Early Tuesday, Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River after one of its supports was struck by a container ship, causing the structure to break apart. The bridge, which opened in 1977, spanned the river at the entrance to Baltimore's harbor, home to the Port of Baltimore, a major hub for East Coast shipping operations. The bridge collapse will halt the flow off ships in and out of the port indefinitely, officials said, a development with the potential to damage the local economy and put strain on supply chains for automobiles and other goods.
With the largest auto port in the U.S., Baltimore is a vital part of the global automotive supply chain. Baltimore is like Taylor Swift in the universe of U.S. auto ports, and when she's not performing as usual, even for a few weeks, the world feels a great loss. We're talking more than 800,000 vehicles a year, a lot of cars imported from Europe and Mexico, and a lot of cars exported by Detroit automakers. Now that cargo ships have stopped coming in and out of the port, the impact is felt immediately as many automakers rush to divert their cargo ships that are on their way. It's worth noting that not all manufacturers have been affected. BMW and Volkswagen, for example, aren't affected as much as others because their distribution centers are on the side of the harbor, beyond the bridge and closer to the bay.
Source: Johns Hopkins University