Port jobs are at risk after the Baltimore disaster
The Baltimore-Baltimore Bridge Collapse and the Importance of the Port for Future Shipbuilding: A Report on Bridge Construction in Baltimore
Washington, who is employed at a cement plant that works on the bridge’s southern side, said that his work depended on a constant delivery of supplies. It is not clear what the scale of the disruption to the plant will be, but it will not be business as usual for some time.
The bridge collapse will cause shipping delays, according to a marine traffic analyst. “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. He said ships heading to Baltimore may go to ports in New Jersey or North Carolina.
According to a spokesman for American Trucking Associations, there are 4,900 trucks that travel on the bridge each day.
“I would expect in the coming decades, the importance of the Port of Baltimore will become greater, definitely not lesser,” he says. “So this would be short-term disruption, a dent, but I think the growth is inevitable.”
It’s said that disrupting the port will have consequences, and can often lead to a domino effect. But it isn’t easy to project an economic toll yet, partly because we still don’t know how long the port will be closed.
The Baltimore bridge, a favorite bridge for automakers and sea freighters: The challenges of port rerouting in the wake of the Baltimore disaster
One of the professors at the Carey Business School, Tinglong Dai, knows the bridge. He can see it from his office.
“It’s a very important bridge,” he says. It’s part of an busy highway, I-695, and has symbolic resonance too. The economic impacts of the disaster will be relatively short-term and geographically limited.
Some automakers got lucky. Volkswagen and BMW both use a terminal by the entrance to Baltimore’s harbor, in a part of the port that is not blocked off, and expect no impact beyond short-term traffic snarls for trucks today.
But for those that need it, rerouting can be a challenge. Not every port can accept every ship, because of size constraints. Cars are usually transported on “roll on, roll-off” or “ro-ro” vessels, which take skill to unload, which is why the port of Baltimore has regular “ro-ro rodeos” to teach those skills.
Dai believes that the Baltimore port shutdown will make life difficult for companies trying to find alternatives to the port.
The shipping picture is going to get more complicated when the disaster is not over. Changes to their routes and destinations can add time to a journey, because ships haul large quantities of goods in slow motion across the oceans. A holdup along the way can cause a lot of people to be screaming for their supplies, if a ship is carrying a lot of different cargo.
Baltimore’s Port of Far East and Gulf Coasts is a Mega-Expansion Destination for Frequency Distribution and Supply Chain Research
Chris Rogers, the head of supply chain research at S&P Global Market Intelligence, notes that Baltimore’s port handled around 3% of imports along the east and Gulf coast.
He said that both bridge reconstruction and cargo delays are likely to be extensive. “However, some freight across containerized and bulk modes could reroute to nearby ports in Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.”
“We’re gonna get it up and running again as soon as possible,” Biden said. Thousands of jobs depend on that port, and we’re going to help the workers who have to work there.
The port has received big investments to handle larger ships and more containers, in addition to cutting the carbon emissions from its equipment.
State-owned terminals, managed by the Maryland Port Administration, and privately owned terminals in Baltimore transported a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo in 2023, worth $80 billion. The port handled nearly 850,000 cars and light trucks last year, more than in any other U.S. port for the past 13 years.
Coffee, sugar, and coal are some of the materials transported in large volumes through the city’s port. It was the ninth-busiest port in the nation last year for receiving foreign cargo, in terms of volume and value.
What we know and don’t know about Baltimore’s Key Bridge Collapse: A Norwegian Cruise Liner Rendezvous with the Patapsco River
The bridge’s collapse will also disrupt cruises traveling in and out of Baltimore. Norwegian Cruise Line last year began a new fall and winter schedule calling at the Port of Baltimore.
Authorities say eight people, all construction workers who were repairing potholes on the bridge, fell into the Patapsco River below after the collision. Two people were rescued and one was in a critical condition, according to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott.
There are still six people who are not accounted for. The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search and rescue efforts late Tuesday night and said the six people are presumed to be dead, given the amount of time that had passed since the collapse and the temperature of the water. Recovery efforts will resume Wednesday morning.
The ship, measuring over 1000 feet in length, lost power as it began moving toward the bridge at about 8 knots. Those onboard issued a mayday, which gave authorities time to stop the flow of traffic on the bridge.
The ship has had 27 previous inspections. In 2016, it sustained significant damage to its hull after hitting a dock while leaving a port in Antwerp, Belgium. Last year, the ship was found to have a problem with “propulsion and auxiliary machinery,” according to Equasis, a maritime safety site.
The captain has yet to be given information about how the ship moved towards the bridge. The National Transportation Safety Board, the FBI and state officials are investigating.
Baltimore’s Key Bridge was Built in the ’70s, but had a Deep and Patriotic History, according to the Baltimore Public Works Authority
The economic impact is also unknown. About $80 billion worth of cargo goes through the Port of Baltimore each year, including about 850,000 cars and trucks. The port provides 15,000 jobs with a combined personal income of about $3.3 billion, business revenue of nearly $2 billion and tax revenue of $400 million according to the state.
The structure was built between 1972 and 1977, opening to the public on March 23 of that year. The Maryland Transportation Authority says its history goes much deeper than that.
The site where Francis Scott Key witnessed the failed British bombardment of Fort McHenry is believed to be 100 yards away.
