The Singapore-flagged cargo ship Dali crashed into Baltimore’s iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge on early Tuesday morning, causing a near-total collapse of the span and halting vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore. The vessel was headed to Colombo, Sri Lanka, where it was due to arrive on April 22.
It had nearly 5,000 containers on board, just half of its 10,000 capacity. Among the cargo were 56 containers containing hazardous materials. The ship was chartered by Danish shipping company Maersk on behalf of customers in Sri Lanka and other ports in the region, Colombo being a busy transhipment hub. The Singapore-based Synergy Marine Group operates and manages the ship, and Grace Ocean Private owns it.
Six construction workers are believed to have fallen from the collapsing bridge into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River below. The bodies of two of the victims have been recovered so far, while four remain missing and are presumed dead, officials said.
Three cranes from the U.S. Navy have arrived in Baltimore to remove submerged portions of the bridge, and a fourth crane is set to arrive next week, the Navy said. The Chesapeake 1000 crane — capable of lifting roughly 2.2 million pounds at a time — arrived at the bridge at 11 p.m. on Thursday, according to the bridge response Unified Command. The piece of steel on the bow of the ship weighs roughly 9 million pounds. The Chesapeake has a 1,000-ton lift capacity, the Ferrell has a 200-ton lift capacity and the Oyster Bay has a 150-ton lift capacity, the Navy said.
“Work will focus on disassembling and removing the bridge section by section. The disassembled pieces will be lifted onto barges, which will then be transported away,” the Navy said in a statement. “An additional 12 crane and support vessels to include tugs, survey, dive and crew boats, are in the mobilisation process and will arrive in Baltimore in the coming days.”
Engineers will need to figure out exactly how and where to cut the steel to ensure no further danger will be posed to construction crews or the ship, the Unified Command said. Once the engineers determine where and how to cut the steel, they will begin to remove it from the ship in multiple pieces, the Unified Command said.
The Unified Command is made up of agencies including the Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Maryland State Police.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Friday outlined several goals in the aftermath of the bridge collapse, describing the scope of the disaster as a freight nearly the size of the Eiffel Tower “with the Key Bridge resting on top of it,” and shipping containers “ripped in half as if they were papier-maché.”
Moore told reporters the Unified Command continues to focus on recovery efforts to help bring “closure” to victims’ families.
Another priority is clearing the blocked channel, he said, stressing that the Port of Baltimore must reopen for the “health” of the Maryland economy and U.S. economy.
It will take several weeks before the Dali can resume its voyage to Colombo.
Moore also promised to rebuild the bridge, and to take care of everyone impacted by the crisis, including the families, workers, businesses and first responders.
President Joe Biden plans to visit Baltimore next week with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, he told reporters on Friday. The Biden administration approved $60 million in emergency relief funds for rebuilding the bridge hours after the receiving the request from the state of Maryland, the White House said Thursday evening.
Emergency funds
“The federal emergency funds we’re releasing today will help Maryland begin urgent work, to be followed by further resources as recovery and rebuilding efforts progress,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “President Biden has been clear: the federal Government will do everything it takes to help rebuild the bridge and get the Port of Baltimore back open.”
Investigators from the National Transportation safety Board (NTSB) are still probing how the ship lost power and crashed into the bridge. The NTSB has recovered the Voyage Data Recorder (VDR), similar to the Black Boxes found in planes, from the ship.
Fuel is one of the areas of inquiry for investigators probing the cause of the power failure that preceded the Dali crashing into and toppling the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore this week, according to federal safety investigators.
Contaminated fuel is believed to cause scores of ships to lose power and propulsion every year, but the incidents rarely come to light, experts say. That’s because the ship malfunctions almost always occur in the open sea, where crews can deal with them without incident. A spokesman for Maersk, which chartered the Dali, declined to comment on whether fuel may have been a factor in the accident.
“Regarding fueling, we are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and the vessel operator as well as conducting our own investigation,” the spokesperson, Kevin Doell, said.
The bridge’s collapse stranded at least 10 vessels in the water and ships outside the blockage have had to reroute to other East Coast ports, such as Norfolk and New Jersey. For global shipping, this comes at a time when companies are contending with route disruptions along the Suez and Panama canals. Extreme drought has forced the Panama Canal to limit the number of ships passing through and snarled agricultural exports along the Mississippi River. Meanwhile, Houthi rebels have been attacking ships crossing the Red Sea, so many companies are choosing to avoid that route, instead traveling around the southern tip of Africa — often adding 10 or more days to the trip.
Companies
Along with being the top U.S. port for autos, Baltimore is also the nation’s furthest inland port, said Houston Mason, adjunct professor of supply chain management at Loyola and Georgetown universities. Companies may have to spend an extra day traveling up the Chesapeake Bay and into Baltimore’s harbor, but once their product is unloaded, it’s closer to the Midwest than it would be at any other East Coast port.
In the last decade, after increasing the depth of berths at its primary cargo terminal, Baltimore has been able to handle substantially larger ships than other East Coast ports.
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