In 2023 the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, served over 50 ocean carriers, making nearly 1,800 annual visits. Among all U.S. ports, Baltimore was first in handling automobiles, light trucks, farm and construction machinery; and imported forest products, aluminum, and sugar. The port was second in coal exports.

Then on 26 March 2024 a container ship, MV Dali, lost steerage due to an electrical fault and demolished the Francis Scott Key Bridge crossing the Outer Harbor, shutting down the port. The bridge will not be reopened until autumn, 2028. Its replacement is estimated to cost almost $2 Billion. Costs to the port in lost traffic are greater still.

Footage of the accident is bizarre and surreal, showing the rapid collapse of the entire bridge within 15 seconds, like a gigantic house of cards. See BBC programme at 00:13 s.

The stellar BBC “Why…?” series (which includes Why planes vanish: the search for MH370 (reviewed here) has just released (5 Dec 2024) an episode entitled Why Bridges Collapse: the Baltimore Disaster. Highly recommended: gold among the TV dross that passes for “documentary”.