Two bodies found at Baltimore bridge collapse site

The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday that the cargo ship that lost power and hit a bridge in Baltimore was in port for “routine engine maintenance” beforehand, and divers recovered the bodies of two of six workers who fell overboard.

Others are believed to be dead and officials said the search has been exhausted.

Investigators began gathering evidence from the cargo ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Maryland Governor Col Roland L Butler Jr Jr discovered the bodies of the two men, aged 35 and 26, in a red pickup truck that was submerged in the middle span of the bridge in the morning. About 25 feet (7.6 meters) of water nearby. police announced at an evening news conference.

Butler said the victims came from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Butler said all search efforts have been exhausted and authorities “firmly” believe based on sonar scans that other vehicles carrying victims were encased in the collapsed bridge’s superstructure and concrete.

A colleague of the missing man said yesterday that he was told the workers were taking a break in a truck parked on the bridge when it collapsed.

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gillies said at a news conference that authorities had been informed that the ship would be undergoing maintenance. He added that they had not been informed of any issues.

The ship hit a support column early Tuesday, causing the span to collapse. The bodies of two of the six workers who fell into the water were recovered early Wednesday.

The investigation has accelerated as the Baltimore region is reeling from the sudden loss of a major transportation link that was part of the city’s Beltway. The disaster also closed the port, which is vital to the city’s shipping industry.

NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy said National Transportation Safety Board officials boarded the ship and planned to recover information from its electronic equipment and documents.

The agency is also reviewing a voyage data recorder recovered by the Coast Guard and developing a timeline of events leading up to the crash, which federal and state officials say appears to be an accident.

The ship’s crew sent a distress call early Tuesday, saying they lost power and the ship’s steering minutes before hitting a bridge column.

At least eight people fell into the water. Two of them were rescued, but six others – part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge – are missing and presumed dead.

The debris complicates the search, according to a Department of Homeland Security memo described by a law enforcement official to The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to discuss the details of the document or investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said the divers faced dangerous conditions.

“They were in the dark and could actually see a foot or so in front of them. They were trying to navigate through the broken metal, and it’s presumed right now that people have been killed where they were,” he said Wednesday.

Diplomats from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico said people from those countries were among the missing.

One worker, a 38-year-old Honduran man who came to the United States nearly two decades ago, was described by his brother as entrepreneurial and hard-working. Last fall, he started working for a company that maintains bridges.

Capt. Michael Burns Jr. of the Maritime Center for Responsible Energy said getting ships in and out of ports with limited room to maneuver is “one of the most technically challenging and demanding things we do.”

“There’s nothing scarier than losing power in restricted waters,” he said. When a ship loses propulsion and steering, “then it’s really at the mercy of the wind and currents.”

Video showed the ship heading toward the 1.6-mile-long (2.6-kilometer) bridge at what Maryland’s governor said was about 9 mph (15 kph). Traffic was still moving across the span, with some vehicles appearing to flee with only seconds remaining. The collision caused the span to break within seconds and fall into the water.

The last-minute warning from the ship gave police enough time to stop traffic on the interstate highway. One officer pulled into the driveway and planned to drive onto the bridge to alert construction crews once another officer arrived. But he didn’t get the chance, as the powerless ship crashed onto the bridge.

Attention has also turned to the container ship Dali and its past.

Synergy Marine Group, which manages the ship, said the impact occurred while under the control of one or more pilots, who are local experts who help guide ships safely in and out of port.

The ship, bound for Sri Lanka from Baltimore, is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Danish shipping giant Maersk said it has chartered the vessel.

The ship passed foreign port state inspections in June and September 2023. The Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement on Wednesday that a faulty fuel pressure monitoring gauge was corrected before the ship left port during an inspection in June 2023.

The ship flew the Singapore flag, and Singaporean officials said they would conduct their own investigation in addition to supporting U.S. authorities.

The sudden disruption to a highway that carries 30,000 vehicles a day and disruption to a key shipping port will affect not only thousands of longshoremen and commuters, but also American consumers who may feel the impact of shipping delays.

“A lot of people don’t realize how important the port is to everything,” Cat Watson said. She rides the bridge to work every day and lives close to it, so she was woken by the collision. “We’re going to feel this for a long time.”

The Port of Baltimore is a busy entry point on the East Coast, importing new vehicles made in Germany, Mexico, Japan and Britain, as well as coal and farm equipment.

Ship traffic in and out of the port has been suspended indefinitely. Maritime risk management firm Windward Maritime said its data showed a significant increase in ships waiting to dock at ports, with some anchored outside Baltimore or near Annapolis.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a White House news conference that the Biden administration is focused on reopening ports and rebuilding bridges, but he did not set a timeline for those efforts. He noted that the original bridge took five years to complete.

Another priority is dealing with transportation issues, with Buttigieg scheduled to meet with supply chain officials on Thursday.

According to the World Water Transport Infrastructure Association, from 1960 to 2015, 35 major bridge collapses occurred globally due to ship or barge collisions.