A container ship lost power and rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore, causing the span to buckle into the river below and plunging a construction crew and several vehicles into the dangerously cold waters.
Rescuers pulled out two people, but at least six others were missing and are now presumed dead.
Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, said the crew was working in the middle of the bridge’s span when the crash happened and crumbled the bridge.
The bodies of the workers have not yet been recovered, but they are presumed to have died given the water’s depth and the amount of time that has passed since the crash, he said.
“We take such great pride in safety, and we have cones and signs and lights and barriers and flaggers,” he added. “But we never foresaw that the bridge would collapse.”
The ship’s crew issued a mayday call moments before the crash took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span, Maryland’s governor said.
Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support in Baltimore. Photo / via AP
The ship struck one of the bridge’s supports, causing the structure to collapse like a toy. It tumbled into the water in a matter of seconds - a shocking spectacle that was captured on video and posted on social media. The vessel caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.
With the ship barrelling toward the bridge at “a very, very rapid speed”, authorities had just enough time to stop cars from coming over the bridge, Maryland Governor Wes Moore said.
“I’m thankful for the folks who, once the warning came up ... that there was a mayday, who literally by being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge, these people are heroes,” Moore said. “They saved lives last night.”
The Maryland Transportation Authority first responder radio traffic includes a dispatcher putting out a call saying a ship had lost its steering ability and asking officers to stop all traffic. It took officers less than two minutes to stop traffic on the bridge.
Radio traffic obtained from the Broadcastify.com archive indicates officers were just about to alert the construction crew on the bridge.
One officer who had stopped traffic radioed that he was going to drive onto the bridge to notify the construction crew once a second officer arrived. But seconds later, a frantic officer radioed that the bridge had collapsed.
The crash happened long before the busy morning commute on the bridge that stretches 2.6km.
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a view of the Francis Scott Key Bridge that was struck by a container ship in Baltimore. Image / Maxaar Technologies via AP
“Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it “an unthinkable tragedy”.
Scott has now declared a state of emergency in response to the collapse.
He issued an executive order to deploy and expand emergency resources. The state of emergency will remain in place for 30 days and is subject to renewal or cancellation as conditions warrant.
The National Transportation Safety Board is launching a team to investigate the collapse.
The collapse is almost sure to create a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, along the East Coast, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore and snarling cargo and commuter traffic.
“Losing this bridge will devastate the entire area, as well as the entire East Coast,” state Senator Johnny Ray Salling said.
Highway signs as far south as Virginia warned drivers of delays associated with the closure of the bridge.
Authorities said sonar had detected vehicles in the water, which is about 15 metres deep. The water temperature was about 8C, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A helicopter flies over a container ship as it rests against wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Photo / via AP
Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told the Associated Press that several vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck. The bridge came down in the middle of night when traffic would be lighter than during the day when thousands of cars traverse the span.
Donald Heinbuch, a retired fire chief for Baltimore, said he was startled awake by a deep rumbling that shook his house for several seconds.
“It felt like an earthquake,” he said. “Or like rolling thunder.”
He drove to the river’s edge and couldn’t believe what he saw.
Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with a support in Baltimore. Photo / via AP
“The ship was there, and the bridge was in the water, like it was blown up,” he said.
Heinbuch said he watched divers slip into their gear and coordinate a rescue plan as pontoon boats made their way to shore. Several departments also offered help, he said.
“All these little things that we practiced all the time had to be put in place,” Heinbuch said. “Everyone acted fast ... even as the significance of what had happened was still sinking in.”
Synergy Marine Group - which manages the ship, called the Dali - confirmed the vessel hit a pillar of the bridge at about 1.30am while in control of one or more pilots, who are local specialists who help navigate vessels safely into ports. The ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd.
It said all crew members, including the two pilots on board, were accounted for, and there were no reports of any injuries.
The ship was moving at 8 knots, roughly 14.8 km/h, the governor said.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below. Photo / via AP
As the sun rose the next morning, jagged remnants of the bridge could be seen jutting up from the water’s surface. The on-ramp ended abruptly where the span once began.
