Baltimore Bridge: Temporary Channel Announced Amid Rebuilding Plans

Facts

• On Sunday, the 'unified command' of federal and state officials responding to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge announced that a temporary channel would be established to support maritime traffic access to the port of Baltimore.¹
• This comes as the US Department of Transportation has approved a request from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore for $60M in emergency funds to clear debris and start rebuilding Baltimore's collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.²
• According to the federal agency, the debris disbursement will serve as a down payment toward initial costs and further resources will follow as the project continues.³
• The multi-million dollar relief fund to deal with the Baltimore bridge collision isn't tied specifically to the reconstruction of the bridge itself, as Pres. Joe Biden has already pledged full federal financial support for this.⁴
• Last Friday, heavy equipment began arriving in Baltimore to remove what remains of the bridge as well as to re-float and move the Dali cargo ship that hit it last Tuesday.⁵
• Insured losses in connection with this deadly collapse are estimated to be the largest marine insurance loss ever, up to $4B, due to suspended operations in the Port of Baltimore, liabilities, the Dali's cargo, and the overall property damage.⁶

Sources: ¹Forbes, ²Reuters, ³Bloomberg, ⁴Daily Caller, ⁵CBS and ⁶New York Post.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by CNN. The Biden administration is right to allocate significant federal resources to reopen the critical Port of Baltimore and rebuild the bridge as soon as possible. These efforts wouldn't be without precedent as the federal government has previously released millions in similar incidents in Minnesota in 2007 and in Philadelphia last year.
• Republican narrative, as provided by Blaze Media. It's outrageous that the very first — and so far the only — reaction from the Biden administration is to force American taxpayers to pay for yet another rebuilding project as if there were no other alternatives. The White House should instead try to have Singapore and insurance companies help finance the project, as well as to reappropriate unused money.

Predictions