US awards US$60 million emergency relief to Maryland after bridge collapse, source says
Moore promised that “the best minds in the world” were working on plans to clear the debris, move the cargo ship that rammed into the bridge from the channel, recover the bodies of the four remaining workers presumed dead and investigate what went wrong.
“Government is working hand in hand with industry to investigate the area, including the wreck, and remove the ship,” said Moore, a Democrat, who said quick aid is needed to “lay the foundation for a rapid recovery”. US President Joe Biden has pledged the federal government would pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge.
“This work is not going to take hours. This work is not going to take days. This work is not going to take weeks,” Moore said. “We have a very long road ahead of us.”
Baltimore bridge collapse may trigger historic multibillion-dollar insurance loss
The devastation at the site of the collapse, which happened when the powerless cargo ship Dali struck a pillar supporting the bridge early on Tuesday, is extensive. Divers recovered the bodies of two men in a truck near the bridge’s middle span on Wednesday, but officials said they have to start clearing the wreckage before anyone could reach the bodies of four other missing workers.
“We’re now moving from a recovery mode to a salvage operation. Because of the superstructure surrounding what we believe are the vehicles and the amount of concrete and debris, divers are no longer able to safely navigate or operate around that,” Colonel Roland L Butler Jnr, superintendent of Maryland State Police, said at a news conference on Wednesday.
“We have exhausted all search efforts in the areas around this wreckage, and based on sonar scans, we firmly believe that the vehicles are encased in the superstructure and concrete,” Butler said.
Butler asked for patience, saying, “there’s no definitive timeline”.
National Transportation Safety Board officials boarded the Dali to recover information from its electronics and paperwork and to interview the captain and other crew members. Investigators shared a preliminary timeline of events before the crash, which federal and state officials have said appeared to be an accident.
Of the 21 crew members on the ship, 20 are from India, Randhir Jaiswal, the nation’s foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters. One was slightly injured and needed stitches, but “all are in good shape and good health”, he said.
The victims, who were part of a construction crew fixing potholes on the bridge, were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Butler said. At least eight people initially went into the water when the ship struck the bridge column, and two of them were rescued on Tuesday, officials said.
The crash caused the bridge to break and fall into the water within seconds. Authorities had just enough time to stop vehicle traffic, but did not get a chance to alert the construction crew.
Ship pilot called for tugboat help before crashing into Baltimore bridge
The Singapore-flagged Dali, which is managed by Synergy Marine Group, was headed from Baltimore to Sri Lanka. It is owned by Grace Ocean and Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered it.
Synergy extended sympathies to the victims’ families in a statement early on Thursday.
“We deeply regret this incident and the problems it has caused for the people of Baltimore and the region’s economy that relies on this vitally important port,” Synergy said, noting that it would continue to cooperate with investigators.
Scott Cowan, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333, said the union is scrambling to help its roughly 2,400 members whose jobs are at risk of drying up until shipping can resume in the Port of Baltimore.
“If there’s no ships, there’s no work,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can.”
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US bridge collapses in Baltimore after ship collision, leaving several people missing
The huge vessel was carrying nearly 4,700 metal shipping containers, 56 of them with hazardous materials inside. Thirteen of those were destroyed, officials said. However, industrial hygienists who evaluated the contents identified them as perfumes and soaps, according to the Key Bridge Joint Information Centre.
“There was no immediate threat to the environment,” the centre said.
Booms have been placed in the area to control the spread of any oil that seeped into the water, and state environmental officials were also sampling the water on Thursday.
Central American and Mexican families mourn missing workers in Baltimore
The sudden loss of a motorway that carries 30,000 vehicles a day and the port disruption will affect not only thousands of dockworkers and commuters but also US consumers, who are likely to feel the impact of shipping delays.
The governors of New York and New Jersey have offered to take on cargo shipments that have been disrupted. Their respective governors, Kathy Hochul and Phil Murphy, said in a statement Thursday that ports in their states can handle additional shipments in an attempt to minimise supply chain disruptions.
Additional reporting by Associated Press