The Port of Baltimore’s container terminal stopped accepting exports Tuesday morning and will be closed Friday after a catastrophic cargo ship crash collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge into the shipping channel and cut off marine vessel access to Maryland’s largest port.
“Due to the current port circumstances, Seagirt Marine Terminal will stop receiving exports today, March 26th, at 11:00 AM until further notice,” according to a text message alert sent by Ports America Chesapeake, which operates the state-owned terminal.
Beginning Wednesday, the New Vail Street gate will be closed until further notice, and all truck traffic must enter the terminal through the Seagirt main gate at 2600 Broening Highway, according to another alert.
In addition to being closed Friday, the port terminal will close at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, reversing an earlier plan to extend hours until 5:30 p.m.
A line of trucks queued up on Broening Highway outside the main gate as drivers tried to drop off export loads before the deadline Tuesday morning, said Pamela Miller, a truck driver who has been running the port for 40 years.
Miller, an owner-operator who is leased to PiCorp, drove into the terminal a little later than usual Tuesday, around 9:30 a.m.
She could see the shipwreck from her truck from the B row of the New Vail Street entrance.
“It looks so eerie,” she said.
Before heading to the port, she checked in with her office that the customer still wanted the empty she was picking up.
“Can you imagine what a nightmare it is right now to try to rebook, to reschedule?” Miller said.
The National Transportation Safety is investigating the cause of the crash, but authorities have said they believe the wreck was an accident.
President Joe Biden pledged Tuesday that the federal government would cover the cost of repairing the bridge.
“We’re going to send all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency,” Biden said in a briefing.
