impressive estimates –

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, might cost insurers up to four billion dollars, according to analysts interviewed by the information site Channel News Asia. Two days following the accident, it is still not clear when the port of Baltimore – one of the most important in the United States, which remained substantially isolated due to the collapse of the bridge over the Patapsco river – will be able to return to operation: precisely from the duration of the block of activities It will partly depend on the extent of the damage sustained by insurers, which according to Marcos Alvares, general manager for global insurance ratings at Morningstar DBRS, might be between two and four billion dollars. If the estimate proves accurate, Tuesday’s accident would be one of the largest insurance losses ever recorded in the industry, exceeding even those following the sinking of the Costa Concordia cruise ship in 2012.

The investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Jey Bridge, the Baltimore bridge over 2.5 kilometers long that collapsed following the impact of a large container ship with one of its supporting pylons, might take one to two years. This was stated by Jennifer Homendy, director of the National Transportation Safety Board, the independent US investigative agency that investigates accidents in the transport and energy infrastructure sectors. The collapse of the approximately 2.5 kilometer long bridge will have a heavy economic impact on Baltimore and beyond, since it has isolated the port, a very important US port from which cars and food are imported and from which coal is exported. US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigiege admitted yesterday that US authorities are “concerned” regarding the impacts of the bridge collapse globally, especially on supply chains. “The federal government will do everything necessary to reopen the port as soon as possible,” he added.