Consider This from NPR - Measuring The Economic Impact Of Baltimore's Port Closure

Episode Date: April 2, 2024

One week after a massive container ship crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse, a massive effort is underway to clear the wreckage. But it's still unclear how long the cleanup will take.Meanwhile, with much of the Port of Baltimore shut down, the economic impact is being felt locally, regionally and in the broad economy.Host Mary Louise Kelly gets the latest from NPR's Laurel Wamsley, on the ground in Baltimore, and Camila Domonoske, who covers the auto industry for NPR. Baltimore is a major national hub for the import and export of vehicles. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's been one week since a massive container ship crashed into one of the supports of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing the bridge to fall into the Patapsco River. The bodies of four people presumed dead in the collapse are still missing. These families are living a nightmare. In a press conference Monday, Maryland Governor Wes Moore said that giving the victims' families closure is still his first priority. The second. We need to clear the channel and open the vessel to traffic for the port. That will not be easy, though, or quick. Tons and tons of twisted metal, concrete, and other debris will have to be cleared. And even as the massive cleanup operation gets going, there is a growing sense of urgency in Baltimore and beyond.

The impact to the state of Maryland's economy just with that shipping channel being closed is $191 million a day. That is Scott Cowan, president of International Longshoremen's Association Local 333 in Baltimore. He represents the hundreds of workers who depend on the port to make a living, loading cargo, operating cranes, doing the maintenance work. Quite a few are out of work right now, yes. Consider this. The economic impact of the Baltimore Bridge collapse starts at the port itself, but it quickly ripples out to the surrounding city, state, and region. So how quickly can that channel be cleared,

and what's at stake for the region and the broader economy? From NPR. Much of the Port of Baltimore has been shut down for a week now, and there is no telling how much longer it will remain closed for business, given the massive effort that will be needed to clear debris from the collapsed Key Bridge to open up the shipping channel. Yesterday, Maryland Governor Wes Moore described the situation as chaotic wreckage. Every time someone goes in the water, they are taking a risk. Every time we move a piece of the structure, the situation could become even more dangerous.

We have to move fast, but we cannot be careless. Let's bring in NPR's Laurel Wamsley, who has been on the ground in Baltimore. Hey there, Laurel. Hi, Mary Louise. And NPR's Laurel Wamsley, who has been on the ground in Baltimore. Hey there, Laurel. Hi, Mary Louise. And NPR's Camilla Dominovsky, who reports on the auto industry and energy. Hey, Camilla. Hi. Hey, okay, Laurel, kick us off.

We just heard Governor Moore there talking about they need to do this. They need to do it fast. What do we know about the timeline, about how fast the port could possibly reopen? Well, they have avoided giving any sort of timeline. But they said yesterday that the situation underwater was even more complicated than they'd been hoping for and perhaps more complicated than it looks to those of us above the waterline. And that's perhaps trying to lower expectations for how quickly this is all going to be resolved. Though progress is being made, yesterday they opened an 11-foot deep channel. That's a temporary channel that will allow some

barges and tugboats that have been trapped in the port to get out. In fact, the first vessel was able to get out using that channel yesterday. But this is Camilla here. Obviously, 11 feet is not very deep when you are talking about these big ships. This is step one in what is going to be a gradual phased process of reopening the port. Right, right, right. It's interesting how just nobody wants to even begin putting a timeline on any of this. Laurel, back to you. Put into context how much business would normally be happening per day at the port

when you say like, you know, one boat was able to get through yesterday. A lot, normally. Baltimore is a major hub for import and exporting vehicles, and it's in the top 20 in the U.S. in terms of cargo overall. Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, said last week that normally between $100 million and $200 million in cargo moves in and out of the port in Baltimore each day. And that affects $200 million in wages, he said. He said there's 8,000 jobs directly affected by the port's activities. But I want to note there's still some business happening at the port. There's one part of it that's called Trade Point Atlantic that's beyond the Key Bridge. But of course, the biggest business is from the really big ships, and those

still can't get in or out via the main shipping channel. All right. Okay, Camilla, hop in here, because one of the things I have learned as we have covered this tragedy has been just how critical Baltimore is for vehicle shipments. If ships still can't get in and out, and we don't know when they will be able to, how does the auto industry respond? Yeah, well, they figure out different ways of bringing these imported vehicles in. And some cars are still coming in through Baltimore. So Volkswagen and BMW both use that part of the port that Laurel just talked about that's still open. And that terminal could actually import some more vehicles for other automakers.

Darren talks about that now. some vehicles have been taken to nearby ports and then transported over land to the land operations of the Baltimore port for processing that happens. You have parts that are installed, inspections, really important paperwork. So they're doing all that still in Baltimore. There are other ports that are farther away. Some automakers are weighing half a dozen different alternatives for how to get these cars to dealerships. I spoke to Kristen Gichek. She's a policy advisor at the Federal Reserve who focuses on the auto industry. One thing I know about logistics is that these are the people who have not only plan A and plan B and plan C, but they've got plan Z. So we are moving pretty far down the

alphabet, but vehicles are rerouting. And in some cases, we know it's successful. Mercedes says they are confident there will be no delays in getting imported vehicles to customers this month. So that's the latest on cars. What about all the other industries affected by this port being shut down? Sure. So the container ships are being rerouted to nearby ports. There are other kinds of imports where Baltimore plays a proportionally larger role, things like sugar, lumber, gypsum, which is used in drywall and fertilizer, and it's also actually a food additive. My understanding is that like with cars, there are other ways of getting these goods into the U.S. Then there's coal, where we're talking about exports, coal that U.S. exports

mostly to Asia. Some government analysts have said that this port disaster could affect the volume of coal that is exported from the U.S. So it's possible this bridge collapse in Baltimore could have a big effect on people who are making bricks in India. Fascinating. Laurel, I want to talk about jobs a little closer to home here in the U.S. because for every day, this port is not operational. People who would normally be working there aren't working. What's happening to them? Yeah, the local impact, particularly on Baltimore County, is significant. All of this mess just means less work for the longshoremen in particular. I spoke with Scott Cowan. He's the president of the International Longshoremen's Association, Local 333 in Baltimore. And he said that some folks

still have some work, but it's those really big ships that really employ the most people. They generate the most work. And those are going to be the hardest ships to get back in the port. So yesterday, that 11-foot channel opened, and they're working on a couple other channels, one that'll be 20 feet deep. But the channel that's used by those really big ships and that's blocked right now is 50 feet deep. And the clock is ticking for workers, and the money that they're not receiving right now is real. And so I'm hearing that 1,300 port workers have lost work. Some of them have applied for unemployment, and the federal government is getting involved. They've set up a couple of centers in the area that will help local businesses apply for these low-interest loans that will help them keep operations running and keep their workers paid during this time.

That is NPR's Camila Dominovsky and Laurel Wamsley getting us up to speed on where things stand one week after that cargo ship took down the Key Bridge at the Port of Baltimore. Thanks to you both. Thank you. Thank you. This episode was produced by Megan Lim and Noah Caldwell. It was edited by William Troop, Patrick Jaron-Wadananan, Andrea DeLeon, and Julia Redpath. Our executive producer is Sammy Yinnigan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Mary Louise Kelly.