“The port is the heart of the city”: the demolition of the Baltimore bridge puts its economy in check

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was an iconic presence in Baltimore Bay.

He became a guest star on The Wire, the cult HBO series set in the city.

The second season of that series mythologized—or rather the opposite—the port of Baltimore, one of the most important on the East Coast of the United States.

It is not only a presence that invades the city for good and bad.

It is its economic engine.

The mass of shapeless iron that the bridge has become when it collapsed after the freighter

Dali collided with it,

has left that engine paralyzed.

“Thinking first of the people on the bridge.

But the mind wanders to a port city being strangled,” David Simon, the reporter who created

The Wire, tweeted this Tuesday.

“All the people who depend on the entry and exit of ships.

Car imports, Domino Sugar, coal exports, dock work, any container traffic we didn't lose.

Industries.

Jobs.

Families.”

It's a sentiment shared by the citizens of Baltimore.

Kenneth, a former port worker who is now 64, lamented Tuesday.

“Do you see all those cars?” He said, pointing to an esplanade full of perfectly aligned cars.

“All those cars are there to board.

I did that with a truck, taking cars to and from the port.

Come pick them up, put them in my truck and deliver them to our dealers.

Cars, trucks, vans, everything.

Sometimes containers.

This is going to affect many working ports.

The port is the heart of the city.

It really is,” he added.

In his speech this Tuesday about the bridge collapse, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, made it clear that the order of priorities includes the rescue work for the victims, first;

the unblocking of the port, next, and the reconstruction of the bridge, later.

It is difficult to determine how long it will take for container and freight ships to reopen.

After the collapse in an area 15 to 20 meters deep, the bridge has been left as a gigantic artificial barrier to the passage of boats.

“To the people of Baltimore, I want to say: We are with you,” Biden said.

“We are going to be with you as long as it takes.

And as the governor has said, you're tough in Maryland, you're tough in Baltimore, and we're going to get through this together.

And I promise you that we will not leave you,” he added.

The president recalled that the port of Baltimore is one of the largest shipping centers in the country.

Last year he handled a record amount of freight.

Its terminals handled 52.3 million tons of cargo valued at $80 billion, Maryland Governor Wes Moore announced last month.

It is the first port in the United States for imports and exports of automobiles and light trucks.

Around 850,000 vehicles pass through that port every year.

“We are going to get it up and running again as soon as possible.

15,000 jobs depend on that port.

And we are going to do everything possible to protect those jobs and help those workers,” he said from the White House.

Moore estimates that in addition to the 15,300 direct jobs, there are 140,000 jobs linked to port activities.

The blockade of the port will cause temporary jams in the supply chain, already affected by the low water level of the Panama Canal and by insecurity in the Red Sea, the gateway to the Suez Canal, two key infrastructures in maritime traffic. international merchandise.

Dozens of cargo ships bound for Baltimore remained en route or anchored outside the port waiting to learn their destination.

The impact, in this case, is more local than global.

The port of Baltimore is among the top 20 in the United States for cargo tons.

On the East Coast it is surpassed by the complex formed by the ports of New York and New Jersey and the port of Virginia.

Behind it is Philadelphia.

Some companies consulted by Reuters have downplayed the situation.

The port is the leader in sugar imports, but the largest sugar company in the United States, ASR Group, assures that it has between six and eight weeks of raw sugar stocks in its Baltimore refinery, which is supplied by ships that arrive at the port. from Baltimore.

BMW does not expect any immediate impact, beyond occasional delays, as its car terminal is at the port entrance, opposite the bridge, and is still accessible, it said.

Volkswagen also says its port operations in Baltimore have not been affected due to the location of its facilities, although there may be truck delays because of traffic detours.

GM said it will divert its vehicle shipments to other ports and added that it expected minimal impact from the bridge collapse.

In contrast, coal producer Consol Energy said vessel access to its marine terminal has been delayed and that it is studying all available options to minimize or address direct and indirect impacts to the company and its operations.

The CSX railroad company has stated that its coal customers should expect “possible shipping delays.”

Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said the Baltimore bridge collapse and subsequent port closure will force the automaker to divert parts to other ports, affecting its supply chain, but that the group has already has secured alternatives.

The CEO of Mercedes Benz USA, Dimitris Psillakis, stated in an interview with CNBC that it is too early to know the impact of the collapse on his activities.

A key infrastructure

Beyond port activity, the bridge was essential for movement in Baltimore, as it is part of its ring road.

It is also key in the northeast corridor.

Some 33,000 vehicles crossed it daily.

“I have ordered my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible,” Biden said in his appearance, but just as the reopening and normalization of maritime traffic may be a matter of weeks or months, The construction of a new bridge will take years.

The bridge that collapsed in a matter of seconds took five years to build.

When it opened in 1977, it served as an alternative to the congested Harbor Tunnel, which runs under the river.

It will especially affect trucks that transport dangerous goods, such as oil, natural gas or chemical products, which are prohibited from accessing the tunnels, as well as large vehicles, which cannot cross them due to their dimensions.

They will have to detour about 50 kilometers, along the section of the ring road that runs to the west of the city.

In general, it will affect all commercial traffic in the port and distribution warehouses.

Amazon has a huge logistics warehouse in the port area, on the north bank of the Patapsco River, for which infrastructure was key.

“Last year, when I worked at Amazon, I crossed that bridge up to 20 times a day, day and night,” said an Uber driver who previously delivered packages from the e-commerce giant on Tuesday.

Now it will be necessary to make enormous detours and face greater congestion.

“This is going to take some time.

But the residents of Baltimore can count on us to be with them every step of the way until the port reopens and the bridge is rebuilt,” Biden concluded.

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