Recovery efforts for 6 missing Baltimore bridge workers resume
The Latest on the ship crash that collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore (all times local):
Recovery efforts have resumed at the collapse site.
Divers returned to the site early Wednesday after challenging overnight conditions improved. Maryland State Police spokesperson Elena Russo said in a text message that “recovery efforts are underway.”
The six people unaccounted for and presumed dead were part of a construction crew repairing potholes on the bridge.
Currently:
— ‘Heroes’ scrambled to stop traffic before Baltimore bridge collapsed; construction crew feared dead
— What we know about the Baltimore bridge collapse
— Baltimore bridge collapse and port closure send companies scrambling to reroute cargo
— Named for ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ author, Key Bridge was part of Baltimore’s identity
— Who was Francis Scott Key, whose namesake bridge fell?
— A list of major US bridge collapses caused by ships and barges
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com
More of the latest:
ALL 6 MISSING WORKERS ARE PRESUMED DEAD
All six workers missing after a Baltimore bridge collapsed Tuesday are presumed dead and the search for them has been suspended until Wednesday morning.
Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent for Maryland State Police, said Tuesday evening that the search and rescue mission was transitioning to one of search and recovery. He said divers would return to the site at 6 a.m. when challenging overnight conditions were expected to improve.
The six people unaccounted for were part of a construction crew repairing potholes on the bridge. Police had stopped traffic on the bridge just before the crash and said there is no evidence that anyone went into the water other than the workers.
TRADE ASSOCIATION DIRECTOR SAYS SHIP'S PILOT TRIED TO SLOW DOWN
The pilot of the ship that caused the Baltimore bridge collapse tried to slow it down before the crash, the head of a trade association for maritime pilots said.
Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots’ Association, said he has been in close contact with officials from the Association of Maryland Pilots who described to him what happened as the ship approached the bridge. He said when the ship was a few minutes out, it lost all power, including to its engines.
The pilot immediately ordered the rudder hard to port to keep the ship from turning right and ordered the port anchor be dropped, which it was, Diamond said. The pilot also contacted a dispatch office to get the bridge shut down.
Diamond said widely circulated images show the ship’s lights turning off and then back on, sparking questions about whether the vessel had regained power. But, he said, the emergency generators that kicked in turned the lights back on but not the ship’s propulsion.
Every foreign-flagged ship entering U.S. waters must have a state-licensed pilot on board. Pilots board the ships before they enter local waterways and take “navigational control” of the ship, Diamond said, meaning they give orders for the ship’s speed and direction.
“These are among the most highly trained mariners in the world,” he said.
BUTTIGIEG THANKS FIRST RESPONDERS AND PAYS TRIBUTE TO COLLAPSED BRIDGE
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the path to rebuilding the collapsed Baltimore bridge won’t be easy or quick.
“This is no ordinary bridge. This is one of the cathedrals of American infrastructure,” he said at a news conference in Baltimore on Tuesday afternoon. “It has been part of the skyline for this region for longer than many of us have been alive.”
Buttigieg thanked first responders, including those still in the water as he spoke, and offered comfort to those “who woke up today to the news that no one wants to receive.”
“This is an excruciating day for several families,” he said.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he’s spent time with the families of victims. “The strength of these families is absolutely remarkable,” he said.
1 PERSON INVOLVED IN THE BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL
One person involved in the Baltimore bridge collapse has been discharged from the hospital, an official with the medical center said.
Dr. David Efron, the chief of trauma at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center, did not comment on the nature or severity of the patient’s injuries. The hospital has not released the patient’s name.
A cargo ship lost power and rammed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, destroying the span in a matter of seconds and plunging it into the river. Six construction workers are missing and presumed dead by their employer. One worker was taken to a hospital, a senior executive at the company confirmed.
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This entry has been updated to correct that just one patient was treated at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in connection with the bridge collapse, not two.
COLLEAGUE SAYS MISSING WORKERS WERE ON BREAK WHEN BRIDGE COLLAPSED
A fellow construction company employee says he was told his missing co-workers were on a break and some were sitting in their trucks when a Baltimore bridge collapsed early Tuesday after being struck by a container ship.
Brawner Builders employee Jesus Campos says he learned about the disaster from a co-worker and immediately worried about colleagues he knew were working on the bridge.
“When he told me that, they came to mind and I was praying to God that nothing had happened to them,” Campos said, speaking in Spanish.
“It is so hard for me to describe. I know that a month ago I was there, and I know what it feels like when the trailers pass. Imagine knowing that it is falling. It is so hard, one would not know what to do,” Campos said.
Jeffrey Pritzker, the company’s executive vice president, said six workers are presumed dead. Campos says the workers ranged in age from about 30 to 45 and all had families.
6 WORKERS PRESUMED DEAD BY THEIR EMPLOYER AFTER COLLAPSE
A senior executive at the company that employed the construction workers who’ve been unaccounted for since a Baltimore bridge collapsed says six of the company’s workers are presumed dead and one worker was hospitalized.
