Baltimore is the largest vehicle loading and unloading port in the United States.
Washington:
A ship carrying a giant crane was en route to the site of a catastrophic bridge collapse in the Port of Baltimore on Thursday, as authorities warned that extensive work would be needed before major U.S. ports can reopen.
The machinery will be deployed in a tricky operation to clear the twisted steel remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which plunged 185 feet (56 meters) into the Patapsco River after being struck, A massive cargo ship blocked the entrance to Baltimore Harbor early Tuesday.
Senior White House official Tom Perez told MSNBC that “we are doing everything we can” to get the business center back up and running.
“A heavy lift vessel will be arriving later today to help clear the debris,” he said.
Officials warned of challenges ahead, and efforts to recover the bodies of four men still missing were called off late Wednesday after it was determined it would be too dangerous to send divers into the wreckage.
Perez added: “We … are very sensitive to the concept that this is also the resting place of four fathers, four brothers, four sons.”
The missing men, all believed to be Latin American immigrants, died when the Singapore-flagged 1,000-foot container ship Dali lost power and hit a bridge support column.
Nearly the entire steel structure – which tens of thousands of motorists pass by every day – collapsed within seconds.
The workers were part of an eight-person road maintenance team and worked night shifts. Two people were rescued shortly after the collapse and two more bodies were recovered Wednesday.
Area residents attended a vigil in a nearby park Thursday morning, and the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs set up a relief fund to raise money for the victims’ families, local media reported.
“Our hearts go out to the families of the victims and we deeply regret this tragedy,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told reporters.
He urged everyone to be patient, saying: “This (rebuilding) job is not going to take hours, this job is not going to take days, this job is not going to take weeks.”
“We still have a long road ahead of us.”
-“huge loss”-
Moore announced that the Maryland Department of Transportation has requested $60 million in initial funding from the Biden administration to “immediate response efforts and lay the foundation for a rapid recovery.”
President Joe Biden promised earlier this week that the federal government would cover the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge.
Bruce Carnegie-Brown, head of insurance giant Lloyd’s of London, said the disaster could result in the largest marine insurance payout ever.
“This feels like a very significant loss, probably the largest marine insurance loss ever, but it’s not an external parameter to our plans,” he told CNBC.
The port’s closure also raises concerns about the local economy – the port supports 140,000 jobs – and the wider national supply chain.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Baltimore is the nation’s largest port for loading and unloading vehicles, including cars and heavy farm equipment. Cargo worth approximately $100 to $200 million passes through the port every day.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plans to receive more cargo off the coast from Baltimore to help mitigate the impact on supply chains, the governors of New York and New Jersey pledged in a joint statement Thursday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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