More than a million shipping containers enter and exit Maryland’s Baltimore port each year, but according to local officials, it is blocked to all marine and most road activity “until further notice”.
However, Richard Meade, the editor of Lloyd’s List, the 287-year-old provider of shipping data, claims that the collapse, which was brought on by a cargo container smashing into the Francis Scott Key bridge in the early hours of Tuesday, “going to block Baltimore from operating for some time”.
Mr. Meade told the News that as businesses and the government figure out how to shift commerce into other ports, diversions are already happening with “huge insurance implications.”.
He stated: “There are going to be implications in terms of what the eastern seaboard of the US now does to rearrange its logistics in order to account for this, because this is not going to be resolved in a quick manner.”
These detours will increase expenses, he continued.
According to David MacKenzie, chair of engineering and architecture consultant COWIfonden, the cost of rebuilding will be at least ten times higher than the original estimate of roughly $60 million in the 1970s due to the requirement for a speedy reconstruction.
“You’ve heard about the pressure on commuters, so it needs to be built quickly.”
