Overall East Coast Port Dwell Times remain Unaffected by Diverted Baltimore Containers

The March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and subsequent closure of the Port of Baltimore has led to the diversion of containers originally bound for Baltimore. According to an analysis by Project44, shipments are now primarily being rerouted to New York (41%), Norfolk (30%), and Newark-Elizabeth (10%).

Despite these diversions, overall port dwell times at these port have not increased. However, the dwell times for rerouted containers are showing a significant upward trend, hitting up to 85% higher than the overall dwell times, the analysis shows.

Project44 reports that last week, rerouted containers in New York had a median dwell time of 4.1 days, while the overall median dwell time was around 2.75 days. This indicates that rerouted containers in New York are experiencing delays of up to 50% longer.

Similarly, containers rerouted to Norfolk are experiencing a median dwell time around the 5-day mark, compared to the usual dwell time of 2.7 days for other containers. This suggests that rerouted containers have to wait 85% longer to depart the port.

The rerouting situation has also led to a steep rise in associated costs. Early estimates suggest that demurrage charges on rerouted containers are reaching a staggering $3.9 million per week.

Recovery efforts in Baltimore are ongoing, with three alternate channels now open. A 35-foot-deep limited access channel opened temporarily from April 25 to April 30, allowing for the arrival of the first containership and some container-on-barge service to resume. However, the channel has now been shut to allow for the salvage of the motor vessel Dali.

Officials are planning to open a 45-foot-deep channel around May 10 following the removal of the Dali, with plans to open the main 50-foot-deep channel by the end of May.