Ford CFO: Bridge collapse will likely ‘lengthen’ supply chain

Dive Brief:

After the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland collapsed early Tuesday morning, Ford CFO John Lawler was among the first CFOs to speak out publicly on the likely impact that the loss of the key port’s structure would have on business, saying during a Tuesday interview on Bloomberg television that it will “probably lengthen the supply chain a bit.”
Lawler, first expressing his sympathy to those affected by the deadly incident in Baltimore, noted that the company had experience managing supply chain disruptions during the pandemic but said it was too early to know specifically what it would mean for the Dearborn, Michigan-based auto giant.
“At this point we’ll have to work on what that means for us specifically. We’ll work on workarounds,” Lawler said. “We’ll have to divert parts to other ports along the East Coast or elsewhere in the country.”

Dive Insight:

Ford is one of many companies that are now scrambling to assess the impact of the deadly bridge collapse and the related disruptions at the Port of Baltimore. A company spokesperson on Tuesday afternoon said the automaker has secured shipping alternatives as necessary, Industry Dive sister publication Manufacturing Dive reported.

With vessel traffic at the port suspended, manufacturers are working to re-route shipments, according to Manufacturing Dive. Other automakers besides Ford that use the port include General Motors, Stellantis, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, according to the report.

On Wednesday recovery operations continued with the search for the remains of six construction workers presumed dead after a 984-foot cargo ship hit a pillar of Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning, leading to its collapse, CNN reported. A team from the National Transportation Safety Board boarded the ship Tuesday night to gather evidence for the investigation, including the ship’s data recorder or black box, according to CNN.

The loss of the bridge has idled shipping at the fifth-busiest container port in the U.S. and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said there was no estimate of when the port would reopen, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.