BALTIMORE, MD – The total collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge – caused by a collision from a massive, 948-foot container ship that tragically resulted in six people missing and presumed dead – has had a lasting impact upon numerous industries in its wake, including automakers.
Reports indicate that multiple major automotive manufacturers are facing serious shipping challenges on the Eastern seaboard due to the incident, with the Port of Baltimore announcing on Tuesday that all vessel traffic in and out of the port is suspended for the foreseeable future, although trucks that are currently within the ports terminals are still able to be processed.
Most automakers use the area to import and export vehicles and parts into United States, and as a result of the Port of Baltimore’s closure following the bridge’s collapse, they are now facing a logistical nightmare regarding how to get their shipments into the country.
In 2023, the Baltimore port saw the import and export of 847,158 cars and light trucks throughout its private and public terminals, making it the highest-trafficked port in terms of automaker usage within the United States.
Volkswagen and BMW will be not adversely affected by the port’s closure because their terminals are still accessible due to being located east of the bridge; however, a plethora of other major automakers – including Ford, GM, and Mercedes-Benz – stand to be profoundly affected by the situation.
It’s a large port with a lot of flow through it, so it’s going to have an impact,” said Ford CFO John Lawler. “We’ll work on the workarounds. We’ll have to divert parts to other ports along the East Coast or elsewhere in the country.”
This is a terrible tragedy and our sympathies go out to those injured and still missing in Baltimore,” said John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a firm that represents a number of major U.S. automakers. “It’s too early to say what impact this incident will have on the auto business, but there will certainly be a disruption. Baltimore is the No. 1 automobile port in the U.S., and we’re in touch with federal officials to help them understand the scale of automotive operations there.”
Christopher Boyle is an investigative journalist, videographer, reporter and writer for SEARCHEN NETWORKS® as well as other independent news and media organizations in the United States. Christopher works on a wide variety of topics and fields, has been featured in print and online in a variety of publications, from local to national, and helps keep a keen-eye on what’s happening in the automotive world for Auto Buyers Market.