Ship monitoring website MarineTraffic showed a Singapore-flagged container ship called the Dali stopped under the bridge early Tuesday.
A major bridge in the US city of Baltimore collapsed Tuesday after a ship collided with it, crashing into water below and seemingly bringing vehicles with it. Dramatic CCTV footage shows what appears to be a container ship hitting the footing of the Francis Scott Key bridge, sending it plunging into the Palapsco river, followed by the greater part of the massive structure.
Lights from what appear to be vehicles can be seen on the road surface as the bridge warps and crashes in sections, with the third tranche cantilevering upwards before it, too, tumbles into the water.
Key points
Baltimore bridge collapse n Baltimore after being struck by a cargo ship
‘Developing mass casualty event’ View post
20 people in water – Baltimore fire department View post
Video of collapse View post
Container ship appears to lose power and start smoking before hitting bridge View post
Dali vessel involved in separate incident in 2016 View post
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“We have reason to believe that there were vehicles and possibly a tractor-trailer that went into the water,” Kevin Cartwright of Baltimore Fire Department told the Baltimore Sun, adding “the entire bridge” had collapsed.
Up to 20 people are feared to be in the water after the bridge collapsed into the river.
“We understand up to 20 individuals may be in the Patapsco River right now as well as multiple vehicles,” Kevin Cartwright of the Baltimore Fire Department told CNN, adding officials were dealing with a “mass casualty multi-agency incident.”
The 1.6-mile (2.6-kilometer), four-lane bridge spans the Patapsco River southwest of municipal Baltimore. It opened in 1977 and carries more than 11 million vehicles a year. It is a major part of the road network around Baltimore, an industrial city on the US East Coast next to the capital Washington DC.
Shipping giant ‘horrified’ by incident
The Dali container ship was chartered by Danish shipping company Maersk, which says it is “closely following” the situation
The firm says no Maersk crew or personnel were on board but the vessel was carrying customers’ cargo.
“We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected,” Maersk said.
According to its website, the ship was due to set sail from Baltimore early today for a nearly one-month journey to Colombo.
The Maryland Transportation Authority told drivers to avoid the bridge, part of the I-695 interstate highway, which it called an “active scene”.
Ship monitoring website MarineTraffic showed a Singapore-flagged container ship called the Dali stopped under the bridge early Tuesday.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scoot and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr both said they were aware of the incident and that rescue efforts were underway. “Please pray for those impacted,” Olszewski posted on X.
Expert explains why Baltimore bridge collapsed
We’ve just been talking to civil and structural engineer Julian Carter, who says bridges such as the one in Baltimore are “very weak at points”.
He says the “catastrophic collapse” of much of the bridge was because everything along the structure is “interconnected”.
Other large bridges may have central piers where the main structure is disconnected from the rest, but in this case the interconnected nature of the bridge means “when you take out one part of it, the interconnected system fails”.
Mr Carter says the “lightweight structure” was likely tested at some point for a ship collision.
This may have been suitable at the time, he says, but container ships are now “twice the size”.
The engineer adds that he expects many ports and bridge piers will need to be risk assessed for similar situations.