President Joe Biden said Friday he plans to visit Baltimore next week with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore after a recent major bridge collapse killed six people and shut down a vital shipping port. said.
After returning from New York and landing at Joint Base Andrews on Air Force One, Biden confirmed his visit next week to reporters. Biden did not say when he would make his brief visit to Baltimore. The president pledged full federal support to help Baltimore recover from the bridge disaster and said he expects the federal government to pay for the full cost of rebuilding the bridge.
The announcement came as crews continued to assess the massive wreckage in the Patapsco River and specialized salvage equipment began arriving.
Approximately 1,100 Army Core Engineers, along with highly specialized equipment, were deployed to clear the debris and reopen the nation's largest vehicle-handling port. The Chesapeake 1000, the East Coast's largest floating crane, arrived in Baltimore at 11 p.m. Thursday, U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Carmen Caber told USA TODAY.
At least three cranes, including the Chesapeake, arrived at the scene Friday but were not yet in use, Caber said. U.S. Coast Guard Maj. Gen. Shannon Gilreath told reporters that damage assessments were complicated by strong river currents and poor visibility.
The bodies of four construction workers who were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed are believed to still be inside wrecked vehicles. Eight workers were on break at the time of the collision. Two people were rescued hours after the accident, and two bodies were recovered from the submerged pickup truck on Wednesday.
Developmental status:
∎ Wind advisories were issued for parts of the Mid-Atlantic region on Friday, with wind gusts of up to 50 mph expected. According to the National Weather Service. Winds in the low 30s were expected to hit the Baltimore area by 8 p.m.
∎ The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will hold a virtual briefing on Monday to hear from industry leaders about “the impact of port closures, strategies they are implementing to mitigate disruption, and the path toward long-term solutions.” Announced. to the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.
Will the Port of Baltimore closure affect car prices?
Last year, the Port of Baltimore handled a record 847,158 cars and light trucks, more than any other U.S. port, according to Maryland Governor Wes Moore's office. With such a vital transport artery closed until the debris is removed (some experts say this process could take more than a month), big questions have arisen: Will those costs trickle down to car buyers?
The good news: Most experts say consumers are unlikely to see high transaction prices for new cars in the near future. However, things can get complicated in the long run.
“Several factors including the duration of port closures and the capacity of alternative ports are two key factors,” said Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. Los Angeles' iSeeCars.com told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. “Additional variables include how much a particular brand relies on Baltimore for both vehicle and supply chain shipments. For example, a brand like Subaru, which is prominent in the Northeast market, Hyundai, which has manufacturing sites in the Southeast, is likely to face a greater impact than Hyundai, which has manufacturing sites in the Southeast and sells more vehicles in western states such as California. ”
Bozzella said ways to mitigate supply chain disruptions learned from the pandemic, which caused auto prices to skyrocket, could soften the severe impact of the Baltimore Port closure. Ivan Drury, director of insights at Edmunds.com, emphasized that car prices may rise, but not as much as they did during the pandemic.
Tyson Jominy, J.D. Power's vice president of data and analytics, said it's too early to declare an impact on prices given the uncertainty surrounding the port closures. However, he is skeptical that automakers will significantly raise prices in today's environment. The reason is competition and the fact that with 1.7 million new cars currently in dealerships across all brands, automakers have enough inventory for at least two months. .
“Because this is one port, there are competing ports that ship products instead, and that takes time and money, but it's not like the entire East Coast is crippled,” Jominy said. “That's the nature of logistics. For people in logistics, crises are their job.”
more:Top port for automakers closed due to Baltimore bridge collapse: Impact on new car prices
– Jamie L. Lareau, Detroit Free Press
Investigators talk about cargo ship's 'black box' audio
National Transportation Safety Board Investigator Marcel Muiz provided the most detailed account of the moments leading up to the catastrophe, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday about the audio found in the cargo ship's “black box.”
Muise said several warnings could be heard on the recording just before 1:25 a.m., followed by steering commands and rudder commands about a minute later.
◾ At 1:26:39 a.m., the pilot on duty radioed for assistance from nearby tugboats and 45 seconds later ordered them to drop the port anchor.
◾ At 1:27:25 a.m., the pilot said on a radio call that Dali had lost power and was approaching the bridge. Around the same time, on-duty Maryland Department of Transportation officials told officers on both sides of the bridge to close the bridge to make road repairs, which likely saved lives.
At 1:29:33 a.m., as the helpless Dali was drifting at 8 mph, VDR recorded “a sound consistent with a bridge impact,” Muse said. Six seconds later, the pilot reported to the Coast Guard that the bridge was down.
– Minna Arshad
14 containers containing dangerous goods 'affected' in collision
The statement said 14 of the 56 containers containing hazardous materials on board the ship were affected by the collision. From joint forces including the U.S. Coast Guard and the Maryland Department of the Environment.
An industrial hygienist evaluated the container and determined it was not a soap product, perfume product or other specific resin that was affected by the impact, the statement said. First responders also observed a “shine” around the ship and set up a 6,000-foot safety zone and a containment boom over 4,000 feet to prevent the sheen from spreading further into the river.
U.S. Coast Guard officials said there was no immediate environmental threat and response teams were conducting visual inspections of water quality and collecting samples for testing.
A unified force statement released Thursday said “contamination and debris removal operations are underway.” “At this time, no airborne hazards have been detected and Unified Command continues to ensure safety.”
Federal government provides $60 million in funding for Baltimore bridge reconstruction
Moore announced at a press conference Thursday that the federal government will provide $60 million in emergency funding to Maryland to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Moore said the state submitted a funding request early Thursday for “initial mobilization, operations and debris recovery efforts.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration announced in a news release that the request would be approved within hours and $60 million in “quick release” emergency relief funds would be immediately available for the Maryland Department of Transportation to rebuild bridges. did.
The Federal Highway Administration said the funds will be used as a down payment on initial costs, with additional funds becoming available as operations continue.
Federal Highway Administration Administrator Shailene Bhatt said the emergency funds will be used to manage traffic and supply chain disruptions, clear debris and eventually rebuild bridges.
Approval of such funds could take days, but President Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday that he was directing the federal government to “move heaven and earth” to quickly rebuild bridges. he said.
Experts say the bridge could take time to complete. Reconstruction took years and cost $60.3 million when it opened in 1977, the equivalent of $316 million today.
Bridge collapse is expected to have a major economic impact
The Port of Baltimore is important to the American economy and ranks as the nation's largest vehicle-handling port. The bridge collapse on Tuesday immediately cut off shipping lanes and forced the port to close indefinitely.
Between $100 million and $200 million in cargo passes through the port every day. About 4,000 commercial trucks use the bridge each day, and the detour is expected to increase delivery times and fuel costs, according to Oxford Economics.
But Buttigieg warned that port closures could put many longshore workers out of work. Since the bankruptcy, companies have rerouted shipments to other East Coast ports.
– Swapna Venugopal and Ramaswamy Paul Davidson
Contributed by: Reuters
