Domino Sugar welcomed a larger shipment of raw sugar on Wednesday, its first since the Francis Scott Key bridge collapsed in Baltimore last month.
The shipment was brought by the bulk vessel The Jonathan, which regularly makes deliveries to Domino's Baltimore and Yonkers, New York, refineries. The 362-feet-long and 74-feet-wide ship took advantage of the recently opened 20-foot-deep channel into the Port of Baltimore to deliver the shipment.
"We are happy to welcome her back, especially because she’s delivering raw sugar from Florida that was grown and milled by ASR Group’s parent companies," the spokesperson said.
The Baltimore refinery received three shipments from smaller tow barges in recent weeks that were able to use the 14-foot-deep temporary channel, according to an American Sugar Refining Group spokesperson, which owns Domino.
Domino intends to welcome another similarly sized vessel this weekend. It also plans to use the upcoming 35-foot-deep channel that was scheduled to open Thursday. The company’s ships do not require use of the permanent, 50-foot-deep channel, which is not expected to fully reopen until the end of May, to deliver shipments.
The largest sugar manufacturer in the U.S., Domino's Baltimore factory has been continuing to operate at a normal level in the wake of the bridge collapse and ensuing disruptions at the Port of Baltimore, given its onsite supply of six to eight weeks of raw sugar.
Domino’s Baltimore factory can produce up to 6 million pounds of sugar per day.
