The
collapsed
Francis
Scott
Key
Bridge
lies
on
top
of
the
container
ship
Dali
in
Baltimore,
Maryland,
on
March
29,
2024.
Mandel
Ngan
|
Afp
|
Getty
Images
The
collapse
of
Baltimore’s
Francis
Scott
Key
Bridge
on
Tuesday
is
likely
to
send
shock
waves
across
the
U.S.
economy,
as
a
key
shipping
route
for
certain
goods
remains
snarled
for
the
foreseeable
future,
officials
said
Sunday.
“This
is
not
[just]
a
Baltimore
catastrophe,
not
a
Maryland
catastrophe.
This
is
a
national
economic
catastrophe
as
well,”
Maryland
Gov.
Wes
Moore
said
Sunday
on
CNN’s
“State
of
the
Union.”
The
channel
that’s
now
blocked
by
the
wreckage
is
a
primary
access
point
for
the
Port
of
Baltimore,
which
Moore
described
as
among
the
“busiest
[and]
most
active”
in
the
nation.
“This
is
going
to
impact
the
farmer
in
Kentucky.
This
is
going
to
impact
the
auto
dealer
in
Ohio.
This
is
going
to
impact
the
restaurant
owner
in
Tennessee,”
he
said.
U.S.
Transportation
Secretary
Pete
Buttigieg
echoed
that
sentiment.
“It’s
important
not
just
to
the
people
and
the
workers
of
Baltimore,
but
to
our
national
supply
chains
to
get
that
port
back
up
and
running
as
quickly
as
possible,”
Buttigieg
said
on
CBS’
“Face
the
Nation.”
The
bridge
collapsed
Tuesday
after
a
large
cargo
ship
crashed
into
it,
following
a
mayday
call
shortly
before
the
collision.
Two
construction
workers
died;
four
are
missing
and
presumed
dead.
An
operation
to
remove
the
ship,
clear
out
debris
and
reopen
the
channel
began
Saturday,
officials
said.
“Parts
of
the
non-federal
channel
are
already
being
worked
on
and
there
is
a
1,000-ton-capacity
lift
crane
on
a
barge
being
put
into
place
now,”
Buttigieg
said.
There’s
another
600-ton
crane
on
the
way,
he
added.
There
isn’t
yet
a
timeline
for
that
salvage
work
to
be
completed,
Buttigieg
said.
The
time
frame
for
the
bridge
to
be
rebuilt
is
also
unclear,
he
said.
Federal
and
local
officials
reiterated
that
the
operation
would
be
lengthy
and
complex.
“We
have
a
ship
that
is
nearly
the
size
of
the
Eiffel
Tower
that
is
now
stuck
within
the
channel
that
has
the
Key
Bridge
sitting
on
top
of
it,”
Gov.
Moore
said.
“And
so
this
is
going
to
be
a
long
road
…
But
movement
is
happening.”
Why
Port
of
Baltimore
is
so
important
The
Port
of
Baltimore
processed
a
record
1.1
million
containers
of
cargo
in
2023,
according
to
state
data.
That
made
it
the
ninth-busiest
port
in
the
nation
based
on
U.S.
trade
volume,
wrote
Ryan
Petersen,
chief
executive
of
Flexport,
a
supply-chain
logistics
company.
It
also
handled
nearly
850,000
shipments
of
cars
and
light
trucks
in
2023,
more
than
any
other
port
for
the
13th
consecutive
year,
according
to
state
data.
“This
port
is
the
number
one
port
for
cars
and
farm
equipment,”
Baltimore
Mayor
Brandon
Scott
said
Sunday
on
“Face
the
Nation.”
“So
this
matters
to
folks
in
rural
North
Carolina
and
Kansas
and
Iowa,”
he
added.
“This
matters
to
the
global
economy.”
Additionally,
there
are
more
than
15,000
people
who
work
directly
for
the
port,
and
thousands
of
others
whose
livelihoods
depend
on
it,
Sen.
Chris
Van
Hollen,
D-MD,
said
on
ABC’s
“This
Week.”
The
Small
Business
Administration
announced
Saturday
that
it
would
make
low-interest,
long-term
loans
of
up
to
$2
million
available
to
local
small
businesses
in
the
Mid-Atlantic
region
affected
by
the
bridge
collapse.
The
U.S.
government
awarded
Maryland
an
initial
$60
million
in
funding
to
clear
the
wreckage.
The
federal
government
will
cover
90%
of
the
costs
to
rebuild
the
bridge,
said
Sen.
Chris
Van
Hollen,
D-MD.
He
plans
to
introduce
legislation
along
with
Sen.
Ben
Cardin,
D-MD,
to
cover
the
remaining
10%,
Van
Hollen
said.
President
Joe
Biden
said
Tuesday
that
he
intends
for
the
federal
government
to
pay
for
the
entire
cost
of
rebuilding
the
bridge,
and
expects
Congress
to
support
that
effort.
Some
lawmakers
have
balked
at
the
idea,
though.
Rep.
Dan
Meuser,
R-PA,
called
Biden’s
notion
of
using
federal
funds
to
cover
the
full
cost
“kind
of
outrageous.”
While
the
current
Congress
is
divided,
Secretary
Buttigieg
expressed
confidence
that
lawmakers
would
approve
bridge
funding
on
a
bipartisan
basis.
“If
we
can
see
Republicans
and
Democrats
cooperate
to
get
President
Biden’s
infrastructure
package
through,
surely
they
can
cooperate
to
help
America
and
Baltimore
deal
with
this
tragedy,”
he
said
Sunday
on
MSNBC.
