Divers were set to resume their search near dawn on Wednesday around the wreckage of a Baltimore Harbor bridge collapsed by a cargo ship, with six workers missing and presumed dead.
The collision also forced the closure of the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest in the country, and created traffic congestion for the region. The search for the six workers was suspended on Tuesday evening, less than 24 hours after they were thrown from the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge into the frigid waters at the mouth of the Patapsco River.
Maryland State Police and US Coast Guard officials said diminished visibility and increasingly treacherous currents in the wreckage-strewn channel made continued search efforts on the river too risky to continue overnight. Rescuers pulled two other workers from the water alive on Tuesday, and one of them was hospitalised. The six presumed to have perished included workers from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Officials said all eight were part of a work crew repairing potholes on Key Bridge’s road surface when the Singapore-flagged container vessel Dali, leaving Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka, plowed into a support pylon of the bridge at about 1:30 am. A trestled section of the 2.6 km span almost immediately crumpled into the icy water, sending vehicles and workers into the river.
The 948-foot ship had reported a loss of propulsion shortly before impact and dropped anchor to slow the vessel, giving transportation authorities time to halt traffic on the bridge before the crash. That move likely prevented a higher death toll, authorities were quoted as saying by Reuters. Maryland Governor Wes Moore said at a Tuesday news briefing that the bridge was up to code with no known structural issues. There was no evidence of foul play, officials said.
Read More: Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Ship That Crashed Into US Bridge Passed 2 Inspections Last Year
The same ship was involved in an incident in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016, hitting a quay as it tried to exit the North Sea container terminal. An inspection in 2023 carried out in Chile found “propulsion and auxiliary machinery” deficiencies, according to data on the public Equasis website, which provides information on ships.
However, Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority said that the vessel passed two separate foreign port inspections in June and September 2023. It said a faulty fuel pressure gauge was rectified before the vessel departed the port following its June 2023 inspection. Video footage on social media showed the vessel slamming into the Key Bridge in darkness, the headlights of vehicles visible on the span as it crashed into the water and the ship caught fire.
All 22 crew members on the ship, owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd, were accounted for, its management company, Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, reported. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the closure of the port would have a “major and protracted impact to supply chains.” The Port of Baltimore handles more automobile freight than any other U.S. port – more than 750,000 vehicles in 2022, according to port data, as well as container and bulk cargo ranging from sugar to coal.
(With agency inputs)
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