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Port of Philadelphia seeing increased shipping activity after Baltimore Key Bridge collapse

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Updated  March 28, 2024 6:37am EDT
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FOX 29 Philadelphia

Port of Philadelphia sees increased shipping activity following Baltimore Key Bridge collapse

Shipping activity at the Port of Philadelphia has increased following the collapse of the Baltimore Key Bridge.

PHILADELPHIA - Shipping terminals on both sides of the Delaware River in the Philadelphia region are already seeing increased shipping activity as a result of the Key Bridge collapse yesterday in Baltimore.

A massive spool of steel is placed on a flatbed at the Balzano Marine Terminal in Camden. 

Trucks are moving cargo on an early afternoon, and it’s expected business will pick up sharply in the weeks ahead. 

Andrew Saporito, the CEO of the South Jersey Port Corporation, told FOX 29, "as of noon today, we’ve heard from 3 customers who have ships they want to bring into the port over the next, say, two weeks."

BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE

Saporito, who oversees the operations of the South Jersey Ports, says after the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse they called their customers to remind them their terminal and its warehouses are ready to help. 

The new ships will join the two cargo vessels docking there weekly. 

Saporito said the arrival of new ships means, "we’re going to stay busier, longer because we have a very busy season that runs from January to April."

200 trucks roll every day through the terminal moving steel products, lumber, and plywood. Thousands of workers earn their livelihoods from the terminals lining the banks of the Delaware on both sides of the river, kicking off 77 billion dollars in economic activity in the three-state region.

Radio call from Baltimore Key Bridge collapse: 'The whole bridge just fell down'

Authorities shared radio traffic before and after the Baltimore Key Bridge collapsed after it was struck by a shipping vessel.

Along Delaware Ave. in South Philly, truckers line-up to pull into a terminal.

 John Smarrito sits behind the wheel of his tractor trailer hauling produce. He said Philadelphia has to be where the ships will go because it is the "next closest stop."

A spokesperson for PhilaPort, the agency managing the port facilities along the Delaware in Pennsylvania, said they expect a ship to arrive tonight at the Packer Avenue terminal, one tomorrow to remove containers and 3500 cars arriving over the weekend.

The waters of the Delaware, already busy with lumbering cargo vessels, are sure to see more in the weeks ahead as shippers seek new places to offload their wares.