Six presumed dead after crippled Singapore-flagged cargo ship knocks down Baltimore bridge

BALTIMORE: Six workers were missing and presumed dead from a bridge that collapsed in Baltimore Harbor early on Tuesday (Mar 26) when a massive cargo ship crippled by a power loss rammed into the structure, forcing closure of one of the busiest ports on the US Eastern Seaboard.

US Coast Guard and Maryland state police officials said that based on the frigid temperature of the water and the length of time that had elapsed since the bridge came down there was little if any chance that the six missing could be found alive.

The Singapore-flagged container vessel named Dali, bound for Sri Lanka, knocked down a large section of the Francis Scott Key Bridge about 1.30am local time (1.30pm Singapore time).

Rescuers pulled two survivors to safety, one of whom was hospitalised, and searched for more in the Patapsco River after huge metal spans of the 2.57km bridge crumpled into the icy water.

But active search-and-rescue operations were suspended about 18 hours after the tragedy, authorities said.

The ship reported a power failure before impact, which enabled officials to stop traffic on the bridge before the collapse.

"By being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge, these people are heroes. They saved lives last night," Moore said at an earlier briefing. The bridge was up to code and there were no known structural issues, Moore said.

There was no evidence of foul play, officials said.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott described a scene of twisted metal shooting into the sky.

"It was something out of an action movie. It was something you never thought you'd see," he said.

A live video posted on YouTube showed the ship plowing into the bridge in darkness. The headlights of vehicles could be seen on the bridge as it crashed into the water and the ship caught fire.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the closure of one of the country's busiest shipping lanes until further notice would have a protracted impact on supply chains. The Port of Baltimore handles more automobile cargo than any other US port - more than 750,000 vehicles in 2022, according to port data.

General Motors and Ford Motor will reroute affected shipments, but the companies said the impact would be minimal.

Work crews had been repairing potholes on the bridge at the time of the collapse, and sonar detected vehicles under the water, which was about 50 feet deep at that point, said Paul Wiedefeld, Maryland Secretary of Transportation.

The 288.95m vessel, as long as three football fields placed end to end, had experienced a momentary loss of propulsion and dropped anchors as part of emergency procedures before impact, its management company, Synergy Marine Pte Ltd reported, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

The Dali, owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd, rammed into one of the pillars of the bridge, according to manager Synergy. All 22 crew members aboard the vessel were accounted for, it said.

The closure also threatened to disrupt supplies of goods ranging from coal to sugar. It could create bottlenecks and increase delays and costs on the Eastern seaboard, experts say.

President Joe Biden said the US Coast Guard responded quickly to the mayday call and commended the fast action of Maryland transportation officials who shut the bridge before it was struck and "undoubtedly saved lives."

At the White House, Biden promised to visit Baltimore, 64km away, as soon as possible and said he wanted the federal government to pay to rebuild the bridge.

"I'm directing my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible," Biden said. The bridge, named for the author of the Star-Spangled Banner, opened in 1977.

AFTER MIDNIGHT

The US Coast Guard reported the collapse at 1.27am and deployed crews for an active search and rescue mission after the vessel's impact forced the trellis-like bridge into a mangled mass of metal.

National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy said a team of 24 investigators and other agency personnel were on the scene but holding off on boarding the ship as search-and-rescue operations continued. She said personnel from Singapore safety agencies would arrive in Baltimore on Wednesday.

Jayme Krause, 32, was working a night shift on shore when the cart of packages in front of her shook violently in what sounded like an intense thunderstorm.

A co-worker at an Amazon logistics facility told her the bridge had collapsed and she ran out to look.

"I went over there, and sure as anything, it was gone, the whole bridge was just like, there was nothing there," she told Reuters. "It was a shocking sight to see."

The Francis Scott Key bridge, named for the author of the US national anthem, serves as the main thoroughfare for motorists between New York and Washington seeking to avoid downtown Baltimore.

It was one of three ways to cross the Baltimore Harbor, with a traffic volume of 31,000 cars per day or 11.3 million vehicles a year. The same ship was involved in an incident in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016, when it hit a quay as it tried to exit the North Sea container terminal.

A later inspection in June 2023 carried out in San Antonio in Chile found the vessel had "propulsion and auxiliary machinery" deficiencies, according to data on the public Equasis website, which provides information on ships.

RARE EVENT

Tuesday's disaster may be the worst US bridge collapse since 2007, when the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people.

The Dali was chartered by shipping company Maersk at the time of the incident, the Danish company said in a statement.

"We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected," Maersk said.

More than 40 ships remained inside Baltimore port including small cargo ships, tug boats and pleasure craft, data from ship tracking and maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic showed. At least 30 other ships had signalled their destination was Baltimore, the data showed.