Baltimore bridge collapse: Francis Scott Key Bridge destroyed after being struck by cargo ship

Six people presumed dead after a container ship hit the Baltimore bridge; police audio reveals how an officials raced to stop traffic after the Mayday call.

A view of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, as a ship hits the bridge leading to its collapse.

Police audio has emerged of Baltimore officials racing to stop traffic in the minutes after a container ship lost power and warned them it was drifting toward the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The crew of the Singaporean ship Dali issued a Mayday calls minutes before it crashed into the bridge, allowing officials to stop traffic from entering the bridge, Maryland’s governor Wes Moore said.

Six constrution workers on the bridge at the time are presumed dead, the Coast Guard said after hours long search.

In the audio, about 90 seconds after the Mayday call is issued, one person is heard to say calmly: ‘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.”

Seconds later, he reports: ‘The whole bridge just fell down. Start, start whoever … everybody. The whole bridge just collapsed.”

Another person then says: “I can’t get to the other side, sir. The bridge is down.”

While the authorities were able to stop traffic, at least six people, construction workers who had been repairing potholes, remain unaccounted for, having presumably plunged more than 50 metres into the icy waters of the Patapsco River below around 1.30am local time.

Declaring the bridge collapse “a terrible accident,” President Joe Biden said he intended for the federal government to pay the entire cost of reconstruction. “We’re not leaving until this job gets done,” he said, adding that he would travel to Baltimore soon.

“I know every minute in that circumstance feels like a lifetime,” the president said to people who were still awaiting word on those missing after the collapse.

Dramatic footage of the collapse showed the Dali was having power issues, its lights flicking on and off as it approached one of the bridge’s support pillars, at a speech of around 8 knots.

“The preliminary investigation points to an accident; we haven’t seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack,” Maryland governor Wes Moore told reporters at a press conference near the onramp to the bridge.

“The ship issued a mayday loss of power. The workers on the bridge halted traffic right before impact. They saved lots of lives,” Governor Moore also said, appearing to dismiss earlier concerns that dozens of vehicles had fallen into the river.

The cargo ship Dali with part of the structure over the hull after striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Picture: Getty Images via AFP.

“This morning our state is in shock … We are thankful for the brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue,” he added, declaring an official state of emergency.

Officials said Tuesday that they were still searching for six people, although couldn’t rule out that some vehicles had driven onto the bridge before it could be closed. Video showed large trucks crossing the section of the bridge that was struck only moments before impact.

One person had been rescued and is in the hospital, and another wasn’t hospitalised, said Paul Wiedefeld, Maryland’s transportation secretary.

A view of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed. Picture: Harford County MD Fire & EMS

The ship lost propulsion as it was leaving a nearby port bound for Sri Lanka, according to an unclassified report from the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

“The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel and a collision with the bridge was possible,” CISA said in its memo. “The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse”.

The main span of the bridge, which was built in 1977 and is locally referred to as the Key Bridge, is roughly 366 metres, making it one of the longest continuous trusses in the world, according to the State of Maryland website.

The cargo ship Dali after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Picture: Getty Images via AFP.

The bridge itself spans a total of 2.6km, but the overall structure including its approaches covers almost 18km. It carries more than 11 million vehicles a year, around 31,000 a day.

It is a major part of the road network around Baltimore, an industrial city on the US east coast next to the capital Washington.

The bridge is the entryway to the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore, the largest port in the US for specialised cargo like trucks, tractors and trailers. It is also a gateway for bulk cargo like coal and petroleum products.

The bridge was last inspected in May 2021 and received a “fair” rating, according to federal data reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. That means inspectors determined the bridge is essentially sound, but may have minor issues like cracks or some concrete erosion.

Container shipping expert Lars Jensen told Reuters that Baltimore was one of the smaller container ports on the Northeastern seaboard, handling around 265,000 containers of the final quarter of last year, implying the logistical fallout would be contained.

By contrast, the Port of New York and New Jersey handled around 2 million containers in that same period, and Norfolk Port in Virginia handled 850,000, suggesting the flow of containers to Baltimore could be redistributed, he explained.

Ford’s chief financial officer John Lawler told Bloomberg that temporary shuttering of the Port of Baltimore would force the US auto giant to divert parts to other ports and impact its supply chain.

The port administration said Baltimore was the biggest port on the East Coast for handling “ro-ro,” short for roll-on-roll off and encompassing cargoes of autos, trucks, tractors and wheeled cranes.

All vessel traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore is suspended until further notice, the port said Tuesday morning. The port is still processing trucks inside its terminals, the port said.

Danish container shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered the ship from Synergy. “We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected,” Maersk said in a statement. “We are closely following the investigations.”

I'm aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge. I have been in contact with @BaltimoreFire Chief Wallace, @GovWesMoore@JohnnyOJr, and @AACoExec. Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway.

— Brandon M. Scott (@MayorBMScott) March 26, 2024