Business |

Port of Virginia expects to receive some Baltimore ship traffic after bridge collapse, official says

The Port of Virginia is ready to help receive diverted cargo traffic after a bridge collapse shut down ship operations at the Port of Baltimore early Tuesday morning.

“Our operating team is already working with ocean carriers whose vessels were due to call Baltimore and offering the capability of our port to discharge cargoes as requested,” Joe Harris, Virginia Port Authority spokesperson, said Tuesday in an emailed statement.

Officials temporarily closed the Port of Baltimore to all incoming and outgoing ship traffic after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning when it was struck by a container ship, according to Baltimore Sun reporting. Truck traffic is still allowed through the port. Officials did not say when the port would reopen to ship traffic.

A massive search-and-rescue operation launched after the cargo ship, Dali, crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which connects the Baltimore Beltway across the Patapsco River. Several cars plunged into the river below as the entire structure collapsed, according to Baltimore Sun reporting, and rescue crews were looking for a handful of construction workers who had been repairing potholes on the span.

Harris confirmed that the Dali had departed from Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth on March 22 before its next scheduled port of call in Baltimore.

“The vessel’s call at VIG and its departure from the Norfolk Harbor were without incident,” Harris said in the statement.

Harris said Tuesday afternoon it was too early to say what ships would be diverted to Hampton Roads, but he expected all mid-Atlantic ports to pick up Baltimore traffic.

The Port of Virginia, managed by the authority, is experienced in handling surge traffic, Harris said. In 2021, the port was able to avoid supply chain slowdowns that plagued Los Angeles ports through its modernization programs, Stephen Edwards, Virginia Port Authority executive director and CEO, then told The Virginian-Pilot. Those improvements helped the port process cargo diverted from the West Coast, Harris said in 2022.

Rachel Shames, vice president of pricing and procurement at Norfolk logistics company CV International, expected the Port of Virginia and other East Coast ports like Philadelphia to pick up diverted shipping vessels. She said Hampton Roads is especially suited for the task because it has access to the same mid-Atlantic markets as Baltimore.

Additionally, Port of Virginia facilities can handle much of Baltimore’s non-container cargo like cars and other items too large to fit in shipping containers, Shames said.

Stephen Kirkland, executive director of Nauticus, which operates the Norfolk Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center, said Tuesday he had been on the phone all morning with Carnival Cruise Line to determine how the city could help with potentially diverted cruises. The Maryland Cruise Terminal is located upriver from the collapsed bridge.

Carnival Cruise Line announced later Tuesday that it would temporarily move Carnival Legend’s Baltimore operations to Norfolk during the rescue and remediation efforts. Carnival Legend, scheduled to return Sunday, will now return to Norfolk, where travelers will be provided complimentary bus service back to Baltimore. The company said Carnival Legend’s next seven-day cruise will operate from and return to Norfolk. The cruise line will provide an update on plans to return to Baltimore based on future plans to reopen marine traffic.

David Sump, a Norfolk maritime attorney at Willcox Savage who spent 18 years in the Coast Guard, said in both Maryland and Virginia, all foreign cargo vessels are guided by pilots — trusted maritime experts who know the local waterways.

However, if the vessel lost power, crews could lose control of both the engine and potentially the rudder, he said. Sump said a video shows all the lights on the Dali go out shortly before the impact.

“You not only cannot stop the vessel but you may have difficulty steering the vessel,” Sump said.

The bridge-tunnels in Hampton Roads allow a wider space for cargo ships to maneuver through the waterways to access the port terminals, Sump said. Still, the region has a few bridges ships pass under, like the James River Bridge connecting Newport News and Isle of Wight County.

The Port of Virginia also recently widened its shipping channel for two-way passage of ultra-wide container vessels, a longtime infrastructure improvement goal for the organization.

The Port of Baltimore handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo worth $80 billion in 2023, according to the Associated Press. In addition, more than 444,000 cruise passengers used the port last year.

The Port of Virginia processed a record-setting 26.2 million tons of cargo in 2022, according to the most recent Old Dominion University State of the Region report. Virginia terminals, including those not managed by the Virginia Port Authority, handled 65.6 million tons of cargo valued at $103.5 billion in 2022, according to an economic impact report commissioned by the Virginia Maritime Association.

Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com

*Clarification: This article was updated on March 27, 2024, to include the overall amount of cargo handled by Virginia terminals, including those managed by Virginia Port Authority, as a better comparison to the Port of Baltimore.