Latest News

Baltimore port: What effect will bridge collapse have on shipping?

A significant bridge collapsed in the U.S. port of Baltimore in the early hours of Tuesday after being struck by a container ship, plunging vehicles into the river listed below.

Traffic was suspended at the port until additional notification, Maryland transportation authorities said.

PORT INCLUDES

It is the deepest harbor in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, closer to the Midwest than other East Coast ports, with 5 public and 12 private terminals, according to Maryland federal government site.

It is among the tiniest container ports on the Northeastern seaboard, handling 265,000 containers in the fourth quarter of last year, according to container shipping expert Lars Jensen.

The Port of New York City and New Jersey dealt with around 2 million containers because very same duration, and Norfolk Port in Virginia managed 850,000, so the flow of containers to Baltimore can likely be redistributed to bigger ports, Jensen said.

PRESENT STATUS OF CARGO SHIPS INSIDE PORT

More than 40 ships remained inside Baltimore port, including little freight ships, yank boats and enjoyment craft, information from ship tracking and maritime analytics service provider MarineTraffic shows.

At least 30 other ships had indicated their destination was Baltimore, the data revealed.

IMPORTS

It is the busiest U.S. port for automobile shipments, dealing with more than 750,000 lorries in 2023, according to information from the Maryland Port Administration.

The port handles imports and exports for major car manufacturers including Nissan, Toyota, General Motors , Volvo Automobile, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen, including high-end models for Audi, Lamborghini and Bentley.

It is likewise the biggest U.S. port by volume for handling farm and building machinery, along with agricultural products.

Imports of farming items amounted to 3 million tonnes in 2015, consisting of 1.2 million of sugar and salt, along with plaster, fertilisers and forest products, according to Ishan Bhanu, lead farming commodities analyst at Kpler.

U.S. sugar company ASR Group, which runs a refinery near the center of Baltimore, said it does not anticipate short-term impacts to its operations.

Other leading imports were paper/paperboard and plywood/veneer/particle board, the Maryland authority site programs.

EXPORTS

The Curtis Bay Piers coal terminal is around 3 miles from the highway which ran over the bridge.

During the very first 9 months of 2023, Baltimore was the second-biggest port for U.S. coal exports, behind Norfolk, Virginia, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Energy Info Administration (EIA).

Baltimore exported about 20.3 million short lots of coal, up from 14.3 million short lots during the exact same period in 2022.

About 13.3 million short lots of exports from Baltimore during the first nine months of 2023 were steam coal and 7.0 million short heaps were metallurgical coal

The Baltimore port also exports smaller quantities of other minerals and metals.

Other top export commodities by weight in 2022 were melted gas (LNG), waste-paper, ferrous scrap, and automobiles/light trucks, according to Maryland federal government information.

Cove Point, which is upstream from the bridge, is the closest LNG terminal. Operator BHE GT&S was not instantly available for remark.

ICIS ship tracking data reveals Cove Point normally exports about 500,000 tonnes of LNG each month.

CRUISE LINER

It is likewise a cruise terminal, with operators Norwegian , Carnival and Royal Caribbean, all utilizing the port for Caribbean, Canadian, and other Atlantic destinations.

In 2023, cruises carrying more than 444,000 guests left from the port, the Maryland federal government website says.

LONDON METAL EXCHANGE STORAGE FACILITIES

In Baltimore storage facilities registered with the London Metal Exchange, there are 756 metric lots of nickel, 150 tons of tin and 50 lots of copper, LME information shows.

BUNKER FUEL

Bunker fuel traders said deliveries to the port of Baltimore and Annapolis Anchorage are likely to be affected from the suspension of traffic and ports in Pennsylvania and Virginia might function as potential bunkering alternatives.

This might affect vessel schedules and may lead to an boost in bunker fuel prices at the alternative ports, depending on for how long the port of Baltimore stays unattainable.

(source: Reuters)