A large cargo ship colliding overnight with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. This is a busy interstate bridge and it happened just after midnight. The bridge crosses over the Patapsco River on I-695 and is the final link on the Baltimore Beltway. In the footage a cargo ship can be seen approaches the bridge and crashes directly into one of the support columns causing a complete and total collapse. There were cars on the bridge at the time and some may have ended up in the river. Maryland Governor Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency, and Baltimore City Fire says dive teams are searching for up to 20 people potentially in the water. Two have been rescued and one in critical. No reports yet of any fatalities. The steel-arched bridge was the second-longest continuous-truss bridge span in the world when it was built and remains the second longest in the United States and third in the world, according to the American Civil Engineering Society.
The Dali ship was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and flying under a Singapore flag, according to data from Marine Traffic. The container ship is about 300 meters long and about 48 meters wide, according to the website. It was dark when the ship colliding but the bridge is always lit. The ship had lights. It had to be hard to miss. There will, of course, be an investigation. There are unconfirmed reports that the ship may have lost power and the ability to stop or steer. A representative from Brawner Builders Inc. told media that the company had a construction crew on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed. Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said the crew was fixing potholes. But it is simply hard to imagine that the ship’s captain did not see the bridge. For now the focus is on rescuing anyone who ended up in the river. The Key bridge is a major thoroughfare for traffic in the Baltimore area and now it is gone. Replacing it could take years. U.S. President Joe Biden expressed condolences to victims and their relatives for the “terrible accident,” and said the federal government would provide whatever assistance was necessary to help in the search and rescue effort, as well as the rebuilding of the infrastructure.