The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse: A wake up call for the shipping industry.

I knew it was too good to be true. The start of this year had heralded what seemed to be a sharp drop in the number of major maritime incidents and accidents reaching my desk. And then in late March along comes the collapse of the busy Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore wrecked in a matter of just 15 seconds having been struck by a ship, the Singapore registered Dali. Surely you cannot have failed to notice this appalling event. I offer my personal condolences to those who have lost loved ones in this catastrophe.

At the time of writing, the exact cause is not known (although theories are aplenty) and it will be the aim of the formal, painstaking investigation to reveal the actual facts in time. But we now learn that the insurance payouts after this momentous event may turn out to be the largest in history, according to Lloyd’s of London chief executive John Neal. Speaking to Bloomberg News, he said, “This has the potential to be one of the largest marine losses in history. It’s a multi-billion dollar loss. I think it has to be, but I think it is a little too early to say what you actually think it’s going to cost.”

So when your and my car, house and boat insurance goes up again, this accident will be part of the reason.

Barclays Plc analysts have estimated that insurers face claims of as much as USD 3bn, with claims for the bridge alone potentially reaching USD 1.2bn, according to Bloomberg. Barclays analysts also predict further liabilities for USD 350m to USD 700m for wrongful deaths and yet-to-be-determined amounts for business interruptions while access to the port is blocked.

Once the full extent of the tragedy became clear, my mind turned to the sheer scale of the knock-on effects, which I believe are more often unseen or not understood. Rarely following an accident are we given more than the slightest glimpse of the impact such an event can have. I read Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore’s comments with a sense of mounting despondency, for he told the situation exactly how it was as he appeared on the media day after day. He called it a “global crisis” explaining that that the national and world’s economy depend on the port of Baltimore. That statement requires further research and more digging to understand why.

Mr Moore said, “The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other port in the country. Last year alone, the port handled USD 80 billion of foreign cargo, the largest in the country.”

But there are many other considerations too. At least 8,000 workers on the docks have jobs that are reliant on the port, which have been directly affected by the collapse, Mr Moore added.

The bridge's collapse, which was crossed by an average of 35,000 vehicles each day, has also cut off a main artery handling billions of dollars of goods to and from a key port. The port of Baltimore is the 14th largest in the US. Boat traffic has been at a standstill and the wreckage of the bridge still lies across the Patapsco River. This will have to be expertly and sensitively cleared at huge expense. Additionally, due to the water conditions and sheer scale of the clean-up, it is described as a precarious and highly dangerous operation. The best estimate is that it might be sorted by the end of May.

I read in an article that apparently no-one locally even thought to consider that a ship might collide with the structure causing it to collapse like a pack of cards. Given how we are required to conduct detailed risk assessments these days I find that astonishing.

Of course, this accident made national and international headlines and rightly so, partly I suspect because of its unusual nature. But to counterbalance this, only the week before a South Korean chemical tanker capsized off an island in southwestern Japan killing eight people on board with the fate of two others unknown. And over 100 dies in a ferry disaster in Mozambique. Although both insurance claims will be minuscule in comparison with the Baltimore incident, the death tolls surpassed that of the Baltimore event.

We all know the sea is a dangerous environment in which to work and play, but the point I want to make is that people continue to die each and every day at sea needlessly, yet many of us remain unaware of the scale of the problem, for the news rarely gets beyond the pages of the specialist shipping and boating media. Does that matter?

In the case of the Baltimore accident, it seems at this stage (pending investigation) that human error was not the principal likely cause, unlike so many other maritime incidents which are. But as the dust settles on Baltimore and the events are confined to history, this is yet another wake-up call for the maritime industry given the reliance on supply lines and how interconnected the sector has become.

Just my thoughts and opinion ....

Mike Schwarz