Americas News
Container Expert Warns of Significant US East Coast Disruption After Baltimore Bridge Collapse
Significant disruption can be expected in the boxship markets of the US East Coast after the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday, according to a leading container industry expert.
The bridge collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday morning after being struck by the 9,962 TEU Singapore-flagged boxship Dali.
The ship was being operated on behalf of AP Moller-Maersk on the 2M service between Asia and the US East Coast, Lars Jensen, CEO of consultancy Vespucci Maritime, said in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.
"This is a major disaster and will create significant problems on the US East Coast for US importers and exporters," Jensen said.
"The bridge collapse will mean that for the time being it will not be possible to get to the container terminals -- or a range of the other port terminals -- in Baltimore.
"In 2023 the terminals handled 1.1 million TEU.
"This is some 21,000 TEU per week which now has to be routed through other ports in the region.
"Additionally this means the cargo already gated into the Baltimore terminals would have to either wait an unknown period for the sealane to reopen, or be gated back out and shifted to a different port."
Several container ships now appear to be trapped in the Port of Baltimore, and others have already starting rerouting to avoid the port, Jensen added.
