Summary:
- The Port of Baltimore has been reopened to all vessel traffic. Export dwell at the Port of Baltimore remains higher as the backlog of containers at port are cleared out but import container dwell and vessel berthing times are stable, demonstrating the port’s healthy labor force and operations.
- Numbers show the ports that received the most volume from the Port of Baltimore during the closure are New York (46%), Norfolk (20%), and Newark-Elizabeth (9%).
- Estimated demurrage fees as due to the crash could be $85 million. At this time, containers are no longer rerouting around Baltimore so additional demurrage costs are not anticipated.
Vessel Dali Strikes Francis Scott Key Bridge
Early on Tuesday, March 26th, 2024, the Dali, operated by the Synergy Group while being chartered by Maersk, collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore (part of I-695), causing it to collapse. Video footage reveals that the vessel, owned by the Singapore-based group Grace Ocean, lost power, resulting in a loss of control. The crash resulted in a port closure, which was partially closed for 2.5 months. The port fully reopened on June 10th, 2024.
Port of Baltimore Operations
After months of cleanup efforts, the Port of Baltimore has been fully reopened. Some larger container and RoRo vessels have been able to get through the larger temporary channel, but there were still draft restrictions the eliminated some larger vessels getting in. All restrictions have officially been lifted, and port operations are resuming to full capacity.
The Port of Baltimore has jumped seamlessly back into operation. The chart below shows a drastic drop in vessel berthing times, showing that all incoming vessels are being processed in a timely fashion.
Taking a closer look at container dwell for the Port of Baltimore, export dwell is still showing some volatility as the backlog of exports clear out of the port, but this is expected to level out within a couple of weeks. Import dwell has stayed low and stable. Between the berthing and import dwell stability, this shows that the Port of Baltimore has been able to reopen without disruptions in labor or operations.
Impacted Shipments
New ports of discharge were assigned to many of the containers aboard vessels that were supposed to call on the Port of Baltimore. Below is the breakdown of where these containers went. Due to the force majeure enacted, customers are required to arrange transportation from these places.
The dwell at these ports has remained stable, though containers that were rerouted had higher dwell rates than the overall dwell due to bottlenecks in finding drayage coverage for out of network transit lanes.
*Please note that a value of zero on this graph indicates a day where no containers were processed at the port.
Despite the ports’ ability to manage the additional volume, the rerouted containers are still sitting longer than containers initially destined for these ports. This points to difficulty getting drayage coverage for companies that do not generally ship through that port. New carriers or rates are needed for lanes not outlined in contracts, and there can be difficulties in finding coverage.
This results in potential demurrage charges, which is what ports charge when containers sit at the port for too long. Demurrage charges differ based on ocean carrier contracts, but on average 3-5 free days at the port are provided. For any day after that threshold, there is a daily charge ranging from $75-$300 until the container is discharged. The chart below outlines the estimated charge per rerouted container by week based off the dwell time at port.
With the Port of Baltimore re-opened, it is unlikely that this will continue as shippers having difficulty with drayage coverage will switch shipping back to the Port of Baltimore, but estimates show that the bridge collapse could have created ~$85 million in demurrage charges.
For project44 customers
project44 has made three custom views available in our platform, Movement, to help customers navigate the crisis. All project44 customers can now view all shipments and orders for both upcoming arrivals into Baltimore and upcoming departures out of Baltimore, as well as when the port of discharge is updated. In addition, we have notified all customers with impacted containers on the vessel involved in the incident.
A Thank You
Without such efficient clean up efforts and resources provided to the Port of Baltimore, such a rapid recovery of one of the largest ports in the US would not be possible. project44 thanks all of the parties involved in the clean up efforts as well as the port employees in Baltimore and the ports that assisted Baltimore with the rerouted volumes.
