Marine transport: disturbances in view following the collapse of the Baltimore Bridge
On the night of 25-26 March, a container ship struck the Francis-Scott-Key Bridge, not far from the port of Baltimore, in Maryland State, on the American East Coast, causing its collapse. If no casualties are to be deplored on board, several people, who were on deck at the time of the accident, unfortunately died. In addition to the human tragedy, the impact is particularly severe at the economic level.
Built in 2015, the 300-metre-long Dali, 116,851 tpl and 9,962 TEU (loaded with 4,679 TEUs), flying the Singapore flag and operated by Maersk, is still stuck on site. It may take several weeks to clear the debris and free the boat. The port authorities are calling for the creation of a temporary navigation corridor so that maritime traffic, for the paralyzed hour, can resume. The navigation is, in fact, cut off on this main maritime route for traffic between Asia and the American East Coast, but also for the North/South axis, even though the port has lost several connections with South America in the last two years.
Ninth busiest port in the United States, the port of Baltimore has seen transit$81 billion in goodsand52 million tonnes of freightin 2023, or 10% of the US freight. Close to the Midwest, where the main manufacturers of agricultural equipment and machinery are located, it is considered the first platform in the country for the traffic of theagricultural vehicles(drillers, tractors and other machinery) and for the import of excavators and towing machines. It is also one of the most important North American ports for the volume of rolling cargo and import/export oflight vehicles(847,158 LY), but also for the trade in sugar, coffee, gypsum, aluminum, copper and coal.
If the impact on bulk or vehicles is likely to be particularly significant, theNorfolk and NY/NJ ports(New York/New Jersey) should have the capacity to absorb the volume of containers redirected from Baltimore to their docks, with, however, a high probability of bottlenecks and therefore delays.
It is still too early to have a clear idea of the amount caused by this disaster, however, some experts estimate that this figure could rise to $4 billion, the highest in maritime insurance history.
This incident is reminiscent of that of the Ever Given which had blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week in March 2021, greatly disrupting world trade (cf.Sea freight: the Ever Given, the end of the journey). A year later, another cargo ship, the Ever Forward, had failed near Baltimore, for no apparent reason, while he had just left the port. This blocking did not have an adverse impact, as the vessel did not prevent others from travelling (cf.Sea freight: Ever Forward failed near Baltimore).
To read more
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce tortor lake, ornare dictum odio no, mollis tincidunt mi. Vivamus feugiat turpis ac consequattrices. Nam nec leo in nisi posuere vehicula. None porta tempus feugiat. Praesent shovel, urna sed placerat sodales, ex tellus ultricies velit, vitae auctor augue diam at quam. Praesent ornare arcu and sem curriculum molestie. Morbi congue arcu velit, a laoreet torture ultricies id. Duis vulputate lacinia magna, eget elementum mi pulvinar eget. Sed consectetur malesuada ultricies. In eget purus nect velit sodales ullamcorper eget in ligula. Mauris ulcers posuere lobortis. Nulla nisi purus, beaconra no is ac, faucibus lacinia torturer. Integer nunc duei, vehicula finishedbus had, euismod and orci. No mollis vestibulum luctus.
Interdum and malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Sed a ligula sagittis, eleifend metus ac, sagittis purus. Vivamus ut blandit dolor, id aliquam mi. Sed tempor tempus ornare. Sed nec risus a metus eleifend sagittis. Aenean had torture lectus. Aliquam varius iaculis curriculum. Aliquam stubborn gravida augue and elementum. Aliquam trestique interdum pretium. Nunc ut selerisk massa, sed venenatis diam. No vehicula luctus odio. Integer ac turpis massa.