JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As concerns arise over the effect of the Baltimore bridge collapse on the supply chain, the chairman of the Jacksonville Port Authority laid out the impact the accident is having in Jacksonville.
The tragedy of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore is being felt worldwide. Not only sorrow and shock for the lives lost but what it has done to the shipping market.
Dan Bean, chairman of JAXPORT, said he does not think the impact on the supply chain will be that long.
“I don’t know how long it’s gonna take Baltimore to get back on their feet. Actually, I think the ability for them to clear a channel large enough to get their ships through, might happen a little faster than most people anticipate,” Bean said.
Until that happens, ships are being diverted to other ports along the east coast including JAXPORT, where we will see only one extra vessel loaded with 1,600 cars arriving Sunday.
Port officials said they can handle that with no problem.
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The JAXPORT Blount Island Marine Terminal is where the larger ships come in, located near the tallest bridge in Jacksonville — the Dames Point Bridge.
Bean said there’s no need to worry about those large ships hitting bridges here.
“I drove warships around the world, right. And so today, I drove over the Dames Point Bridge twice. And so, I never for a minute had any hesitation going over any of the bridges here in Jacksonville. So, the bigger ships aren’t going underneath the Dames Point Bridge. And so, again, as far as ruling out all risk... I know that we can’t rule out all risk. I do think it’s less than half a percent,” Bean said.
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Even that small risk has some wondering and watching what’s happening underneath as they drive across our bridges.