How the Baltimore bridge collapse could affect U.S. automakers: ‘It will probably lengthen the supply chain a bit’

Good morning. Just before 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, a 948-foot Singapore-flagged container ship leaving the Port of Baltimore struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed in several places and plunged into the Patapsco River. At least eight people fell into the river and two survived. But, tragically, six construction workers are missing and presumed dead, and the search for them will resume this morning.

The container ship, Dali, was chartered by Danish shipping giant Maersk, but owned by Grace Ocean and operated by Synergy Group. “We are deeply concerned by this incident and are closely monitoring the situation," Maersk said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future, until it is deemed safe for passage through this area."

The vessel reportedly lost control, but it isn’t the first time Dali was involved in a major accident. It also isn't the first time CFOs suddenly have been confronted with a major supply chain disruption.

The Port of Baltimore—closed until further notice—is busiest in the U.S. for car shipments, and in 2023 handled more than 750,000 vehicles, according to data from the Maryland Port Administration, Reuters reported. The port handles imports and exports for major automakers such as General Motors.

I reached out to GM, and a spokesperson said in an emailed statement: “Our thoughts are with those who were affected and the Baltimore community. We expect the situation to have minimal impact to our operations. We are working to re-route any vehicle shipments to other ports as recovery work continues."

Although Ford manufactures most of its vehicles in the U.S., the company’s CFO, John Lawler, said his firm's supply chain could be affected.

“First and foremost, our thoughts are with those impacted in the city of Baltimore,” Lawler said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday. “It’s a large port with a lot of flow through it, so it’s going to have an impact. It’s just that, at this point, we’ll have to understand what that will mean for us, specifically.”

Ford will have to divert parts to other ports—on the East Coast or elsewhere in the U.S.—Lawler said.

"It will probably lengthen the supply chain a bit,” he added. “I would say that we have experience now in understanding supply chain disruptions, so we’ll just put that experience to work and figure out the best solution.”

Whether it's a global pandemic or extreme weather or geopolitics, CFOs are playing bigger roles in helping to navigate supply chain issues. And, according to a recent report by Deloitte, maintaining stakeholder trust is essential.

“When companies face catastrophic events," the report notes, "confidence in suppliers’ capability, reliability, humanity, and transparency become critical."

Do you have a story about overcoming a supply chain issue that could help other readers of CFO Daily? Send me an email and maybe we'll include them in a future newsletter.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

María Soledad Davila Calero curated the Leaderboard and Overheard sections of today’s newsletter.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com