Brawner Builders Executive Vice President Jeffrey Pritzker says the crew was working in the middle of the bridge’s span when a cargo ship hit it early Tuesday and crumbled the bridge. He says the bodies of the workers have not yet been recovered but they are presumed to have died given the water’s depth and the amount of time that has passed since the collapse.
“This was so completely unforeseen,” Pritzker said. “We don’t know what else to say. We take such great pride in safety, and we have cones and signs and lights and barriers and flaggers. But we never foresaw that the bridge would collapse.”
OFFICERS WERE ABOUT TO ALERT CONSTRUCTION CREW WHEN BRIDGE COLLAPSED
Radio traffic obtained from the Broadcastify.com archive indicates officers were just about to alert a construction crew when a major bridge in Baltimore collapsed after being hit by a container ship that had lost power.
The Maryland Transportation Authority first responder radio traffic includes a dispatcher putting out a call saying a ship had lost its steering ability and asking officers to stop all traffic. It took officers less than two minutes to stop traffic on the bridge.
One officer who had stopped traffic radioed that he was going to drive onto the bridge to notify the construction crew once a second officer arrived. But seconds later, a frantic officer radioed that the bridge had collapsed.
The six people still unaccounted for were part of the construction crew, which was filling potholes on the bridge.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGER SAYS AMERICANS SHOULD EXPECT SHORTAGES
The head of a supply chain management company says Americans should expect shortages of goods as the Baltimore bridge collapse affects ocean container shipping and East Coast trucking logistics.
“It’s not just the port of Baltimore that’s going to be impacted,” said Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport.
Petersen says attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea connecting Asia with Europe and the United States have forced traffic away from the Suez Canal and around the tip of Africa. At the same time, there’s been increased congestion in the Panama Canal. Petersen says U.S. importers are increasingly shifting to West Coast ports which in turn may have their own back-ups.
“You get this vicious feedback loop,” he said.
Petersen was working with his team Tuesday to reroute about 800 shipping containers currently making their way to Baltimore’s port.
“It’s a scramble because each of those containers has now a new journey to clear customs, you’ve got to get a different truck to pick it up at a different port, it creates a whole lot of downstream work,” he said.
A cargo ship lost power and rammed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, destroying the span in a matter of seconds and plunging it into the river.
JUNE INSPECTION IDENTIFIED PROBLEM WITH SHIP'S MACHINERY
Inspectors in June found a problem with the machinery of the ship that caused a major bridge to collapse in Baltimore early Tuesday.
But according to the shipping information system Equasis, a more recent examination of the ship, called the Dali, did not identify any deficiencies.
The Dali, owned by Grace Ocean PTE, has been inspected at least 27 times at ports around the world since it was built in 2015. An inspection at a port in Chile in June identified a problem with the ship’s “propulsion and auxiliary machinery,” according to Equasis, but the website’s online records didn’t elaborate.
The most recent inspection listed for the Dali was conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard in New York on Sept. 13, 2023. According to the Equasis data, the “standard examination” didn’t identify any deficiencies.
A July 2016 inspection in Belgium determined hull damage had impaired the Dali’s seaworthiness after it struck berth used for mooring vessels at the Port of Antwerp.
BIDEN SAYS HE WILL VISIT BALTIMORE SOON
President Joe Biden said Tuesday he plans to travel to Baltimore “as quickly as I can” and that he plans for the federal government to pick up the entire cost of reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed earlier in the day after a container ship lost power and struck it.
“We’re going to rebuild that port together,” Biden said in brief remarks from the White House, shortly before departing for North Carolina.
The president said he expects lawmakers on Capitol Hill to support his bid to ensure the U.S. government pays for rebuilding the bridge.
“This is going to take some time,” Biden said. “The people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.”
Biden repeated earlier statements from officials that all current indications were that the collapse was an accident.
“At this time, we have no other indication, no other reason to believe there’s any intentional act here,” he said.
Biden’s expected challenger in the presidential race this year, Republican Donald Trump, as of midday Tuesday has not commented publicly on the bridge collapse.
EXPERT NOTES APPARENT LACK OF PIER PROTECTION
The bridge did not appear to have pier protection to withstand the cargo ship crash, according to a professor of civil and environmental engineering.
Professor Roberto Leon, of Virginia Tech, said he reviewed the video of the crash Tuesday.
“If a bridge pier without adequate protection is hit by a ship of this size, there is very little that the bridge could do,” Leon said.
Maryland recently retrofitted another bridge with pier protection devices for about $100 million, he said.
It’s expensive, but the price would pale in comparison with expected losses from the damaged bridge, including additional miles driven, fuel and business costs, he said.
FEDS HAD RATED BRIDGE AS IN FAIR CONDITION
The most recent federal data shows the bridge was rated as being in fair condition overall before the crash.
The Federal Highway Administration rates bridges on the condition of their individual components. In a national bridge inventory released in June, inspectors rated the Key Bridge’s deck, substructure and superstructure — or the component that absorbs the live traffic load — as satisfactory.
The bridge carried an estimated 30,800 vehicles a day on average in 2019. According to the Maryland Transportation Authority, that translates to about 11.3 million vehicles a year across the bridge, which was built in the 1970s and was 1.6 miles (2.6 kilometers) long.