Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapse updates: US divers recover data recorder
These were the updates on Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapse for Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
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This live page is now closed.
- Investigators have boarded the ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge and recovered its data recorder, according to United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy.
- Divers continue to search for six construction workers presumed dead after challenging overnight conditions improved in the US city of Baltimore.
- The Singapore-flagged Dali lost power before ramming into the 2.6km (1.6-mile) bridge at about 1:30am (05:30 GMT).
- The ship’s crew issued a Mayday call moments before the crash plunged the bridge into the Patapsco River, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span.
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You can keep up to date with all our coverage of the bridge collapse here.
Here’s what happened today
We’re closing this live blog soon. Here are some of the day’s key developments:
- Divers are undergoing an operation to find the six missing workers who are presumed dead.
- All the workers were identified as men coming from Latin America, specifically Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador.
- Two of the men have been named as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandova and Miguel Luna.
- Baltimore’s Mayor Brandon M Scott says he is working with response teams this morning to continue the search-and-rescue efforts.
- Maryland’s State Senator Bill Ferguson and State Delegate Luke Clippinger are proposing income replacement for the thousands of workers who rely on the Port of Baltimore.
- The Maryland Transportation Authority has released the dispatch audio of officers trying to stop traffic after the pilot of the Dali vessel warned the ship was approaching.
Bridge collapse could cost billions in insurance claims: Report
Baltimore’s bridge collapse could cost insurers several billions of dollars in claims, sources tell the Reuters news agency.
With little clarity on when the port will reopen, insurers and analysts are assessing the likely losses.
“While the total cost of the bridge collapse and associated claims will not be clear for some time, it is likely to run into the billions of dollars,” said Mathilde Jakobsen, senior director of analytics at insurance ratings agency AM Best.
Economic software analysis company IMPLAN said initial estimates of the cost of rebuilding the bridge, which is likely to be paid by the US federal government, stand at $600m.
The closure of the port for just one month could see a total loss of $28m for the state of Maryland, according to IMPLAN analysis.
Mexico’s president says three Mexican workers were on the bridge
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says two of the Mexican workers on the bridge when it collapsed were missing, while a third was injured and rescued.
“He is safe now,” Obrador said.
The Mexican leader also highlighted the contributions migrant workers make to the US economy.
“This demonstrates that migrants go out and do risky jobs at midnight, and for this reason, they do not deserve to be treated as they are by certain insensitive, irresponsible politicians in the United States,” he said.
Another missing worker identified
The second of six missing workers has been identified as Miguel Luna, a father of three from El Salvador, according to Casa, a nonprofit that serves immigrant communities.
His wife, Maria del Carmen Castellon, told Telemundo 44 that she was “devastated” by the wait for any information.
“My heart hurts with this situation,” said Campos.
“They’re human beings, and they are my colleagues.”
Baltimore mayor says dive teams, first responders ‘working around the clock’
The mayor of Baltimore, Brandon M Scott, says he is working with response teams this morning to continue the search and rescue efforts.
“Spending the day continuing to help coordinate response this morning, especially with our dedicated dive teams and first responders who are continuing the recovery work,” Scott wrote on X.
Spending the day continuing to help coordinate response this morning, especially with our dedicated dive teams and first responders who are continuing the recovery work.
— Brandon M. Scott (@MayorBMScott) March 27, 2024
Photos: Divers continue to search for six construction workers
Baltimore port essential to the ‘American economy’
Governor Wes Moore highlighted the importance of the Port of Baltimore to the nation’s economy, saying the shutdown is affecting everyone from farmers in Kentucky to car dealers in Michigan.
“It’s imperative that we get the Port of Baltimore back up and going, and it is not just about how we’re supporting Maryland,” Moore said.
“This is about how we’re supporting the American economy.”
Maryland lawmakers to draft emergency legislation
State Senator Bill Ferguson and state Delegate Luke Clippinger are proposing income replacement for the thousands of workers who rely on daily operations at the Port of Baltimore.
“The human cost of lives lost yesterday is overwhelming and tragic. The economic and stability loss to the thousands impacted in the days ahead cannot be understated,” Ferguson said on X.
“Yesterday I spent hours talking to labor leaders, dock workers, small business owners, and large port industry leaders who all had the exact same message: ‘We must unlock the channel to the Port of Baltimore.’ They’re right. And until we do, there is enormous cost to families.”
Over 15,000 in the Balt region rely on daily operations at Port of Baltimore to put food on the table.
Today, with Del. @LukeClippinger and colleagues representing Port, we are drafting an emergency bill to provide for income replacement for workers impacted by this travesty.
— Bill Ferguson (@SenBillFerg) March 27, 2024
One of the missing workers identified
As we’ve reported earlier, the six missing and presumed dead workers were from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
Honduras’s deputy foreign affairs minister has identified Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandova as one of the workers.
Father Ako Walker, a Catholic priest at Sacred Heart of Jesus, said outside a vigil that he spent time with the workers’ families while waiting for news of their loved ones.
“You can see the pain etched on their faces,” Walker said.
Photos: Rescue personnel gather on the shore of the Patapsco River
Companies pause shipments through Baltimore port: Report
The largest pipeline system for refined oil products in the US, the Colonial Pipeline Company, paused nominations to ship fuel on cycles 15 and 16 on Line 32, which delivers products to its Curtis Bay facility in the port of Baltimore, according to a notice seen by the Reuters news agency.
Consol Energy Ceix.N, the coal producer, also said vessel access in and out of the Consol marine terminal, which is located in the port of Baltimore, has been delayed.
The company added that it reviews all available options to minimise or address direct and indirect impacts on the company and its operations.
Carnival Cruise Line has also temporarily moved Carnival Legend’s Baltimore operations to Norfolk, Virginia, due to the bridge collapse.