During the War of 1812, the bombardment forced the British to abandon their land assault on the port city of Baltimore. The two sides went on to reach a peace agreement later that year.
The fort was fortified so heavily that the British warships only caused minor damage when they bombarded it for more than 25 hours. The Americans raised a garrison flag the next day.
He was so inspired by seeing the flag rise, that he wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner” in 1931.
Just southeast of the bridge are the ruins of Fort Carroll, a 3.4-acre, hexagonal island created in 1848 under the supervision of then-Brevet-Colonel Robert E. Lee to house a fort aimed at protecting Baltimore from naval attacks (since Fort McHenry was the only other military defensive structure between Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay up until that point).
Construction of the fort itself was never completed, though the Preservation Alliance of Baltimore County says it featured impressive architecture like curved granite stairs and brick archways, and was originally home to 350 cannon ports, a blacksmith shop and a carpentry shop.
Source: Baltimore’s Key Bridge was built in the ’70s, but has a deep and patriotic history
Baltimore’s Key Bridge was built in the ’70s, but has a deep and patriotic history, according to Atlas Obscura
Torrential rains flooded the island in 1864 and rendered it vulnerable, and it was used in the decades that followed to store mines, hold seamen and as a pistol range.
A Baltimore attorney purchased the island for $10,000 in 1958, but it was never developed and is now deserted. The island has become an accidental bird sanctuary because it is so overgrown, says Atlas Obscura.
The bridge is the outermost of three toll crossings of Baltimore’s Harbor, and the only one that’s not a tunnel. Vehicles that are carrying hazardous materials cannot exit the tunnels, and so it was constructed to alleviate traffic.
The project took five years to complete, it cost $110 million. When the bridge opened in 1977, it became the final link in Interstate 695, known locally as the Baltimore Beltway.
A vessel sailing at 12 knots “lost all propulsion and control about 600 yards” from the bridge and drifted into the main pier at a speed of about 6 knots, the council said. A protective concrete structure was destroyed.
Source: Baltimore’s Key Bridge was built in the ’70s, but has a deep and patriotic history
How Does the Bridge in Baltimore Suspension After Its Collapse? A Report from the Baltimore City Chamber of Commerce and the Baltimore County Department of Emergency Services
The focus on Tuesday was to locate the six construction workers who fell into the water after the bridge collapsed. There would be discussion about how to rebuild later.
President Biden said in remarks that he wants the federal government to fund the reconstruction of the bridge, which would require support from Congress.
She says that a lot of good jobs were gone for a long time. The port is very busy and thriving for Baltimore, now that we have Tradepoint Atlantic. It’s devastated at the moment.
For Marylanders like Becky Grimes, who works at an Amazon warehouse near the eastern end of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the bridge’s sudden collapse immediately changed the shape of her day — and many days ahead.
She normally takes the Key Bridge to and from work, but it now takes an extra half hour each way to drive through the city of Baltimore instead of around it.
“Because of the port being suspended, we don’t have any traffic yesterday, today, at least for the next week or a week and a half,” says Brent Howard, president of the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce. The ships are being diverted to other ports, so we are losing money every day. Norfolk, Newark, Philadelphia are getting that revenue on a daily basis that was already slotted for Baltimore.”
Baltimore’s Key Bridge is The Chess: Rebuilding the Port and Connecting Ships And Vessels Through Its Collapse
And the Key Bridge is a toll bridge that last year generated 7% of the total revenue for the state’s transportation authority, according to an analysis by Moody’s.
He says that they’re thechess. Baltimore is connected to ships and vessels through the port. That’s something that’s always been intrinsic to Baltimore’s history, going back to our inception.”
The port had its best year ever last year, and Irada says that it should fully rebound. That’s in part because Baltimore’s port is about a day further inland than many others on the Eastern seaboard, putting it closer to points in the Midwest.
He says if the port remains closed for months, there could be some furloughs, but he doesn’t expect layoffs among workers there. Irani believes the bridge’s collapse will create some jobs.
“You hate to say this, but in any kind of disaster, there’s obviously the opportunity for the rebuild. The construction jobs will come up if they need to build a bridge.
The businesses located near the bridge’s entrances on either side of the river will likely suffer a longer impact from its absence.
Source: For Baltimore-area residents, bridge collapse means longer commutes and uncertain prospects
The Key Bridge, the Dali, and its Docks: How Transport has Improved in the Past Three Decades During the Key Bridge Breakdown
Key Brewery is run by Joe Gold, the general manager. The brewery was named after Francis Scott Key, who wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
With the Key Bridge closed, the traffic that would have passed by to get on I-695 is now taking alternate routes — routes that don’t pass by Key Brewing’s taproom.
The experts say that everyone is saying that it is going to be fine. “If this lasts a while, it’s not going to be fine. Prices are going to be impacted by it.
The destruction of the bridge also underlines that boats are getting bigger. Trade transport volume across the seas has tripled in the past three decades. At nearly 1,000 feet long, the Dali is emblematic of the ballooning shipping industry.
The growth of boats is down to simple economics: The more goods you can cram onto a ship, the more you save on costs. “The amount of cargo has increased tremendously,” says Zal Phiroz, a supply chain analyst at UC San Diego. “This has been impacted to a great degree by Covid, and after Covid as well. The prices of cargo and containers increased dramatically. Everything was going through the roof.
