Baltimore ranks first in the United States in the volume of cars and light trucks handled, as well as ships carrying wheeled cargo, including agricultural and construction equipment, according to a statement from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore last month.
The incident is another stark reminder of the vulnerability of the supply chains that transport consumer goods and goods around the world.
The extent of the disruption depends on how long it takes to reopen shipping channels to the Port of Baltimore. Experts estimate it could take several weeks.
Baltimore is not a leading port for container ships, and other ports can likely accommodate traffic to Baltimore, industry officials said.
Stephen Edwards, the chief executive of the Port of Virginia, said he was expecting a ship that had previously sailed to Baltimore on Tuesday and that more would follow soon. “Between New York and Virginia, we have sufficient capacity to handle all of this cargo,” Edwards said, referring to container ships.
“Shipping companies are very agile,” said Jean-Paul Rodrigue, a professor in the department of maritime business administration at Texas A&M University-Galveston. “It will be rerouted in two to three days.”
But other types of cargo could also remain blocked.
Alexis Ellender, global analyst at Kpler, a commodity analytics firm, said he expects the port closure to cause significant disruption to U.S. coal exports. Last year, about 23 million tons of coal exports were shipped from the Port of Baltimore, about a quarter of all seaborne coal shipments in the United States. About 12 ships carrying coal were expected to leave the port of Baltimore next week, Kpler said.
He noted that this would not mean a major disruption to the global market, but added that “the impact for the US is significant in terms of loss of export capacity.”
“It is possible that coal cargoes from the mines will be diverted to other ports instead,” he said, with a port in Norfolk, Virginia, the most likely.
If car imports fall due to the Baltimore shutdown, inventories could run out, especially for models in high demand.
“We are beginning discussions with our various transportation providers about contingency plans to ensure an uninterrupted flow of vehicles to our customers and will continue to monitor this situation carefully,” Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram, said in a statement.
While other ports have capacity to import cars, there may not be enough car carriers in those ports to handle the new traffic.
“You have to make sure the capacity is there throughout the supply chain — all the way to the retailer,” said Mr. Golara, a professor at Georgia State University.
One looming battle is insurance payouts once legal liability is resolved. The size of the insurer’s payout is likely to be significant and will depend on factors such as the value of the bridge, the amount of loss of life compensation owed to the families of the deceased, damage to the ship and disruption at the port.
Marine insurer Britannia P&I Club, part of a global group of insurers, said in a statement that it was “working closely with the ship manager and relevant authorities to establish the facts and ensure this situation is handled quickly and professionally.” “
The port has also increasingly been serving large container ships like the Dali, the 948-foot-long cargo ship carrying goods for shipping giant Maersk that crashed into a bridge pier around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. The Dali had spent two days in Baltimore harbor before making its way to the 1.6-mile-long Francis Scott Key Bridge.
State terminals managed by the Maryland Port Administration and private terminals in Baltimore transported a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo in 2023, valued at $80 billion.
Materials transported in large quantities through the city’s port include coal, coffee and sugar. It was the country’s ninth-busiest port in terms of volume and value for receiving foreign cargo last year.
The bridge collapse will also affect cruises to and from Baltimore. Last year, Norwegian Cruise Line launched a new fall and winter schedule with calls at the Port of Baltimore.
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2024-03-27 02:01:03
www.nytimes.com