Divers searching for items that could aid investigation into crash
They are searching for six workers from Central America and Mexico who were on that bridge.
The National Transportation Safety Board now have the black box data recorder that was on that ship and they’re looking at it to confirm reports that the ship lost power and that what caused it to drift into the bridge.
They’re also looking for perishable materials, documents, anything that might be on board that could disappear in the course of this investigation and they’re trying to just piece together what exactly happened.
Weight of the ship led to the ‘catastrophic result’, says Buttigieg
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Good Morning America that the weight of the ship and the load it was carrying caused an “almost-instant catastrophic result”.
“We are at work to make sure our infrastructure for the future is better prepared for any kind of threat,” Buttigieg said.
“Really, what we saw yesterday was just unimaginable in terms of the proportion of that ship.”
WATCH: Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse
Watch our video on the bridge collapse below:
Maryland Transportation Authority releases first responders audio
The Maryland Transportation Authority has released the dispatch audio of officers trying to stop traffic after the pilot of the Dali vessel warned the ship was approaching the bridge.
In the audio, first responders can be heard saying that traffic had to be stopped until the pilot could regain control of the vessel and asking if there were any crew working on the bridge.
“If we can stop traffic, just make sure no one’s on the bridge. Right now, I’m not sure where there’s a crew up there. You might want to notify whoever the foreman is to see if we can get them off the bridge temporarily,” one official said.
A few seconds later, an official announces that the bridge has collapsed.
Photos: The aftermath of Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapse
In case you’re just joining us
Let’s bring you up to speed.
- Search efforts have resumed as authorities aim to recover the bodies of at least six missing people presumed dead.
- At approximately 1:30am (05:30 GMT) on Tuesday, the Singapore-flagged container ship Dali, departing Baltimore, crashed into a concrete pier supporting the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
- Moments before the crash, the ship issued a Mayday call warning that it had lost power, prompting authorities to scramble to shut down traffic to the bridge.
- Two people were pulled from the river on Tuesday. One was unhurt, but the other was seriously injured and rushed to the hospital.
- Maryland’s Governor Wes Moore said the investigation into the collapse is still ongoing, and state Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said officials “do not believe” any people were trapped in cars.
Data recorder from Dali vessel recovered: Report
Investigators from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have boarded the ship that crashed into the bridge and recovered its data recorder.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told CNN that the recorder would be analysed, and the agency would also examine whether dirty fuel contributed to the ship’s power loss as part of its investigation.
Recovery efforts have resumed
Maryland State Police spokesperson Elena Russo said in a text message that “recovery efforts are underway,” as divers returned to the site after challenging overnight conditions improved.
Rescuers are trying to find six people who are missing and are presumed dead.
Maryland State Highway Administration issues traffic warning
The Maryland State Highway Administration has warned drivers of increased traffic due to the bridge collapse affecting an important part of Baltimore’s ring road.
“Drivers are encouraged to prepare for extra commuting time until further notice,” the administration wrote on X.
We are assisting the Maryland Transportation Authority with traffic control related to the collapse of the I-695 bridge over the Patapsco River. Drivers are encouraged to prepare for extra commuting time until further notice. Learn more: https://t.co/gVjhb3v1nN#KeyBridgeNews pic.twitter.com/M3Fj5bd25H
— MD State Highway Adm (@MDSHA) March 27, 2024
Pilot of Dali ship tried to slow down: Report
Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots’ Association, told The Associated Press that he has been in contact with officials from the Association of Maryland Pilots who have told him what happened leading up to the Dali’s crash into the bridge’s support column.
Diamond said the pilot immediately ordered the rudder hard to port to keep the ship from turning right, ordered the port anchor to be dropped and contacted a dispatch office to shut down the bridge.
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. He added that the pictures of the lights turning off and on were of the emergency generators that kicked in, but the ship’s propulsion was not turned back on.
Every foreign-flagged ship entering US waters must have a state-licensed pilot on board.
“These are among the most highly trained mariners in the world,” Diamond said.
Bridge collapse to cause short-term ‘disruption’: Shipping organisation chief
Guy Platten, secretary-general at the International Chamber of Shipping, says the bridge collapse will cause a “localised supply chain disruption”.
“We’re talking days, if not weeks, for Baltimore to be closed. There’s ships stuck in Baltimore harbour. They clearly can’t sail, and so other ships will divert to other ports, which will cause delays and knock-on effects,” Platten told Al Jazeera.
“Companies are going to have to find alternative ports where they can discharge their cargos from, so that’s going to, in the short term, create bottlenecks.”
He added that the bridge collapse will not have “too much” of an effect on the international supply chain like the attacks by Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea.
Investigators to look into why ship lost power
The investigation is just beginning. The Dali, a Singapore-flagged ship, had a mishap before (Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016) when it rammed into a wall.
All we know is that the power went out, the lights went on and off, and it issued a Mayday warning, saying it was coming in.
Once it hit that bridge, the bridge wasn’t designed so that one segment would simply go down if it was struck. The entire thing was connected and required the support of other parts of that bridge.
So what investigators are going to be looking into is what caused that ship to lose power and drift into that bridge, knock it down and cause these casualties.
Supply chain crisis unlikely: Report
The bridge collapse is unlikely to trigger a major new US supply chain crisis or spike goods prices, economists and logistics experts told the Reuters news agency.
As East Coast ports have invested billions of dollars over the past decade to expand capacity, Baltimore’s temporary closure may add time and cost for some companies, but will not have a significant macroeconomic impact.
“The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland is another reminder of the US vulnerability to supply-chain shocks, but this event will have greater economic implications for the Baltimore economy than nationally,” Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics, said.
“We don’t anticipate that the disruptions to trade or transportation will be visible in US GDP, and the implications for inflation are minimal,” he added.