Baltimore: Trade implications from Francis Scott Key bridge collapse as rebuild could cost $600m

US President Joe Biden has vowed to "move heaven and earth" to reopen "one of the nation's largest shipping hubs" by rebuilding the collapsed bridge in Baltimore - which experts say could cost over $600m (£474m).

Local officials have said Baltimore port in Maryland - which sees more than a million shipping containers enter and exit every year - is closed for all maritime and much road-based traffic "until further notice".

But the collapse, caused by a shipping container crashing into the Francis Scott Key bridge in the early hours of Tuesday, is "going to block Baltimore from operating for some time", according to Richard Meade, the editor of Lloyd's List, the 287-year-old provider of shipping data.

Diversions and delays

Diversions are already taking place with "huge insurance implications", Mr Meade told Sky News, as companies and authorities consider how to divert trade into other ports.

He said: "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."

Such diversions will push up costs, he added.

The need to rebuild quickly is going to bring the cost to at least 10 times the original 1970s price of around $60m, according to David MacKenzie, chair of engineering and architecture consultancy COWIfonden.

"It's got to be built quickly because you've heard of the pressure on the commuter traffic," he said.

"So it is going to be an expensive rebuild at the end of the day."

Biden says federal government will pay for bridge

President Biden has since vowed that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing the bridge and reopening the port, saying he expected Congress to back him.

"The port of Baltimore is one of the nation's largest shipping hubs and I've been there a number of times as a senator and as a vice president - it handled a record amount of cargo last year," he said.

"It's also the top port in America for both imports and exports of automobiles and light trucks - around 850,000 vehicles go through that port every single year and we're going to get it up and running again as soon as possible - 15,000 jobs depend on that port."

Mr Biden also said the bridge was "critical for travel", with over 30,000 vehicles crossing it daily.

"My team will move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanely possible," he said.

He said it was "going to take some time", but that "the people of Baltimore can count on us" and "we're not leaving until this job is done".

What goes through the port?

Baltimore is the eleventh largest port in the US in terms of container handling but the busiest US port for car exports, having handled more than 750,000 vehicles in 2023, according to the Maryland Port Administration.

It was the second busiest port for coal exports last year too. More than 444,000 passengers departed from the port last year, the Maryland government website said.

In January this year, the most recent month for which there is data available, 56,332 tonnes of car and car parts moved through the port as did 62,397 forest products - including lumber, paper and animal feed - and 199 tonnes of steel and other metals, Maryland port data showed.

Cargo volumes had been increasing and in the third quarter of 2023 had surpassed the record $74.3bn worth of foreign cargo processed through the port in 2022.

Most of the goods moving through the port were exports - 19,363,843 tonnes in 2021, according to the US bureau of transportation statistics.

The second greatest amount of goods was imported 13,605,961 tonnes with the remaining 4,469,775 tonnes comprising domestic items.

Speaking of his experience crossing the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland, Ken Gilmartin, chief executive of Wood plc, the London-listed oil sector engineer, told Sky News: "You can't but be impressed by the volume of traffic that goes under it as well as across it as well."

It's "very important to the infrastructure in that location as well as the US", he added.

Synergy Marine Group said the owners and managers of the Dali container ship, which crashed into the bridge and was bound for Sri Lanka, were fully cooperating with federal and state government agencies.

The exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined, the company added.

Maersk, which chartered the ship, said: "We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected.

"We can confirm that the container vessel "Dali", operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group, is time chartered by Maersk and is carrying Maersk customers' cargo.

"No Maersk crew and personnel were onboard the vessel. We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy, and we will do our utmost to keep our customers informed."

A search and rescue operation is under way, looking for people who may have fallen into the water.

-sky news