Baltimore honours Bentley

The name change honours Helen Bentley, a former Congresswoman, Chairman of the US Federal Maritime Commission and a longtime advocate for the Port. “For more than five decades, the name of Helen Delich Bentley has been synonymous with the Port of Baltimore,” said Robert L. Ehrlich, Governor of the State of Maryland at an event held to mark the port’s 300th anniversary. “There has been no-one who has championed the vital role the port plays in both the global economy and our everyday lives more than Helen. Although she has enjoyed a spectacularly diverse career, from newspaper reporter to Congresswoman, she has always been known as ‘the mother of the port’.”

Ms Bentley began her career as a maritime reporter and editor for The Baltimore Sun, where she spent 24 years. She broke many important national stories, and her coverage of the USA’s supply problems during the Vietnam War led to the adoption of containers as the preferred method of cargo transport. She later worked in television, before chairing the Federal Maritime Commission from 1969–75 and representing Maryland in Congress from 1985–95. Since 1995 she has been President and CEO of Helen Bentley & Associates Inc, specialising in government relations and business development.

New signs and logos reflecting the name change will begin to be used in 2007.