A box ship struck a four-lane gate in the dark on Tuesday in the U.S. port of Baltimore, causing it to collapse and plunge into the valley below.
After great spans of the 1.6-mile Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water, firefighters pulled two individuals, one of whom was in “very major state,” and were searching for more in the Patapsco River.
The fleet “lost engine” as it was leaving harbor, and crew on board notified Maryland officials they had lost command of the vehicle, ABC News reported, citing an unidentified U. S. knowledge report.
Baltimore authorities reported at least seven vehicles to the ocean, but they could not provide an exact number.
Kevin Cartwright, the spokesman for Baltimore City Fire Department, earlier told Reuters that as many as 20 persons could be in the river along with “numerous cars, and perhaps a tractor- truck or a car as big as a vehicle- video ,]that ] went into the river”.
” This is a mass- casualty, multi- agency event”, he said. This procedure will last for a lot of days.
The ship was seen ploughing into the bridge in the darkness on a live video that was posted on YouTube. On the bridge, the headlights of vehicles could be seen as it crashed into the water and the ship caught fire.
Tuesday’s disaster may be the worst U. S. bridge collapse since 2007 when the I- 35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13.
Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland, declared a state of emergency to quickly use federal resources to deal with the situation. On X, the FBI in Baltimore stated that its employees were “on scene.” At a news conference, Baltimore Police commissioner Richard Worley said there was no indication of terrorism.
Maryland transportation authorities reported that traffic was temporarily suspended at the Port of Baltimore. It is the busiest U. S. port for car shipments, handling more than 750, 000 vehicles in 2022, according to port data.
No other vessels had been damaged, and it was not immediately known whether operations had been stopped at the port, according to shipping and insurance sources.
” We received several 911 calls at around 1: 30 am, that a vessel struck the Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing the collapse”, Cartwright said.
Baltimore police claimed they had been notified of the incident at 1:15 a.m.
The ship was identified by LSEG ship tracking data as the Dali, a container ship with Singapore flagged entry. According to LSEG data, the ship’s registered owner is Grace Ocean Pte Ltd, and its manager is Synergy Marine Group.
Synergy Marine Corp reported that the Dali collided with one of the bridge’s pillars, that all of its crew members, including the two pilots, were unharmed, and that there were no reports of any injuries.
The Dali was reportedly chartered by Maersk, a Danish shipping company, at the time of the incident, according to a statement from the Danish company.
” We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected”, Maersk said.
Baltimore port’s private and public terminals handled 847, 158 autos and light trucks in 2023, the most of any U. S. port. The port also handles farm and construction machinery, sugar, gypsum and coal, according to a Maryland government website.
The port handles imports and exports for major automakers including Nissan, Toyota, General Motors, Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover and the Volkswagen group- including luxury models for Audi, Lamborghini and Bentley.
More than 40 ships, including small cargo ships, tug boats, and pleasure craft, were still present in Baltimore port, according to data from the ship tracking and maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic. At least 30 other ships had signaled their destination was Baltimore, the data showed.
The port did not respond to Reuters ‘ request for comment right away.
The bridge, named after Francis Scott Key, author of the Star Spangled Banner, opened in 1977.
