The collapse of The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last week, which left 6 bridge workers missing and presumed dead, has had an impact on ocean freight movements along the US East coast.
While authorities work tirelessly to clear the ensuing blockage, the Port of Baltimore is out of action for containerships and that could be the case for some considerable time. To date, two channels have been cleared in the river that some ships can pass, but these routes are not big enough for modern containerships.
Baltimore only handled around 1.1m teu last year, which accounts for less than 5% of the volume through the US East Coast and is not as prominent as some other ports on carrier schedules.
Of the vessels enroute to Baltimore at the time of the incident, the majority of them have been diverted to Savannah in South Carolina and Norfolk, Virgina. However, going forward it is expected that New York and Norfolk will be the ports that take up the slack as sailing schedules get adjusted, with both understood to have extra capacity.
Westbound are ideally positioned to transload collections from, and deliveries to, Baltimore and surrounding areas via New York/New Jersey warehousing. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
If you have any questions regarding the above, then Westbound are here to help. So, please do not hesitate to contact us.
