.

Last month, the Port of Baltimore lost one of its weekly Maersk container services to Philadelphia’s port. Overall, though, the port increased its services from 12 in 2024 to 15 last year.

The boost in services resulted in 689 container ship visits, nearly 100 more than 2023, and a record of 2,223 cargo vessels calling on Baltimore.

The annual data includes ships calling on public terminals, such as Seagirt and Dundalk, and on private terminals, like Tradepoint Atlantic.

Countrywide, container imports are expected to be down year-over-year in the coming months due to trade policy, according to the National Retail Federation. But Daniels expects Baltimore to benefit this year from the completion of the Howard Street Tunnel, which will allow for double-stacked container trains.

Baltimore has long hung its hat on vehicles handled and, until recently, ranked atop nation in that category for 13 straight years. The port saw 847,000 cars in 2023, but lost its No. 1 ranking in 2024 to a port in Georgia after the bridge collapse.

Baltimore’s 2025 vehicle numbers are not yet available, but the U.S. has recently seen fewer vehicles imports, Daniels said.

“They were ones, certainly, that were impacted by the consistently changing message on the tariffs,” Daniels said of car companies.

The port lost a bundle of bulk products last year. UPM, a Finnish forest product company, had been shipping to Baltimore since the 1990s, but will instead send its goods, shipped by the Dutch company Spliethoff, to Wilmington.

Daniels declined to specify what led to the business leaving, but said that bulk products often move for “price sensitivities.”

“Ports, we are uber-competitive,” he said. “I hate to lose anything, whatsoever.”