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The Collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge: A Midnight Disaster
When consumers receive a gift, add sugar to their coffee, or buy a new car, we typically don’t think about how these items were transported to us or where they came from. We become satisfied with our use of these products and go on with our day-to-day activities. So, what happens when we run out of sugar and there’s none at the store, or the shiny new car you’ve been promised for your birthday arrives months after? Today, this may be reality for some following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge – the gateway to the Port of Baltimore, Maryland.
Around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 26th, 2024, the 9-year-old and 95,000-ton cargo ship Dali was heading out of the Port of Baltimore. It didn’t get very far before losing electrical power, causing the pilot to lose the ability to control the steering of the vessel. The ship went dark right before it could make its turn to clear the bridge. With a small window of time to avoid colliding with the 47-year-old bridge Key Bridge, the crew aboard the Dali issued a mayday warning and began to drop its anchors in hopes of bringing the massive vessel to a halt. Unfortunately, the ship was unable to slow down, and the propulsion drove the Dali right into a support structure of the bridge.
After days of search and rescue efforts, the remaining missing people have been presumed dead, and efforts are now focused on creating a plan to rebuild the bridge and reopen the port. With the staggering halt of one of the busiest and wealthiest ports in the U.S.—Baltimore is said to have contributed $15 million in daily economic activity alone according to Dominick Reuter with Business Insider—many foreign trade partners are forced to find alternative trade routes to U.S. ports, some of which may cause significant delays if paths are more disruptive than usual, such as transferring Japanese imports to West Coast facilities. Inevitably, goods will have to be rerouted to other ports which will cost more time and more producer and consumer dollars in most cases and will likely cause some product delivery delays as well. This not only affects the timeline of shipments but causes a ripple effect of backup at these exporting ports. This is especially detrimental after shipping networks recently began recovering from separate issues at the Suez and Panama Canals.
While shipping companies determine how to navigate the shifting vessel traffic, the Biden Administration has confirmed that the federal government will pay to reconstruct the damaged bridge, which is projected to cost over $2 billion.
The Dali cargo ship holds 10,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) when at full capacity and was at half capacity at the time of the collision. This represents 4,700 containers that must be re-routed to different ports and 4,700 containers of goods that will be delivered late. Import delays may potentially impact freight rates on transatlantic and Asia-U.S. East Coast routes, and many residents of the Baltimore area may deal with scarce resources such as gas. There may be a need to transport goods in-bond from a new port of arrival to the desired port of entry to minimize disruption to existing supply chain pathways.
Importers and exporters should be aware that import and export timelines for some commodities may be delayed. If your company is looking for help, contact us! Allyn International can support your business through events with major supply chain impact, like this one. For more information on this matter or any other trade issue, please contact Allyn International at trade@allynintl.com.
Cotnributor: Abby Ormiston
About Allyn International
Allyn International provides high quality, customer-centric services and solutions for the global marketplace. Allyn's core products include transportation management, logistics sourcing, freight forwarding, supply chain consulting, tax management and global trade compliance. Allyn clients range from small local businesses to Fortune 500 firms. Allyn conducts business in more than 20 languages and has extensive experience in both developed and emerging markets. Highly trained experts are positioned throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. Allyn’s regional headquarters are strategically located in Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.A., Shanghai, P.R. China and Prague, Czech Republic. For more information, visit www.allynintl.com
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