From This Collection

For thousands of workers who rely on Baltimore's port, work has slowed or stopped

Apr 3, 2024
That includes longshoremen who unload container ships, warehouse workers who store the goods and restaurant servers who feed them all.
Workers use an overhead crane to move a reel of telecommunications wire at the Trans American Trucking & Warehouse facility near the port.
Stephanie Hughes/Marketplace

How much will the Baltimore bridge reconstruction cost?

Apr 2, 2024
Funding will likely come from a variety of sources, including the federal government and insurance agencies.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge, above, was a steel-truss bridge vulnerable to damage. It may be rebuilt as a cable-stayed, twin-span bridge, which is more resilient.
WilliamSherman/Getty Images Plus

Who will pay for the Key Bridge collapse?

Apr 2, 2024
The Baltimore disaster may become the largest marine insurance loss ever. About 100 insurance companies are reportedly involved.
Roughly 100 insurance companies are involved in the Baltimore disaster, said Nadja Dreff with Morningstar.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Maryland legislators hope to help port workers and others affected by the bridge collapse

Apr 1, 2024
More than 15,000 people work directly at the port, and more than 140,000 additional jobs are connected to it.
With the port's main shipping channel closed, small business owners as well as restaurant and hotel staff working near the port could soon find themselves out of work.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Baltimore's port closure could upend jobs and supply chains for months

Mar 29, 2024
Baltimore's port could be closed for months, keeping people out of work and leaving freighters looking for places to route their loads.
Above, the Seagirt Marine Terminal at the Port of Baltimore in September 2018. Baltimore’s port supports more than 150,000 jobs — 15,000 of them through direct employment.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Clearing the wreckage in Baltimore is a difficult and dangerous operation

Mar 28, 2024
Containers carrying hundreds of tons of hazardous materials were on the ship, complicating the monumental cleanup.
Giant cranes are expected to remove some of the remains of the destroyed vessel, and  hazardous materials on the ship have fallen into the water, experts say.
Peter Knudson/NTSB via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Big cargo ships are more efficient. And more risky.

Mar 27, 2024
Cargo ships have grown since the Francis Scott Key Bridge was built. Collisions have greater impact, physically and economically.
The scene of the shipping accident in Baltimore. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law earmarked billions of dollars for port upgrades made necessary by the scaling up of cargo ships.
Scott Olson/Getty Images