On March 25, the 100,000-ton container ship Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River in southeastern Baltimore, causing the bridge to collapse into the water below. The collapse affects both land and sea routes that serve freight traffic in and around the Baltimore region.
While Baltimore’s container traffic is relatively minor in scale, the city’s port facilities are some of the most important in the country, according to Nathan Kane, head of research at Realterm, in a recent report.
It is considered the shortest route from which consumer goods can reach the Chicago region from the East Coast, though infrastructure constraints have led to its fading in importance in this regard. In 2023, the Port of Baltimore handled 1.1 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), ranking it 10th in the United States and sixth on the East Coast. In comparison, the Port of New York/New Jersey handled 7.8 million TEUs and the Ports of Virginia handled 3.3 millio