Fears have been raised of significant disruption to global supply chains after a container ship crashed into a bridge in the US city of Baltimore.
The ship, named the Dali, hit a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the early hours of Tuesday morning, causing it to collapse.
The bridge spanned the entrance to the Port of Baltimore, the busiest port in the US for car exports and the ninth-busiest overall.
Six people are missing presumed dead.
The US Coast Guard has suspended its search and rescue operation and begun a recovery mission. The focus is now turning to the investigation into what went wrong, with a team of transportation safety experts hoping to board the stricken ship and recover its data recorder.
Officials have said that maritime traffic through the port – which last year amounted to more than 47 million tonnes of foreign cargo – will be suspended “until further notice”.
Speaking to the BBC, Marco Forgione, director general at The Institute of Export and International Trade, which represents UK businesses involved in international trade, said the suspension would have a “significant ripple effect on global supply chains”.
“Over 750,000 cars and vehicles transited through Baltimore in the last year,” he told Radio 4’s The World Tonight.
“Those are major US brands and UK and EU brands, from General Motors and Ford to [Jaguar Land Rover], Nissan, Fiat, and Audi.
“In addition, Baltimore is a significant exporter of liquified natural gas [LNG] and that has implications for the UK and the EU.
“Something around half a million tonnes of LNG leave Baltimore per month, so the implications of what’s happened are significant and will cascade before we’re able to get Baltimore back up and running again.”
As well as maritime traffic, the Port of Baltimore is directly responsible for some 15,000 jobs and supports an estimated 140,000 more.
Following the accident, Danish shipping giant Maersk, whose cargo the Dali was carrying, said it would be “omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future”.
A number of rail and coal companies have also warned their customers of disruption to coal exports.
US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said at a briefing there was “no question that this will be a major and protracted impact to supply chains”.
“It’s too soon to offer estimates on what it will take to clear the channel and reopen the port,” he said.
President Biden told reporters that the US government would “move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible”, but added that the process was going to “take some time.”
The exact cause of the crash is still being established, but officials have said the ship suffered a “power issue” and issued a distress call before hitting the bridge.
Authorities closed the bridge to car traffic when they received the call, but a number of vehicles that were already on the bridge fell into the water when it collapsed.
A huge search and rescue effort ran through much of Tuesday, with two people pulled from the water, one of them in a serious condition.
The six people who remain missing were part of an overnight construction crew that was repairing potholes, authorities said.
- Watch: Moment Baltimore bridge collapses after being hit by ship
- Lost power, mayday call and crash before Baltimore bridge collapse
- What we know about the Baltimore bridge collapse
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, where the Dali was flagged, said the ship’s certificates covering its structural integrity and the functionality of its equipment were valid at the time of the incident.
It also said the ship had passed two separate foreign port state inspections in June and September 2023.
Synergy Marine Group, which manages the Dali, said there were 22 people on the ship, including an all-Indian crew and two US harbour pilots, but no reports of any injuries.
It added that it was “fully co-operating” with federal agencies.
![Map showing location of Baltimore bridge collapse and the ship's route](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/35B8/production/_133025731_shipping_route_of_dali_640-nc-2x-nc.png.webp)
14 comments
I like what you guys are up also. Such smart work and reporting! Carry on the superb works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my site :).
I have been exploring for a little bit for any high quality articles or weblog posts in this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this website. Reading this information So i am glad to exhibit that I have an incredibly good uncanny feeling I came upon just what I needed. I such a lot definitely will make certain to do not omit this site and provides it a look on a relentless basis.
Some truly terrific work on behalf of the owner of this website , dead great content material.
Rattling excellent information can be found on web blog.
Great remarkable issues here. I?¦m very happy to look your article. Thanks so much and i’m taking a look forward to touch you. Will you please drop me a mail?
Excellent post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed! Extremely useful info specifically the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was seeking this particular information for a long time. Thank you and good luck.
I got good info from your blog
Some really nice stuff on this web site, I enjoy it.
I adore looking at and I think this website got some genuinely useful stuff on it! .
There’s noticeably a bundle to learn about this. I assume you made certain good points in features also.
Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Ie. I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The design look great though! Hope you get the problem fixed soon. Kudos
I wish to show my appreciation to the writer for rescuing me from such a trouble. Because of browsing through the world wide web and meeting recommendations which were not productive, I figured my life was over. Living without the strategies to the difficulties you have solved as a result of your site is a crucial case, as well as the ones which might have negatively damaged my entire career if I had not noticed the website. The mastery and kindness in playing with a lot of things was precious. I am not sure what I would have done if I hadn’t encountered such a solution like this. I’m able to now look ahead to my future. Thank you so much for this reliable and results-oriented help. I will not hesitate to propose your site to anybody who needs to have recommendations about this issue.
I?¦ve been exploring for a little for any high quality articles or weblog posts on this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this web site. Reading this info So i am satisfied to show that I have a very good uncanny feeling I found out exactly what I needed. I such a lot for sure will make sure to don?¦t omit this website and give it a look on a relentless basis.
Excellent goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you are just extremely excellent. I really like what you’ve acquired here, certainly like what you’re stating and the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still care for to keep it wise. I can not wait to read much more from you. This is actually a terrific website.