hit a support column on the Baltimore bridge around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, causing it to fall and sending at least seven cars plunging into the Patapsco River.A cargo ship is stuck under part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the ship hit the bridge on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland.
It generates more than $395 million in taxes, $2.6 billion in business income, and $3.3 billion in total personal income. Maryland resident Greg Trenchard, who often travels across the bridge to take photos at sunrise and sunset, called the collapse and closing of the port a blow to the city. “The question is how quickly ocean freight carriers can put diversions in place, particularly for vessels already en route to Baltimore or containers at the port waiting to be exported,” she“Far East to U.S. East Coast ocean freight services have already been impacted by drought in the Panama Canal and recent conflict in the Red Sea, which saw rates increase by 150%,” she added. “This latest incident will add to those concerns.
John Lawler, Ford Motor Company’s chief financial officer, told Bloomberg TV that the port closing will have an impact on sales. “We’ll work on the workarounds,” he added. “We’ll have to divert parts to other ports along the East Coast or elsewhere in the country.” Despite the degrees of disruption, the bridge collapse and port closing come at a time when the auto industry was just starting to bounce back from the pandemic and problems with the global supply chain.A cargo ship approaches the Port of Baltimore, Monday, March 21, 2022, in Baltimore.
“We do expect there to be a ripple effect, but it’s a bit too early to say what the impact will be,” he said. An Amazon Prime truck and a U.S. Postal Service truck make deliveries at an apartment complex in Pittsburgh on Feb. 15, 2024.