At least 21 vessels were in the waters west of the collapsed bridge.
A major commuter bridge in Baltimore collapsed after being struck by a container ship, plunging vehicles into the water and threatening chaos at one of the most important ports on the U.S. East Coast.
Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said two people had been rescued from the water, one of whom was seriously injured.Authorities are searching for seven people believed to be in the water, but it’s unclear whether that includes the two who were rescued
The disaster at the Francis Scott Key Bridge happened early Tuesday. There will be huge disruption to shipping and roads at one of the busiest ports on the U.S. East Coast as a key link on the main highway encircling Baltimore has been severed.
The ship is the “Dali” and flies the Singaporean flag. The 32,000-ton vessel was built in 2015. A London-based spokesman for Synergy Marine, the ship’s manager and operator, said the Dali had about 4,900 containers on board at the time. Company executives are on their way to the site to assess the situation. It is chartered by Copenhagen-based container shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk A/S.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency. A White House official said the White House was monitoring the incident, adding that there was currently no indication of any malicious intent. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg posted on X that he had offered support to the agency while relief efforts were underway.
The lengthy closure will cause chaos for travelers on the already clogged corridor between New York and Washington, D.C., ahead of the Easter holiday weekend.
The bridge allows merchant ships to enter the Port of Baltimore, one of the largest ports in the United States in terms of volume and value of cargo. It is the largest automobile and light truck port in the United States.
At least 21 ships are in the waters west of the collapsed bridge, raising questions about whether they can be easily evacuated. About half of them are tugboats, but there are also at least three bulk carriers, a vehicle carrier and a small tanker.
In 2023, the Port of Baltimore handled 847,158 cars and light trucks, ranking first among U.S. ports for the 13th consecutive year, according to the Maryland website. The port also handles large imports of sugar, gypsum, and coffee, as well as exports of coal.
It is a major distribution center and Maryland’s largest port, handling more than 10 million tons of cargo annually.
At the time of the accident, seven cargo ships were moored at the dock upstream of the bridge. That includes three bulk carriers, a car carrier, an asphalt/bitumen carrier and two general cargo ships, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
The Daly arrived from China to deliver cargo to several East Coast ports before arriving in Baltimore on Sunday. A second car transporter was parked downstream of the Volkswagen Pier Bridge. I was originally going to Sri Lanka.
The Dali transports containers from East Asia to the East Coast of the United States via the Panama Canal. It can haul about 9,700 steel boxes, about half the size of the largest ships in the industry.
After being delivered to the Port of New York/New Jersey, the ship arrived at Baltimore’s Siegert Marine Terminal on March 24 and unloaded a small number of containers before attempting to return to Asia early Tuesday morning.
In addition to the regional traffic gridlock the closure will cause, several well-known companies have distribution warehouses or other facilities in the industrial park on the north end of the bridge. Those companies include Amazon.com Inc, FedEx Corp, Under Armour, Home Depot Inc, BMW Group and Volkswagen Group USA, according to Google.
The bridge could also serve as an alternative route for hazardous cargo, such as some flammable liquids and oversized vehicles, that are prohibited from the more direct route through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.
A prolonged closure will cause significant congestion for travelers and businesses – potentially lasting for months. According to Google’s time and mileage estimates, driving north from Interstate 95 around the 1-695 Western Arc to avoid the Key Bridge would take about an hour, while heading east to cross the bridge would take about 32 minutes.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
