Michigan’s auto industry might have to deal with temporary parts shortages due to Tuesday’s bridge collapse in Baltimore.
A container ship lost power and rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore, causing the span to buckle into the river below. The collapse plunged a construction crew into the dangerously cold waters. Rescuers pulled out two people, but six others were missing. The ship’s crew issued a mayday call moments before the crash took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The Maryland governor said the mayday enabled authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span.
The Port of Baltimore is the number one vehicle and auto parts import port in the U.S.
“It’s not easy to just quickly divert these ships that are scheduled to go into Baltimore or into the other ports for that matter,” said Jeff Schuster, an auto industry analyst for Global Data, “ It’s going to create a backlog in those other ports.”
Still, Schuster said he does not expect a “significant disruption,” though he expected the port closure could affect importation of some key components in electric vehicles.
Schuster says Bentley and Audi dealers, in particular, may see some delays in getting new vehicles on their showroom floors.
And it’s not just automobiles.
The head of a supply chain management company said Tuesday that Americans should expect shortages of goods as the Baltimore bridge collapse affects ocean container shipping and East Coast trucking logistics.
"It’s not just the port of Baltimore that’s going to be impacted,” said Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport.
Petersen said attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea connecting Asia with Europe and the United States have forced traffic away from the Suez Canal and around the tip of Africa. At the same time, there’s been increased congestion in the Panama Canal. Petersen said U.S. importers are increasingly shifting to West Coast ports which in turn may have their own back-ups.
“You get this vicious feedback loop,” he said.
Petersen was working with his team Tuesday to reroute about 800 shipping containers currently making their way to Baltimore’s port.
