Wallenius Wilhelmsen could suffer a $10m financial hit after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge stranded its car-carrier Carmen in Baltimore harbour.
The Carmen was making preparations to leave the port at the time of last week’s allision, which caused the bridge to collapse, blocking the harbour access channel.
“The suspension of all vessel traffic into and out of the port of Baltimore until further notice has obvious implications, both operational and financial,” said Wallenius yesterday, estimating a $5m to $10m “aggregated provisional total financial impact on ebitda”.
“The terminals in Baltimore Port are open to road traffic and are fully operational, as are our processing centres, despite vessel operations being suspended. Cargo on the water bound for Baltimore is being re-routed to other US ports, such as Newport News, Newark and Savannah.”
However, a spokesperson for Wallenius insisted that the figure would “likely be balanced out by increased traffic/revenue generated by other terminals”.
“We typically make 150 port calls a year to Baltimore, so we are diverting originally Baltimore-bound cargo to other US ports on a case by case basis,” he added.
The estimate assumes that the disruption will last for a month, although the authorities have not yet settled on any sort of timeline for the removal of wreckage.
Challenging weather conditions this week, which yesterday included high winds and thunderstorms, have done little to assist the cleanup effort, US Coast Guard chief warrant officer Frank Schiano, bridge response coordinator, reported yesterday.
“Our operations continue, but will be adjusted as necessary in response to any adverse weather conditions,” he said.
On Sunday, the Key Bridge Response 2024 group said they would establish a temporary channel to allow vessels to pass. However, at a depth of just 3.35 metres, this could not accommodate the Carmen’s draught of 8.7 metres.