March 26, 2024 - Baltimore Key Bridge collapses after ship collision

The US Embassy in Singapore has been in contact with the country’s Maritime and Port Authority, in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday.

Miller said Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority “has offered to provide assistance to the US Coast Guard.” 

The tanker, which collided with the bridge causing the collapse, was Singapore-flagged and bound for Sri Lanka, but Miller said he was “not aware of any contacts with Sri Lanka.”

The ship was chartered by Danish shipping company Maersk and was carrying their customers' cargo, the Danish shipping company told CNN. It also said the ship, DALI, is operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group. 

The president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333 in Baltimore, Maryland, said the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge will have major consequences for the port’s workforce and the state’s economy for the foreseeable future.

The ILA’s work relies on the flow of cargo ships through the port as its workers are responsible for securing loads on and off the deck, operating the cranes and running the boxes throughout the yard.

"Until those ships can come up and down the bay, the little bit of cargo that's in the terminal will be imported and exported out and then we'll be waiting for the channel to open — I don't know how long it's going to take," Cowan added.

Cowan said that these massive cargo shops are very difficult to stop — especially when you face issues with power outage and propulsion.

"This is not like a car, they don't have brakes," Cowan said.

Ocean carriers are being moved away from the Port of Baltimore after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday. The Port of Virginia and the Port of Baltimore are coordinating diverting the ships to the Port of Virginia to eliminate the traffic in Baltimore’s port to “keep trade moving."

The Virginia and Maryland Departments of Transportation are also working to ensure uniform signage along roads “all the way up from Virginia into Maryland,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said.

"We've got high-level interaction everywhere needed and we just wait to be called and as soon as we are, we'll be moving," he added.

The patient who was taken to the R Adams Cowley Shock Center following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse has been discharged, according to a release from the University of Maryland Medical Center. 

Officials will hold a virtual briefing Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. with hospital officials to speak about how the hospital handled the incident.

Patient details will not be discussed.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed at 1:27 a.m. ET Tuesday after it was struck by a 984-foot cargo ship.

If you're just reading in, here's where things stand now:

Some of the East Coast’s busiest ports are offering their support after the DALI cargo ship collided with Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major artery road traffic, to collapse.  

South Carolina: “Our hearts are hurting for all those affected. We are sending support and strength to our sister port city during this difficult time,” South Carolina Department of Transportation Secretary Christy Hall, SC Ports President and CEO Barbara Melvin and Charleston Branch Pilots Association President Crayton Walters said in a joint statement.

South Carolina is home to the Port of Charleston, another major seaport off the Atlantic Ocean. The port said it hopes to learn from the incident that unfolded in Baltimore, adding they “have already had initial conversations regarding the incident, and we will jointly review harbor operations, procedures and state infrastructure.”

Georgia: In Georgia, home to ports in Savannah and Brunswick, the Georgia Ports Authority offered similar sentiments, noting “The Georgia Ports Authority offers our thoughts, prayers and support to our Port of Baltimore colleagues and everyone involved in this tragic accident.”

North Carolina: In a statement to CNN, the North Carolina Ports Authority said they are monitoring the situation and "are in close communication with our various partners, customers and port users as the situation continues to develop."

"Our thoughts are with the Port of Baltimore, the community, those directly impacted, and the first responders still engaged in the important search and rescue work," it said.

Radio traffic in the moments before a cargo ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore captures how authorities stopped traffic and worked to clear the bridge before the impact.

Officials warned of the ship approaching the bridge, according to a Broadcastify recording of the transmissions.

"I need one of you guys on the south side, one of you guys on the north side, hold all traffic on the Key Bridge. There's a ship approaching that just lost their steering so until we get that under control, we've got to stop all traffic," the person said.

In the audio, units reported that the bridge had collapsed about 90 seconds later. CNN has confirmed that the bridge collapsed at 1:27 a.m. ET.

“Do we know what traffic was stopped?” another person later said.

“I can’t get to the other side, sir. The bridge is down," another person responded.

John Zimmerman was an ironworker who helped build the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in the 1970s. He was woken up by his wife early this morning to turn on the news after news broke of the accident.

From looking at the footage, he says it appears that the dolphins, the concrete bumpers around the pilings meant to protect the structure, didn’t work because of the exact place and way the ship hit. He speculates that the ship seems to have perhaps avoided the bumpers or only side-swiped them.

He said, unfortunately, the ship seemed to have hit at the most vulnerable part of the bridge.

“It looks like it hit the only spot it could have hit to take the whole thing down,” he said. “It hit at probably the weakest part of the bridge.”

Zimmerman, who is now 83 years old, worked on the bridge for two years in the 1970s as a local 16 ironworker.

Officials are conducting search and rescue efforts in Baltimore on Tuesday after a cargo ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse. At least eight people were on the bridge when it fell, and at least six of them are still unaccounted for, according to Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld.

But, weather conditions in and above the water of the Patapsco River could complicate search and rescue operations, CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam said.

A full moon spring tide is bringing two main impacts: coastal flood advisories around the Chesapeake Bay and dangerous rip currents, Van Dam said.

Another contributing factor is the way the water is moving. Water from the Patapsco River will flow out of Baltimore Harbor as low tide approaches Tuesday afternoon. Then, during high tides, there will be a reversal, with water coming back into the harbor. Van Dam said this could mean more difficult conditions for search and rescue boats.

Additionally, the cold water temperatures could be dangerous for people still in the water. Right now, the water in the Patapsco River is about 40-50 degrees. The human survivability at that temperature is one to three hours.