Dealing with the aftermath of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse is going to take a lot of time
Rescuers in Baltimore have pulled two people from the Patapsco River, victims of the disaster caused by the collapse of the four-lane Francis Scott Key highway bridge. One of them is in serious condition. The search continues.
The container ship Daly, which crashed into one of the bridge’s piers, “lost traction” as it left port, and the crew on board notified Maryland authorities that they had lost control of the vessel.
Baltimore authorities said at least seven vehicles were stranded in the water, but could not give an exact number.
Baltimore Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright said there could be as many as 20 people in the river, as well as “multiple vehicles, possibly a tractor trailer or a vehicle the size of a tractor trailer that fell into the river.” He added that the cleanup operation would last many days.
Tuesday’s disaster may be the worst such incident in the US since 2007, when the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency in an effort to immediately deploy federal resources to deal with the aftermath of the emergency. The FBI said its officers were already on the scene. At a news conference, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said there was no indication that terrorists were involved in the incident.
Maryland transportation officials said traffic at the Port of Baltimore has been suspended until further notice.
The port handles imports and exports from major automakers including Nissan, Toyota, General Motors, Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen, including luxury models for Audi, Lamborghini and Bentley. It is reportedly the busiest port in the U.S. for automobile transportation, with the number of vehicles moved through the port exceeding 7,500,000 in 2022.
More than 40 vessels, including small cargo ships, tugs and boats, remain in the Port of Baltimore, data from MarineTraffic, a provider of vessel tracking and maritime analytics services, shows. At least 30 other vessels have signaled that their destination is Baltimore, the data show. At least 10 commercial vessels bound for the port anchored in nearby waters, according to MarineTraffic.
“Baltimore is not among the largest ports on the U.S. East Coast, but it imports and exports more than one million containers annually, so this could cause significant supply chain disruption,” said Emily Stausboll, market analyst at ocean freight rate firm Xeneta.
According to LSEG’s vessel tracking system, the vessel that crashed into the bridge was identified as the Singapore-flagged container ship Dali. The registered owner of the vessel is Grace Ocean Pte Ltd and the managing owner is Synergy Marine Group, LSEG data showed.
Synergy Marine Corp said the vessel “Dali” collided with one of the bridge piers and that all crew members, including the two captains, were recovered and no injuries were reported.
At the time of the incident, the Dali vessel was chartered by shipping company Maersk, the Danish company said in a statement.
“We are horrified by what happened in Baltimore and our thoughts are with all those affected,” the Maersk statement emphasized.
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