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Leading container cargo carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has signed a six-year extension of its existing contract with the Maryland Port Administration, which will require the shipping firm to bring a minimum of 100,000 containers each year to the port of Baltimore.

The deal, which will also be positive news for marine fuel sales volumes at the East Coast port, is three times more than MSC's previous 10-year contract with the Maryland Port Administration, which was signed in 2001.

The new agreement extends the current contract to December 31st 2014.

MSC began a weekly service to Baltimore in 1988, bringing around 4,500 containers to the port that year. By 2008, the number increased to more than 136,000 containers.

MSC was also the first container shipping company to work out of the Seagirt Marine Terminal after it opened in 1990.

“Maryland is proud to be signing the third long-term contract in a year when many ports are facing much harder times,” Governor Martin O’Malley said in a statement.

Despite the recession, 2008 proved to be a good year for the Port of Baltimore, with a 2.5 percent increase in container shipping volume and a 16 percent rise in roll-off traffic.

In an effort to raise cargo volumes, the port has also recently signed long-term deals with both Evergreen Marine Corp. and Finnish paper manufacturer UPM

The 10-year deal agreed with Evergeen in July 2008, guarantees the transport of at least 40,000 containers to and from the port each year, whilst the 10-year agreement with UPM means the company will be required to ship a minimum of 3.2 million tonnes of cargo through the Port of Baltimore over the lifetime of the deal.

The port's emphasis on multiyear contracts with shipping companies seems to be paying off during the recession. Shipping began to fall off significantly during the winter, but there have been early signs of improvement during the months of February and March, according to James White, the Maryland Port Authority's executive director.

Baltimore's diversified business base - ie containers, roll-on, roll-off cargo and the cruise business - also appears to be a major reason why its performance has been better than many other ports.