Baltimore bridge collapse: Global supply chain fears raised as Joe Biden vows to rebuild crossing
US President Joe Biden has pledged to “move heaven and earth” to rebuild a collapsed bridge in Baltimore - as fears were raised the disaster will hit global supply chains.
Six construction workers who were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when a cargo ship crashed into it early on Tuesday morning are now presumed dead with rescue efforts having turned into a recovery operation.
Two workers who were on the bridge repairing potholes were pulled alive from the mouth of the Patapsco River in the hours after the accident.
The Dali crashed into one of the bridge’s support columns losing all power at around 1.30am, suspending all maritime traffic from the nearby Port of Baltimore “until further notice”.
The Port of Baltimore is the busiest in America for car exports and its ninth-busiest overall.
Marco Forgione, director general at The Institute of Export and International Trade, which represents UK businesses involved in international trade, said the suspension would have a “significant ripple effect on global supply chains”.
He told the BBC: “Over 750,000 cars and vehicles transited through Baltimore in the last year.
“Those are major US brands and UK and EU brands, from General Motors and Ford to [Jaguar Land Rover], Nissan, Fiat, and Audi.”
Last year traffic through the port amounted to more than 47 million tonnes of foreign cargo.
Mr Biden told reporters the US government would “move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible”, but added that the process would “take some time.”
He said he plans to travel to Baltimore “as quickly as I can” and that he wants the federal government to pick up the entire cost of reconstructing the bridge.
“We’re going to rebuild that port together,” Mr Biden said in brief remarks from the White House, shortly before departing for North Carolina.
The president said he expects lawmakers on Capitol Hill to support his bid to ensure the US government pays for rebuilding the bridge.
“This is going to take some time,” Mr Biden said. “The people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.”
“At this time, we have no other indication, no other reason to believe there’s any intentional act here,” he added.
The six workers who are presumed to have died included workers from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, according to the Mexican Consulate in Washington.
