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In the middle of the night, the radio broadcast a 12-second warning: a huge freighter had lost its direction and was heading toward the bridge. Francisco Scott Key.
Within about 90 seconds, the police responded that They managed to stop traffic on the bridge in both directions. One of them said he was about to move closer to alert a construction crew.
LOOK: How a ship collided with the Baltimore Bridge occurred and what is known about the possible causes
But it was too late. Without direction and loaded with large containers, the ship crashed into one of the pillars.
“The whole bridge collapsed,” said a frantic officer. “(…) For whoever it was, for everyone… the entire bridge collapsed.”
When the container ship Dali collided with the pillar at around 1:30 am, causing a long section of the bridge – a key piece of the region’s transport infrastructure – to collapse onto the ground. Patapsco River. Six people are believed to have died and the loss of the bridge is expected to disrupt traffic in the area and activity at a vital commercial port.
At least eight people fell into the water. Two survived and the other six, all identified as part of a construction crew filling potholes in the road, are missing. The search operation is scheduled to resume on Wednesday morning.
Among those missing are Guatemalans, Hondurans and Mexicans, diplomats from the three countries said. The Honduran was identified as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval.
Federal and state authorities said the crash appeared to be one incident. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating what happened, and ship arrivals and departures from the Port of Baltimore have been suspended indefinitely.
Capt. Michael Burns Jr. of the Maritime Center for Responsible Energy noted that bringing a ship into port and out in tight waters with limited maneuvering space is “one of the most technically difficult and demanding things we do.”
“In fact, there are few things scarier than losing power in restricted waters,” he said. And when a boat loses propulsion and steering, “it is truly at the mercy of the wind and current”.
Video showed the ship moving at a speed that Gov. Wes Moore said was about 8 knots — about 15 miles per hour — toward the 1.6-mile-long bridge. There was still traffic crossing the bridge at the time and some vehicles appeared to escape the tragedy for just a few seconds. The impact caused the structure to break and fall into the water within seconds, and the remains could be seen protruding into the river later in the day.
Police noted that there is no evidence that anyone else fell into the sea other than the workers, although the possibility has not been ruled out.
An executive from the company that employed the missing people, Brawner Builders, explained that at the time of the collapse they were working in the center of the bridge.
“This was completely unforeseen,” said Jeffrey Pritzker, the company’s executive vice president. “We don’t know what else to say. “We take great pride in safety and have cones, signage, lights, barriers and markers.”
Jesús Campos, who worked on the bridge for Brawner Builders and knows members of the crew, said they told him they were off duty and that some were sitting in their trucks when the bridge collapsed.
“I know I was there a month ago and I know what it’s like when the trucks come by,” he said. “Imagine knowing that you are falling. “It’s so hard you wouldn’t know what to do.”
Father Ako Walker, a Catholic priest at the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, said he spent time with family members of the missing workers as they waited for news of their loved ones.
“You can see the pain on their faces,” he said.
Rescue teams pulled two people from the water. and one of them was treated at a hospital and released hours later.
The accident occurred well before the busy morning rush hour on the bridge, which was used by 12 million vehicles last year.
Between 1960 and 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses around the world due to ship or barge collisions, according to the World Water Transport Infrastructure Association.
Tuesday’s incident is almost certain to cause a logistical nightmare on the U.S. East Coast for months, or perhaps years, by disrupting shipping traffic at the Port of Baltimore, a major distribution hub.
State Transport Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said marine traffic into and out of the port has been suspended until further notice, although trucks can still access the infrastructure.
“Losing this bridge will devastate the entire region as well as the entire East Coast,” said Johnny State Senator Ray Salling.
For his part, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said it is too early to offer an estimate of how long it will take to clear the canal, which is about 15 meters (50 feet) deep. President Joe Biden has indicated that he plans to travel to Baltimore soon and that he expects the federal government to assume the full cost of reconstruction.
Synergy Marine Group – the vessel’s management company – said the impact occurred while it was under the control of one or more pilots, who are local experts who help guide ships in and out of ports safely. One of the crew was treated at a hospital for a minor injury, it added in a statement on Wednesday.
The ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Danish shipping giant Maersk said it chartered it.
The 300-meter-long Dali was sailing from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and sails under the flag of Singapore, according to data from Marine Traffic.
The container ship underwent port inspections in June and September 2023. In the first, a faulty fuel pressure gauge was fixed before sailing, Singapore’s port authority said in a statement on Wednesday.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
