is diverting shipping and trucking around one of the busiest ports on America's East Coast, creating delays and raising costs in the latest disruption to global supply chains., ship traffic entering and leaving the Port of Baltimore was suspended indefinitely. That will require rerouting vessels or their cargo to other ports, potentially causing congestion and delays for importers, said Judah Levine, head of research for the global freight booking platform Freightos.
Gail noted that 1.3 million trucks cross the bridge every year — 3,600 a day. Trucks that carry hazardous materials will now have to make 30 miles of detours around Baltimore because they are prohibited from using the city's tunnels, she said, adding to delays and increasing fuel costs. “Everybody is trying to figure out the impact of the supply chain” from the loss of the bridge, said Gold who spoke with big and small retailers Tuesday. “What they had going into the port or what is currently at the port destined for somewhere else.”Americans should expect shortages, said Ryan Petersen, CEO of the supply chain management company Flexport. He said the accident would have significant repercussions for ocean container shipping and East Coast trucking logistics.
The use of trucks as an alternative to shipping goods will also cause traffic backups on U.S. thoroughfares, Petersen predicted. “The East Coast I-95 corridor is going to be a real disaster,” he said. The century-old Domino sugar refinery, an iconic Baltimore institution located at the port, expects"no short-term impact'' to its operations in the city. Marianne Martinez, a spokeswoman for Domino parent ASR Group, said the refinery has six to eight weeks of raw sugar supplies on hand.
And since most vehicles purchased in the U.S. are made in North America and don't come by sea, experts do not expect big problems. Car dealers currently have sizable inventories, and ships carrying cars also can divert to other ports.