Tracking data shows Dali container’s path towards bridge
A container ship crashed into the landmark Francis Scott Key Bridge near Baltimore in the US early Tuesday morning, causing a large portion of the bridge to collapse.
Several vehicles on the bridge at the time fell into the waters of the Patapsco River. Hours later, the Coast Guard announced that at least six people were presumed dead.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and the Port of Baltimore remains closed to ships.
President Joe Biden has vowed that the federal government will cover “the full cost” of rebuilding the bridge and reopening the port.
What do we know about this bridge?
The Baltimore Bridge, known simply as the Key Bridge, opened in 1977 in memory of Francis Scott Key, a 19th-century Maryland poet who wrote the lyrics to the U.S. national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The bridge was 1.6 miles (2.6 km) long and spanned the Patapsco River and the Port of Baltimore. The river flows into the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States.
The bridge is described as a continuous truss bridge, and its 1,200-foot main span was the third longest of its type in the world.
Video footage of the accident appears to show the container ship Dali colliding with one of the bridge’s pillars, before the bridge collapses instantly. This occurred around 01:30 local time (05:30 Japan time) on Tuesday.
Eight construction workers contracted to repair and repair potholes were seen on the bridge at the time.
Two of the workers are from Guatemala, according to the Guatemalan consulate in Maryland.
Two people were pulled from the water after the bridge collapsed, one in critical condition and one apparently uninjured, officials said.
But the remaining six may have died from cold water temperatures and time spent underwater, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday evening. The agency announced it was canceling a large-scale search and rescue operation that had continued throughout the day.
From now on, the focus will be on recovery efforts aimed at finding the bodies and finding closure with the families of the victims.
Officials said first responders searched for the men under dangerous conditions as there was “cargo and vassals dangling from the bridge” as well as dangerous debris in the water.
The water temperature at the port was approximately 9 degrees. Hypothermia can occur when a person’s body temperature drops below his 35°C.
Baltimore Fire officials said sonar spotted the vehicle in the water.
What do we know about this ship?
The Singapore-flagged container ship Dali was originally built by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries for Greek shipowner Ocean Bulk.
The vessel is currently operated by charter shipping company Synergy Group and was temporarily leased by container shipping giant Maersk, a statement from Maersk said.
Maersk added that the plane was transporting cargo for a Maersk customer, but no company personnel were on board at the time.
The ship left Baltimore’s Sea Girt Marine Terminal at around 12:24 a.m. local time on Tuesday, bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Its speed increased steadily and it maintained a straight route southeast along the Patapsco River.
Then, at 01:25, MarineTraffic data shows the ship suddenly deviated from its straight course and began to slow down.
Around this time, according to the video, all the lights on the outside of the ship suddenly went out and smoke began coming out of the ship’s chimney.
Immediately after that, it crashed into a bridge.
Governor Moore said a mayday signal was sent as the ship approached the bridge, giving authorities time to stop vehicles entering the bridge and “saving lives.”
He said the ship was traveling at a “very fast” 8 knots, or about 9 miles per hour (15 kilometers per hour).
According to an unclassified US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency memo obtained by the BBC’s US partner CBS, Dali has “lost momentum”.
Synergy said the crew, all Indian nationals, and the pilot, an American from Baltimore, have all been searched and there are no reports of injuries.
The company said there are several possible explanations for the accident, but because there were two pilots involved, such a crash is unusual.
Maritime experts told the BBC that the accident could have been caused by engine failure, steering failure or a power outage.
This is not the first incident involving Dali.
According to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPAS), the Dali was registered in Singapore in October 2016.
According to MPAS, certificates covering the ship’s structural integrity and the functionality of the ship’s equipment were valid at the time of the accident.
The ship underwent and passed two foreign port state inspections in June and September 2023, the official added. During the inspection in June 2023, a problem with the fuel pressure monitor gauge was corrected before departure.
What effect will there be if the bridge collapses?
The location of the Key Bridge suggests significant disruption to road traffic over the coming months and possibly years. Shipping activity at the Port of Baltimore would also be severely affected.
The four-lane bridge is part of Interstate 695, the outer ring road surrounding the city of Baltimore known as the “Baltimore Loop,” which carries an estimated 11.5 million vehicles annually.
It will still be possible to cross the nearby Port of Baltimore in a tunnel, but local officials have issued a “major traffic warning” after the incident, predicting significant traffic problems.
A bridge collapse would be a big problem, especially for trucks transporting hazardous materials. Trucks were able to cross the bridge, but are prohibited from using the alternative tunnel route.
However, the incident created similar problems for transportation.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg did not provide a timeline for the port closures Tuesday, but said there would be “significant and long-lasting impacts on supply chains.”
Container shipping expert Lars Jansen said what happened was a “disaster” that would “create significant problems for U.S. importers and exporters on the U.S. East Coast.”
As night fell, the ship was seen stuck in the wreckage of the bridge.
In addition to about 21,000 units of cargo having to transit through other ports in the region, “several commercial ships are currently stuck in the Port of Baltimore,” he said. None of them are container ships, but there are some bulk carriers.
It is estimated that around 800,000 vehicles passed through the port in 2023, moving a record 1.3 million tonnes of imported cargo.
However, Jansen said that despite some delays and additional costs, the incident would not have a major impact from a global perspective.
