A white cruise ship with a red, white, and blue funnel sails under a steel frame bridge.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse & Baltimore’s Cruise Ship Operations

Like many others, I was dumbstruck when Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on March 26, 2024 after being hit by a container ship. Six men lost their lives in the accident, and three of them still haven’t been found. I lived in the Washington, DC area for almost a decade and made several trips up to Charm City during that time (I even briefly volunteered at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine for a while). The Key Bridge was a landmark, and now that it’s gone, it feels like Baltimore and Maryland have both lost something special. Sailing underneath the Key Bridge has long been a favorite pastime for many people, and it was an especially popular thing to do when on a cruise ship.

It’s perhaps an understatement to say that there’s going to be a huge economic hit to Baltimore. While promises have been made to rebuild the Key Bridge as quickly as possible, it will still be some time before that can happen. In the meantime, however, shipping has been suspended as wreckage still blocks the entrance to the Port of Baltimore. Efforts are currently underway to reopen the channel by the end of May. Aside from being one of the largest and busiest commercial ports in the United States, several cruise lines have operations in Baltimore as well. What does this disaster mean for the city’s cruise ship operations?  

Cruise Maryland

The Port of Baltimore was founded by Maryland’s colonial legislature in 1706. For over 300 years, it’s been a major hub of commerce and trade for the Mid-Atlantic region. The port was one of the reasons that the British tried to take Baltimore during the War of 1812, which ultimately lead to Francis Scott Key writing a poem called “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The port was as busy as ever until just a few weeks ago.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened on March 23, 1977 and spanned the Patapsco River and completed I-695 (also known as the Baltimore Beltway). It was an engineering marvel and soon became a beloved symbol of Charm City. Ships sailing in and out of Baltimore had to cross under the steel behemoth, which had 185 feet of vertical clearance.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge under construction in the 1970s. Courtesy of the Maryland Transportation Authority.

The Cruise Maryland Terminal opened in 2006 and, while a relatively new addition to the port’s long history, has been successful: it is the 29th busiest cruise port in the United States. Currently, Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, and Norwegian Cruise Line all sail out of Baltimore. Several smaller cruise lines also operate out of the city. A total of 444,112 passengers sailed on 107 cruises in 2023. These cruises contributed $3,248.1 million of the Port of Baltimore’s total economic value of $70,280.4 million for the year. Although rather small compared to its cargo operations, that’s not an insignificant amount by any means.

What about for 2024? According to the Cruise Line International Association, 12 ships were scheduled to make a total of 115 trips from Baltimore this year. A total of 378,000 passengers were booked on these sailings and would likely have had a similar economic impact. But we won’t know the true economic hit for some time yet. But we do know that port workers and small businesses are already being affected. President Joe Biden recently announced grants and low-interest loans to help those impacted by the bridge collapse.

Then there’s the costs to the various cruise lines. Carnival recently announced that they could lose up to $10 million from the disaster. Norwegian and Royal Caribbean were asked to comment by CBS News but have not yet released any statements.

Homeport Changes

At the time of this writing, many of the Baltimore-based cruise ships are being rerouted to Norfolk, Virginia. There are only four cruise ship ports in the Mid-Atlantic, which also includes New York City and Charleston, South Carolina. The Carnival Legend is temporarily operating out of Norfolk and was at sea when the disaster happened. The Vision of the Seas was also rerouted to the port. Both cruise lines arranged for shuttle busses to take passengers back to Baltimore after disembarking. It is uncertain how long these ships will have to stay in their temporary homeports.

Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas. Courtesy of WTKR 3 Norfolk.

What Happens Now?

Although two temporary channels have been cleared now, only smaller ships currently have access to the Port of Baltimore. Larger ships are still unable to pass through. Officials hope to have the whole channel cleared by the end of May, but many are skeptical at this ambitious timetable (me included). It’s expected to take several weeks alone to remove cargo containers from the MV Dali, the ship that struck the bridge and caused the collapse.

Then there’s rebuilding the bridge. Experts estimate that the project could take five to seven years and cost at least $400 million (if not more). There’s just much that’s unknown at this point in time, and we’ll really just need to wait and see what happens.

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