Six presumed dead after crippled Singapore-flagged cargo ship knocks down Baltimore bridge

Six presumed dead after crippled Singapore-flagged cargo ship knocks down Baltimore bridge

Officials have announced an investigation into the incident of the Singapore-flagged vessel, in the country’s worst bridge collapse in decades.

27 Mar 2024 Channel News Asia CNA

BALTIMORE: Six workers were missing and presumed dead from a bridge that collapsed in Baltimore Harbor early on Tuesday (Mar 26) when a massive cargo ship crippled by a power loss rammed into the structure, forcing closure of one of the busiest ports on the US Eastern Seaboard.

US Coast Guard and Maryland state police officials said that based on the frigid temperature of the water and the length of time that had elapsed since the bridge came down there was little if any chance that the six missing could be found alive.

The Singapore-flagged container vessel named Dali, bound for Sri Lanka, knocked down a large section of the Francis Scott Key Bridge about 1.30am local time (1.30pm Singapore time).

Rescuers pulled two survivors to safety, one of whom was hospitalised, and searched for more in the Patapsco River after huge metal spans of the 2.57km bridge crumpled into the icy water.

But active search-and-rescue operations were suspended about 18 hours after the tragedy, authorities said.

The ship reported a power failure before impact, which enabled officials to stop traffic on the bridge before the collapse.

“By being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge, these people are heroes. They saved lives last night,” Moore said at an earlier briefing. The bridge was up to code and there were no known structural issues, Moore said.

There was no evidence of foul play, officials said.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott described a scene of twisted metal shooting into the sky.

“It was something out of an action movie. It was something you never thought you’d see,” he said.

A live video posted on YouTube showed the ship plowing into the bridge in darkness. The headlights of vehicles could be seen on the bridge as it crashed into the water and the ship caught fire.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the closure of one of the country’s busiest shipping lanes until further notice would have a protracted impact on supply chains. The Port of Baltimore handles more automobile cargo than any other US port – more than 750,000 vehicles in 2022, according to port data.

General Motors and Ford Motor will reroute affected shipments, but the companies said the impact would be minimal.

Work crews had been repairing potholes on the bridge at the time of the collapse, and sonar detected vehicles under the water, which was about 50 feet deep at that point, said Paul Wiedefeld, Maryland Secretary of Transportation.

The 288.95m vessel, as long as three football fields placed end to end, had experienced a momentary loss of propulsion and dropped anchors as part of emergency procedures before impact, its management company, Synergy Marine Pte Ltd reported, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

The Dali, owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd, rammed into one of the pillars of the bridge, according to manager Synergy. All 22 crew members aboard the vessel were accounted for, it said.

The closure also threatened to disrupt supplies of goods ranging from coal to sugar. It could create bottlenecks and increase delays and costs on the Eastern seaboard, experts say.

President Joe Biden said the US Coast Guard responded quickly to the mayday call and commended the fast action of Maryland transportation officials who shut the bridge before it was struck and “undoubtedly saved lives.”

At the White House, Biden promised to visit Baltimore, 64km away, as soon as possible and said he wanted the federal government to pay to rebuild the bridge.

“I’m directing my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible,” Biden said. The bridge, named for the author of the Star-Spangled Banner, opened in 1977.