The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore rendered the passage of containerships to the city's port impossible.
Given the severity of the situation and the long time needed to remove the bridge's remains, experts believe it could take several weeks, if not months, to restore maritime traffic.
While Baltimore Port is not one of the main US East Coast gateways for containerised trade, it has been described as a hub for the automotive industry in the country.
Nevertheless, box carriers have announced several contingency plans for containers originally planned for the port.
The following is an overview of announcements made by carriers concerning impacted sea logistics services so far.
Current status of Baltimore Port
While a temporary channel was created for the passage of small and commercially essential vessels, these alternate channels are not deep enough to accommodate most containership.
Consequently, Baltimore Port remains closed until further notice.
In addition, it stopped receiving exports after the bridge collapsed. However, the port allows the pick-up and drop-off of empty containers.
The Unified Command deployed to resolve the situation announced it is working to establish a second, temporary alternate channel. This second channel will allow for deeper draft vessels with an anticipated draft restriction of 15 to 16 feet.
Operational changes announced by carriers
Maersk
Being the charterer of the vessel involved in the incident, Maersk was the first to react to the news and express its regret for the bridge strike.
The Danish carrier suspended new bookings to Baltimore Port and omitted calls on all its services.
Maersk announced that cargo at sea would be discharged in nearby ports. These include the ports of Newark, Norfolk, and Philadelphia.
Additionally, the carrier said it could use road and rail transportation to deliver the cargo to the final destination. However, this remains subject to availability.
The cargo on board the Dali will likely remain stranded for as long as the authorities investigate the details of the collision.
Impacted Maersk services with a port call at Baltimore include:
CMA CGM
The carrier announced a notice of Force Majeure for cargo from and to Baltimore and suspended new bookings for the port.
For cargo in Baltimore at the time of the incident, CMA CGM said it would remain there until the port opens.
In the meantime, cargo at sea will be routed to the ports of New York and Norfolk and will be available for pick-up from the terminals.
The CMA CGM services currently impacted by the closure of the port are:
MSC
On the day of the incident, the Swiss-based carrier confirmed that Dali had carried some cargo for its customers on the Empire service in the Transpacific trade.
Like other liners, MSC stopped accepting new bookings and omitted Baltimore port calls from all its affected services until further notice. The cargo will be rerouted and discharged at alternative ports, mainly New York and Norfolk.
The contingency plan so far announced by MSC impacts the following vessels and services:
In addition, several services operated by MSC were identified as impacted services according to seaexplorer data. These are:
Hapag-Lloyd
Two of Hapag-Lloyd's services, namely the ATA and the USW, will omit the call at Baltimore. The carrier announced that it would alternatively discharge the cargo at the ports of New York and Norfolk.
As announced by the carrier, the vessels on these services are:
- Dubai Express on our Americas Service (USW) is scheduled to arrive in Baltimore on 30 March and
- Atlantic Sea on our A-Service (ATA), scheduled to arrive in Baltimore on 1 April.
Similarly to CMA CGM, containers currently on the terminal will remain there until the port opens. Meanwhile, new import and export bookings will be suspended until further notice.
Other carriers
COSCO and Evergreen declared Force Majeure one day after the incident, while ONE paused all services to Baltimore.
According to seaexplorer data, the carriers are likely to route vessels on two services - Evergreen's AUE and COSCO's AWE3.
Other services impacted by the situation can be found in this table. For inquiries about the status of your shipment, reach out to your Kuehne+Nagel representative.
