Key Bridge collapse shuts Port of Baltimore to ship traffic
A containership struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024, cutting ocean access to the nation's largest roll-on/roll-off port and forcing truck detours.
In March 2024, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after it was struck by the containership Dali. The collapse cut off ocean access to the Port of Baltimore and closed a major freight route that carried part of Interstate 695.
The National Transportation Safety Board later said in its May 2024 preliminary report that the 947-foot, Singapore-flagged Dali lost electrical power and propulsion while leaving Baltimore Harbor and struck a pier of the bridge at about 1:29 a.m. on March 26. Six members of a road maintenance crew on the bridge were killed.
Port operations
The Port of Baltimore suspended vessel traffic in and out of the port until further notice but continued processing trucks at its terminals, Supply Chain Dive reported. The U.S. Coast Guard was coordinating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to clear the channel.
Dean Croke, principal analyst at DAT Freight & Analytics, told FleetOwner that Baltimore was the 13th-largest U.S. port for containers but the largest for roll-on/roll-off equipment such as cars, trucks and farm machinery. DAT noted that March is the peak month for farm equipment imports through Baltimore.
The ports of New York and New Jersey and Virginia said they were coordinating with shippers to handle diverted cargo.
Truck routes
Sean McNally of the American Trucking Associations told FleetOwner that nearly 4,900 trucks used the bridge each day, carrying $28 billion in goods a year. He said trucks hauling hazardous materials, which are barred from the city's harbor tunnels, faced detours of roughly 30 miles.
The Maryland Transportation Authority asked motorists to avoid the I-695 southeast corridor and use the I-95 and I-895 tunnels instead. Those tunnels carry height restrictions as well as hazmat limits.
What it meant for carriers
DAT told Supply Chain Dive that trucks could still reach the marine terminals via I-695, I-95 or I-895, adding 20 to 30 minutes, or 12 to 15 miles, to a sample Baltimore-to-Atlanta trip. CSX said international intermodal shipments at the port had stopped, while domestic intermodal service continued at other Baltimore yards.
Croke said excess truckload capacity in the broader market would absorb some of the delays, but that the impact would be more acute for drayage trucks serving the port.