09:25 AM EDT, 03/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The collapse of the Francis Key Scott Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday likely will worsen global trade flows, a shipping analyst told Bloomberg.
Emily Stausboll, an analyst with shipping-analytics company Xeneta, said shippers in the Far East and on the US East Coast have already been hurt by dry weather along the Panama Canal and attacks in the Red Sea. Shipping rates have increased by 150%, she said.
The collapse of the Baltimore bridge will exacerbate concerns about shipping, Stausboll was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
While ships will be temporarily redirected to ports in New York and Virginia, port capacity is limited. How quickly vessels already inbound to Baltimore can be diverted to alternate sites and when containers in Baltimore ports are still in question, she said.
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