Early Tuesday morning, global supply chains and U.S. coastal infrastructure collided in the worst possible way.a huge container ship Dali, struck the supports of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing its central span to collapse into the Patapsco River and cutting off the city’s port from the Atlantic Ocean. Eighteen hours later, at around 7:30 pm on Tuesday, rescuers called off the search and the six missing people were presumed dead.
The Port of Baltimore, a major shipping hub, has suspended all water traffic as the wreckage remains to be cleared, but trucks are still moving in and out of the area, according to the Maryland Port Authority. Baltimore is the ninth busiest international trade port in the United States, which means that no matter how long it takes to repair the 47-year-old bridge, the impact of this accident will be felt throughout the region, the United States and even the global economy – Experts say that’s a timeline that’s still unclear.
This will be particularly painful for the automotive, farm equipment and construction industries, as Baltimore handles the largest number of “ro-ro” vessels on the U.S. East Coast – an industry term for those designed to handle wheeled cargo ship. The port has special equipment to transport these products, workers are trained in how to use the equipment, and best of all, the port is just an overnight drive from the densely populated East Coast and agriculturally intensive Midwest.
Nearly 850,000 cars and light trucks passed through the port last year. Agricultural and construction machinery 1.3 million tons.
Fortunately for the logistics industry, there are alternative routes for ships entering the port and trucks crossing the river. Two tunnels cross the Patapsco River and carry some of the goods and people that once crossed the Key Bridge, which is also part of Maryland Route 695. Nearby ports, including Norfolk, Virginia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Savannah, Georgia, should be able to receive many of the cargo typically handled by the Port of Baltimore.
But the longer the disaster takes to resolve, the more complicated the transportation situation becomes. Ships transport large amounts of large, heavy cargo across the oceans, albeit at relatively slow speeds, meaning changes in route and destination can add significant time to the journey. If a ship is transporting a lot of different goods for many different industries, delays along the way can result in a lot of people screaming for supplies.
“Everyone is saying now, ‘We’ll just change course and everything will be fine,'” said Nada Sanders, a supply chain management expert at Northeastern University. “If this continues for a while, that’s not good. It’s going to affect prices.”
Bigger boats, same bridges
The destruction of the bridge also highlights how ships are getting bigger. Cross-ocean trade traffic has tripled over the past three decades. Nearly 1,000 feet long, Dali It is a symbol of the ever-expanding shipping industry.
The growth in ships is due to simple economics: the more cargo you carry on board, the greater the cost savings. “There’s been a huge increase in cargo volumes,” said Zal Phiroz, a supply chain analyst at the University of California, San Diego. “A lot of that has been affected by COVID-19, and it’s been followed by COVID-19 as well. Cargo prices Skyrocketing, container prices are skyrocketing. Everything is through the roof.”