Car shipper Wallenius Wilhelmsen sees up to $10 million hit from Baltimore disaster (updated)

Wallenius Wilhelmsen ASA

03/04/2024 15:03

(Updates with further detail, court filing)
    By Jonathan Saul
       LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Norwegian car shipping firm
Wallenius Wilhelmsen estimates a $5 million to $10 million hit
to core earnings from last week's U.S. Baltimore bridge collapse
and expects the key ship channel to be closed for weeks, it said
on Wednesday. 
    The company said its vessel Carmen - which according to
shipping data is among the biggest car carriers in its fleet -
remained stuck in Baltimore's port, with the ship and its crew
ready to sail as soon as the channel was reopened.   
    Recovery teams opened a second channel enabling smaller
vessels to navigate the Port of Baltimore on Tuesday, but most
commercial shipping remains blocked by the collapsed bridge and
stranded container ship Dali that brought the structure down a
week ago.
    "We have estimated that the aggregated provisional total
financial impact on EBITDA of the situation is in the range of
$5-10 million, assuming the disruptions last for up to a month,"
Wallenius Wilhelmsen, one of the world's leading vehicle
carriers, said in a statement on Wednesday. 
    "We currently expect the closure to last for weeks and have
based our impact estimates on that assumption," it said. 
    "Once open, we anticipate the terminal will also promptly
resume normal cargo operations as vessels begin to make port
calls as previously scheduled."
    "There is of course risk of delays to the anticipated
reopening, or unforeseen challenges in the salvage operations."
    The Port of Baltimore ranks first in the U.S. for the volume
it handles of autos and light trucks, farm and construction
machinery, imported sugar and imported gypsum, according to the
state of Maryland. 
    Some terminal operations outside the affected area have
resumed.
    "Cargo on the water bound for Baltimore is currently being
re-routed to other U.S. ports such as Newport News, Newark, and
Savannah," Wallenius Wilhelmsen added in its statement.
    Insurers and reinsurers could face billions of dollars in
claims, analysts said, with one putting the cost at as much as
$4 billion. That would make the tragedy a record shipping
insurance loss.    
    In an April 1 filing with a Maryland district court, the
Dali's owner Grace Ocean Private Limited and its manager Synergy
Marine Pte petitioned to limit their liability to a maximum of
$43.6 million.
    "The casualty was not due to any fault, neglect or want of
care on the part of the petitioners," the filing said.
    Insurance industry sources said this was an opening effort
to limit exposure.

 (Reporting by Jonathan Saul and Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Jan
Harvey)
 ((jonathan.saul@thomsonreuters.com; + 44 207 542 4357 ; Reuters
Messaging: jonathan.saul.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))