NORFOLK, Va. — The Port of Virginia said it has processed cargo originally bound for Baltimore following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday morning.
The Virginia Port Authority said on Wednesday afternoon while it's likely that diverted cargo volumes will increase, it's unclear how many additional vessels are expected at its terminals or how long the Port of Baltimore will be closed.
"Exactly how Baltimore-bound imports and exports will flow into other ports will be decided by the ocean carrier," the port authority wrote. "The ships presently in transit with Baltimore-bound cargo are expected to discharge their cargo at The Port of Virginia, New York/New Jersey or Philadelphia."
The port authority said the Baltimore-bound cargo was processed at the Virginia International Gateway (VIG) terminal in Portsmouth on Tuesday.
The update comes a day after the Virginia Port Authority said its operation team was working with ocean carriers whose vessels were due to call Baltimore, offering the port to discharge cargoes as requested.
Incoming and outgoing vessel traffic is suspended at the Port of Baltimore until further notice due to the collapse, which happened after a container ship lost power and rammed into the bridge, destroying it in seconds. The Associated Press reports that six people are missing and presumed dead.
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The port authority said it continues to communicate with the ocean carriers and cargo owners to inform them about the Port of Virginia's ability to handle additional cargo and vessels.
"One thing of which we are certain is that we will maintain our service levels," the statement read. "This is a modern, twenty-first-century port that has a significant amount of experience in handling surges of import and export cargo."
Which ship collided with the Baltimore Key Bridge?
It was the MV Dali, which is registered in Singapore, according to maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic. It was scheduled to trek to Colombo, Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean with a scheduled arrival date of April 22.
The MV Dali had called at the VIG terminal and departed on March 22 for Baltimore as its next scheduled port of call, according to the Virginia Port Authority.