A cargo ship leaving the Port of Baltimore lost power and issued a mayday call just before hitting a major bridge Tuesday (26) morning, giving authorities a brief chance to stop cars and try to evacuate the bridge before it fell into the river.
As of Tuesday morning, six construction workers repairing the Francis Scott Key Bridge remained missing as divers and rescuers continued to search for them. Two other workers were rescued alive from the scene on Tuesday morning.
Governor Wes Moore of Maryland called the episode a terrible accident. “We have not seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack,” he said. The bridge is part of Interstate 695.
Authorities initially feared drivers were submerged in their cars in the Patapsco River. But the warning from the Dali, a Singapore-flagged ship, gave authorities enough time to halt traffic on both ends of the bridge, according to several Maryland and federal officials.
People blocking traffic “undoubtedly saved lives,” President Biden said from the White House on Tuesday. He added that the Coast Guard would continue search and rescue efforts and that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would clear the canal to help reopen Baltimore to shipping traffic. “Let’s rebuild this port together,” he said.
Below is a summary of what happened and what is known so far about the accident:
– The Dali, a 948-foot-long ship, struck a pillar on the Francis Scott Key Bridge around 1:30 a.m., according to the ship’s owners. All crew members, including two port pilots who were driving the ship at the time of the accident, were found uninjured. The Dali left Baltimore at 1 a.m. and was destined for Colombo, Sri Lanka, according to MarineTraffic, a maritime data platform.
– Despite the ship’s mayday call before hitting the bridge, the bridge repair team remained on it, with their vehicles parked in the span that collapsed, authorities said. One of the two rescued workers was in hospital as of Tuesday afternoon.
– An inspection of the Dali last year at a port in Chile reported that the ship had a deficiency related to “propulsion and auxiliary machinery.” The inspection, carried out on June 27th at the port of San Antonio, specified that the deficiency concerned meters and thermometers. A spokesperson for Dali’s owners declined to comment.
– The bridge was named after Francis Scott Key, author of the American national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”, born in Maryland. The structure was inaugurated in 1977. About 30,000 passengers pass through it every day, Maryland officials said.
– President Biden said he expects the federal government to pay “the entire cost” of rebuilding the bridge and called on Congress to support efforts to fund repairs. It is difficult to estimate how long it will take for the bridge to be rebuilt.
Sources: The New York Times and CNN