Cartwright said that some cargo appeared to be dangling from the bridge, which spans the Patapsco River at the entrance to a busy harbour. The river leads to the Port of Baltimore, a major hub for shipping on the East Coast. Opened in 1977, the bridge is named for the writer of “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said all vessel traffic into and out of the port would be suspended until further notice, though the facility was still open to trucks.
The ship rammed into the major bridge in Baltimore causing it to collapse in a matter of seconds and creating a terrifying scene as several vehicles plunged into the chilly river below. Photo / AP
US President Joe Biden said he planned to travel to Baltimore “as quickly as I can” and that he intends for the federal government to pick up the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge.
“This is going to take some time,” Biden said. “The people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.”
The Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and flying under a Singapore flag, according to data from Marine Traffic. The container ship is about 300m long and about 48m wide, according to the website.
Cargo ship Dali is seen after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. Photo / Getty
Inspectors found a problem with the Dali’s machinery in June, but a more recent examination did not identify any deficiencies, according to the shipping information system Equasis.
Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered the vessel. No Maersk crew and personnel were on board. The collapse caused Maersk share at the Nasdaq Copenhagen to plummet 2 per cent in early Tuesday trading.
Last year, the Port of Baltimore handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo worth $80 billion, according to the state. In addition to cargo, more than 444,000 passengers cruised out of the port in 2023.
The head of a supply chain management company said Americans should expect shortages of goods from the effect of the collapse on ocean container shipping and East Coast trucking.
“It’s not just the port of Baltimore that’s going to be impacted,” said Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport.
A car is halted at the edge of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa Bay, Florida, after the freighter Summit Venture struck the bridge during a thunderstorm and tore away a large part of the span, May 9 1980. Photo / AP
Major US bridge collapses caused by ships
POPP’S FERRY BRIDGE
March 20, 2009: A vessel pushing eight barges rammed into the Popp’s Ferry Bridge in Biloxi, Mississippi, resulting in a 150-foot section of the bridge collapsing into the bay.
INTERSTATE 40 BRIDGE: 14 DEAD
May 26, 2002: A barge hit the Interstate 40 bridge over the Arkansas River at Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, collapsing a 500-foot section of road and plunging vehicles into the water. Fourteen people died and 11 were injured.
QUEEN ISABELLA CAUSEWAY: 8 DEAD
September 15, 2001: A tugboat and barge struck the Queen Isabella Causeway in Port Isabel, Texas, causing a midsection of the bridge to tumble 80 feet into the bay below. Eight people died after motorists drove into the hole.
EADS BRIDGE: 50 INJURED
April 14, 1998: The Anne Holly tow traveling through the St. Louis Harbor rammed into the center span of the Eads Bridge. Eight barges broke away. Three of them hit a permanently moored gambling vessel below the bridge. Fifty people suffered minor injuries.
BIG BAYOU CANOT: 47 DEAD
September 22, 1993: Barges being pushed by a towboat in dense fog hit and displaced the Big Bayou Canot railroad bridge near Mobile, Alabama. Minutes later, an Amtrak train with 220 people aboard reached the displaced bridge and derailed, killing 47 people and injuring 103 people.
SEEBER BRIDGE: 1 DEAD
May 28, 1993: The towboat Chris, pushing the empty hopper barge DM3021, hit a support tier of the Judge William Seeber Bridge in New Orleans. Two spans and the two-column bent collapsed onto the barge. Two cars carrying three people fell with the four-lane bridge deck into a canal. One person died and two people were seriously injured.
SUNSHINE SKYWAY BRIDGE: 35 DEAD
May 9, 1980: The 609-foot freighter Summit Venture was navigating through the narrow, winding shipping channel of Florida’s Tampa Bay when a sudden, blinding squall knocked out the ship’s radar. The ship sheared off a support of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, dropping a 1,400-foot section of concrete roadway during the morning rush hour. Seven vehicles, including a bus with 26 aboard, fell 150 feet into the water. Thirty-five people died.
-AP
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