The shocking collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after being hit by a cargo ship has suspended vessel traffic at the Port of Baltimore.
Ships headed to Baltimore are now in a holding pattern 20 miles to the south in the Chesapeake Bay.
“This is something that’s going to take a very long period of time, The problem is not only the ship, but you need to also remove the remnants of the bridge in the seaway because as long as that bridge is there, no one can use the Port of Baltimore.”
There are fears that this halt in operations could hurt the economy.
“The Port of Baltimore is one of the nation’s shipping hubs, and I’ve been there a number of times, as a senator and as a vice president. It handled a record amount of cargo last year,” President Joe Biden said Tuesday afternoon.
“We’re one of four deep-water ports that can handle the larger Panamax ships. We have a cruise terminal so you know this getting through is going to be really hard,”
It handles the largest volume of cars and light trucks, heavy farm and construction machinery, and imported sugar in the U.S.
“You will see large hikes that are temporary, in a few select goods, we may especially see that, for example, with imported cars in the Northeast,”
The impact could also be global. Last year, the port handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo, worth $80 billion, per state data.
“Well, unfortunately, for a lot of our friends and allies around the world who rely on us for our coal exports, this is going to hit them as well, because they are no longer going to be able to receive those shipments in a timely manner.
However, some experts said rerouting ships to other East Coast ports will blunt some of the economic and supply chain impacts.”
“It’s very likely all the cargo that went through Baltimore is going to be redirected to go through Norfolk, and through New York and New Jersey,”
As vessels are rerouted away from the Port of Baltimore, we can expect shipping delays. There is no word on how long vessel traffic will be suspended; trucks are still being processed within the port’s marine terminals.
Maryland’s Port of Baltimore generates about 15,300 direct jobs, with nearly 140,000 jobs linked to port activities,”
“We’re gonna do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers, It’s my intention that federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge. And I expect the Congress to support my effort. This is gonna take some time and the people of Baltimore can count on us though, to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.”
