Buttigieg: 'Major and protracted supply chain issues' expected after bridge collapse

26 March 2024

The sudden collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland early Tuesday morning is wreaking havoc on both the families of construction workers still missing and on local traffic. But Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is warning that it may also have a significant impact on the US economy.

During a press conference in Dundalk, Maryland alongside local and state officials, Buttigieg expressed solidarity with the families of construction workers whose loved ones are still missing after a cargo ship chartered by shipping giant Maersk lost power and crashed into the bridge at approximately 1:30 AM Tuesday morning. However, he also said the ongoing closure of a crucial East Coast shipping channel will have a rippling effect felt not just at the local level, but on a macro scale.

"The port here in Baltimore does the most vehicle handling of any port at all... you also have container traffic, you have boat traffic, there is no question that this will have a major and protracted impact on supply chains," Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg's claims about the importance of Baltimore's port are not overstated. Logistics website Visiwise wrote that Baltimore's port is a central location for both imports and exports, and shipping container traffic makes up a significant portion of its business.

"The Port of Baltimore is the thirteenth busiest container port in the United States, handling over 1 million TEUs in 2020," Visiwise wrote." It is a major gateway for cargo moving between the United States and Asia. The top countries of origin for imports through the port are China, India, and Vietnam, while the top destinations for exports are China, India, and Brazil."

Because Baltimore is close in proximity to Washington, DC and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, its port is a significant source of economic activity for the East Coast. Those cities have ports of their own, but don't handle nearly as much traffic as Baltimore's. The longer the crashed cargo ship and the wreckage of the Key Bridge sits in the Chesapeake Bay, the more likely it will be that East Coast residents pay higher prices for items that need to be shipped into ports.

Buttigieg has emphasized that the US Department of Transportation has set up a freight office to handle disruptions to maritime traffic, which is a new development for the agency.

"There is no central authority that directs maritime traffic the way you have with air traffic, so it's going to be important to have a number of dialogues established with ocean shippers, beneficial cargo owners, port operators, and everyone else who plays a role here," Buttigieg said.

The Transportation Secretary said his agency is also learning from other recent US infrastructure-related catastrophes like the collapse of I-95 in Philadelphia, fires shutting down a portion of the I-10 freeway in Los Angeles, and a shutdown of the I-35 interstate highway in Minnesota.

Watch the video of Buttigieg's remarks below, or by clicking this link.

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