Investigators began collecting evidence from the cargo ship that plowed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and caused its collapse, while in the waters below divers searched through twisted metal for six construction workers who plunged into the harbor. The bodies of two were recovered Wednesday, and the others were presumed dead.
Quick Read
- Evidence collection commenced on the cargo ship involved in the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, while divers searched for six missing construction workers in the harbor, two of whom were found dead.
- The two recovered bodies were inside a submerged red pickup near the bridge’s middle span, with victims originating from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
- The incident has intensified the investigation and heightened the impact on the Baltimore region, disrupting a major transportation route and the city’s vital port.
- The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is examining the ship’s electronics and records, alongside the voyage data recorder recovered by the Coast Guard, to construct a timeline for the crash, deemed an accident by officials.
- The cargo ship had reported losing power and steering minutes before the collision, with at least eight individuals ending up in the water, two rescued, and six presumed dead.
- The complex search operation was hampered by debris, with divers facing challenging conditions in the dark, murky waters.
- The workers’ origins highlight the diverse backgrounds of those involved, with one Honduran victim described as entrepreneurial and pivotal in his family’s migration to the U.S.
- The incident sheds light on the perils of navigating ships in restricted waters, especially when power and steering are lost, leaving the vessel at the mercy of wind and currents.
- The cargo ship Dali, managed by Synergy Marine Group and owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd., had passed recent inspections, but its history and management under local pilots during the incident are under scrutiny.
- The bridge collapse and port closure are expected to have wide-reaching effects on local commuters, dockworkers, and the U.S. supply chain, emphasizing the port’s critical role in national and international commerce.
The Associated Press has the story:
Baltimore bridge collapse updates: Divers recover 2 bodies from water
Newslooks- BALTIMORE (AP) —
Investigators began collecting evidence from the cargo ship that plowed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and caused its collapse, while in the waters below divers searched through twisted metal for six construction workers who plunged into the harbor. The bodies of two were recovered Wednesday, and the others were presumed dead.
The bodies of the two men, ages 35 and 26, were located by divers inside a red pickup submerged in about 25 feet of water near the bridge’s middle span, Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent of Maryland State Police, announced at an evening news conference.
The victims were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Butler said.
The investigation picked up speed as the Baltimore region reeled from the sudden loss of a major transportation link that’s part of the highway loop around the city. The disaster also closed the port that is vital to the city’s shipping industry.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board boarded the ship and planned to recover information from its electronics and paperwork, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said.
The agency also is reviewing the voyage data recorder recovered by the Coast Guard and building a timeline of what led to the crash, which federal and state officials have said appeared to be an accident.
The ship’s crew issued a mayday call early Tuesday, saying they had lost power and the vessel’s steering system just minutes before striking one of the bridge’s columns.
At least eight people went into the water. Two were rescued, but the other six — part of a construction crew that was filling potholes on the bridge — were missing and presumed dead.
The debris complicated the search, according to a Homeland Security memo described to The Associated Press by a law enforcement official. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the document or the investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the divers faced dangerous conditions.
“They are down there in darkness where they can literally see about a foot in front of them. They are trying to navigate mangled metal, and they’re also in a place it is now presumed that people have lost their lives,” he said Wednesday.
Among the missing were people from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, according to diplomats from those countries.
One worker, a 38-year-old man from Honduras who came to the U.S. nearly two decades ago, was described by his brother as entrepreneurial and hard-working. He started last fall with the company that was performing maintenance on the bridge.
Capt. Michael Burns Jr. of the Maritime Center for Responsible Energy said bringing a ship into or out of ports with limited room to maneuver is “one of the most technically challenging and demanding things that we do.”
There are “few things that are scarier than a loss of power in restricted waters,” he said. And when a ship loses propulsion and steering, “then it’s really at the mercy of the wind and the current.”
Video showed the ship moving at what Maryland’s governor said was about 9 mph (15 kph) toward the 1.6-mile (2.6-kilometer) bridge. Traffic was still crossing the span, and some vehicles appeared to escape with only seconds to spare. The crash caused the span to break and fall into the water within seconds.
The last-minute warning from the ship allowed police just enough time to stop traffic on the interstate highway. One officer parked sideways across the lanes and planned to drive onto the bridge to alert a construction crew once another officer arrived. But he did not get the chance as the powerless the vessel barrelled into the bridge.
Attention also turned to the container ship Dali and its past.
Synergy Marine Group, which manages the ship, said the impact happened while it was under the control of one or more pilots, who are local specialists who help guide vessels safely in and out of ports.
The ship, which was headed from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered the vessel.
The vessel passed foreign port state inspections in June and September 2023. In the June 2023 inspection, a faulty monitor gauge for fuel pressure was rectified before the vessel departed the port, Singapore’s port authority said in a statement Wednesday.
The ship was traveling under a Singapore flag, and officials there said they will be conducting their own investigation in addition to supporting U.S. authorities.
The sudden loss of a highway that carries 30,000 vehicles a day, and the disruption of a vital shipping port, will affect not only thousands of dockworkers and commuters but also U.S. consumers who are likely to feel the impact of shipping delays.
“A lot of people don’t realize how important the port is just to everything,” said Cat Watson, who takes the bridge to work everyday and lives close enough that she was awakened by the collision. “We’re going to be feeling it for a very long time.”
The Port of Baltimore is a busy entry point along the East Coast for new vehicles made in Germany, Mexico, Japan and the United Kingdom, along with coal and farm equipment.
Ship traffic entering and leaving the port has been suspended indefinitely. Windward Maritime, a maritime risk-management company, said its data shows a large increase in ships that are waiting for a port to go to, with some anchored outside Baltimore or nearby Annapolis.
Speaking at a White House news conference, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the Biden administration was focused on reopening the port and rebuilding the bridge, but he avoided putting a timeline on those efforts. He noted that the original bridge took five years to complete.
Another priority is dealing with shipping issues, and Buttigieg planned to meet Thursday with supply chain officials.
From 1960 to 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses worldwide due to ship or barge collisions, according to the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.
