LOGISTICS: Port of Baltimore closed to ship traffic, could weigh on chem movements in NE US

HOUSTON (ICIS)–All vessel traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore on the US East Coast has been suspended until further notice after the container ship Dali struck the Francis Scott Key bridge early Tuesday morning.

The 1.6-mile bridge, which collapsed after the impact, spans the Patapsco River and is at the entrance to the port, as shown in the following map.

Source: Maryland.gov

The port has five public terminals and 12 private terminals.

From a chemical perspective, Sasol North America has a terminal at the port, as does specialty chemical producer WR Grace.

A distributor in the Northeast US told ICIS that the incident will likely have a large impact on maritime shipments in the region.

“Rerouting will cause severe congestion,” the distributor said. “It is also the main bridge for hazardous materials since they can not go through the tunnels.”

The port is one of the busiest ports for auto imports and exports, as well as coal, steel, sugar and other commodities.

The Dali is owned by Grace Ocean and operated by Synergy Group and was under a time charter with Maersk.

Maersk said in a customer advisory that it is omitting the Port of Baltimore on all its services for the foreseeable future.

“For cargo already on water, we will omit the port, and will discharge cargo set for Baltimore, in nearby ports,” Maersk said in the advisory. “From these ports, it will be possible to utilize landside transportation to reach final destination instead.”

Port of Baltimore officials said trucks are still being processed at marine terminals.

The 4-lane bridge handles about 11.3 million vehicles/year.

Vehicle traffic will have to detour to I-895, which is further north from the site.

In June 2023, a bridge in Philadelphia collapsed after a tanker carrying gasoline caught fire while under the highway overpass.

In that instance, federal, state and local governments worked around the clock to reopen the bridge, which took about two weeks.

Replacing the four-lane bridge in Baltimore will be more challenging.

The bridge opened in 1977 after five years of construction. Including the connecting approaches, the bridge is 10.9 miles long.

The National Transportation Safet Board (NTSB) sent a team to investigate the incident and will hold a press conference later in the day.

Additional reporting by Kevin Callahan, Antulio Borneo

Thumbnail image shows the container ship Dali. Source: VesselFinder.com