April 9 (Reuters) - Mazda Motor ( MZDAF ) will probably

have to temporarily move shipments to another port from

Baltimore to avoid delays, the automaker's CEO said in a CNBC

interview.

The Port of Baltimore ranks first in the U.S. for volume of

autos and light trucks and farm and construction machinery

handled and a cargo ship crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge

in March has restricted shipments.

However, CEO Masahiro Moro said Mazda ( MZDAF ) does not currently

expect a big impact from the port shutdown.

U.S. automakers General Motors ( GM ) and Ford have

said they would reroute the affected shipments.

Most of the traffic remain suspended, though some terminal

operations outside the affected area have resumed.

Earlier this month, Mazda ( MZDAF ) posted a near 13% rise in

first-quarter U.S. sales to 100,103 units from a year earlier.

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj

Kalluvila)