Baltimore, MD - Container Ship Strikes Francis Scott Key Bridge - Mass Casualty Situation

[vls12345]

wbaltv.com has been running a livestream all morning.

 

[sds71]

@MikenzieFrost


Gov. Wes Moore speaking now at a news conference. He says there were construction workers on the bridge at the time of the collapse. US Sen. Chris Van Hollen says the NTSB will be conducting an investigation.

MDOT Director says the construction workers were on scene filling potholes at the time of the collapse.

Six people remain unaccounted for at this time, all of them are believed to be from the construction crew.

Gov. Moore confirms the crew on the cargo ship alerted authorities it lost power before the ship hit the bridge.


10:04 AM · Mar 26, 2024

 

[lovemyhuskies]

This is breaking my heart. We're in Alabama but vacationed to Baltimore recently. My husband is a marine engineer who works for a branch of our government and has already been put on alert this morning that his services will be needed up there soon. Praying for all of those involved, and their loved ones.

 

[Jsizzle]

MDOT just said 1 person “rescued” which appears to be the guy who refused treatment and was ok. Wondering what happened to the other person taken to hospital.

So I wonder how long power had been out on the ship. One post earlier said "warnings were given". Couldn't they have paused traffic on the bridge until they saw that the danger had hopefully passed (which didn't end up happening unfortunately)? Seems like they could have at least warned the construction crew. The ship apparently knew the power outage might make them hit the bridge supports... maybe they thought the bridge would hold up to a hit. Do we know if any of the construction crew survived? They may have seen it coming and tried to make it to safety but didn't have enough time.

there is a video of exactly when it all happened and lost power. They were literally right at base of the bridge. They were able to call a May Day and cars were stopped just before it happened. Our governor just said this. He also said they are only searching for crew members at the moment. I think he said 6 unaccounted for and 2 rescued (right when it happened). Let me find the video and I’ll post it. Are we allowed to post videos from FB? I can’t recall

 

[anneoakley63]

@MikenzieFrost


Gov. Wes Moore speaking now at a news conference. He says there were construction workers on the bridge at the time of the collapse. US Sen. Chris Van Hollen says the NTSB will be conducting an investigation.

MDOT Director says the construction workers were on scene filling potholes at the time of the collapse.

Six people remain unaccounted for at this time, all of them are believed to be from the construction crew.


10:04 AM · Mar 26, 2024

BBM - This is absolutely heartbreaking. I work in the Public Works industry and these employees work hard. Their work is often underappreciated and they don't make a lot of money for what they do. My heart goes out to their families, friends and co-workers.

 

[musicaljoke]

So I wonder how long power had been out on the ship. One post earlier said "warnings were given". Couldn't they have paused traffic on the bridge until they saw that the danger had hopefully passed (which didn't end up happening unfortunately)? Seems like they could have at least warned the construction crew. The ship apparently knew the power outage might make them hit the bridge supports... maybe they thought the bridge would hold up to a hit. Do we know if any of the construction crew survived? They may have seen it coming and tried to make it to safety but didn't have enough time.

From the video you can see the lights go out a couple of minutes before hitting the bridge.

I expect that the people onboard the ship were safe because an alert had been issued and they were able to find a protective space in time.

 

[iamshadow21]

So I wonder how long power had been out on the ship. One post earlier said "warnings were given". Couldn't they have paused traffic on the bridge until they saw that the danger had hopefully passed (which didn't end up happening unfortunately)? Seems like they could have at least warned the construction crew. The ship apparently knew the power outage might make them hit the bridge supports... maybe they thought the bridge would hold up to a hit. Do we know if any of the construction crew survived? They may have seen it coming and tried to make it to safety but didn't have enough time.

If it began when the lights first went out on the ship on that video... It was less than a minute. I just watched the footage and my clock, it was about 40 seconds. Not enough time for anyone to do anything but feel alarmed before the inevitable. Certainly not enough time for the ship to radio to emergency, and the people they radioed it to to somehow contact the road crew (if they even knew there was a road crew on the bridge), and the road crew to get in their trucks and burn rubber to get off the entire span of bridge before impact.

I just don't think there was enough time.

MOO

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Trajectory Of The Dali Container Ship That Hit A Bridge In Baltimore

0129

www.barrons.com

Baltimore Key Bridge collapse map: View the path of the cargo ship Dali

The cargo ship Dali started moving at 12:51 a.m. and within a half hour struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge as it made its way out of the port on the Patapsco River.

www.baltimoresun.com

A US federal government agency said the vessel "lost propulsion" as it was leaving the port.

The crew then warned Maryland transport officials of a possible collision, according to an unclassified Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency report on the incident.

Baltimore bridge collapse: Six presumed dead after ship collides with bridge

Six people are presumed dead after the landmark Francis Scott Key Bridge gave way.

www.bbc.com

 

[sds71]

@GovWesMoore says the mayday call from the ship was relayed in time to stop some of the traffic from entering the Key Bridge pre-collapse. “Those people are heroes. They saved lives last night,” he says of those who barred traffic.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772612131281576082

 

[iamshadow21]

This is breaking my heart. We're in Alabama but vacationed to Baltimore recently. My husband is a marine engineer who works for a branch of our government and has already been put on alert this morning that his services will be needed up there soon. Praying for all of those involved, and their loved ones.

Sending your husband and all the other responders to this disaster wishes for fortitude and safety, and the general support of everyone here. They do (and will be doing) courageous and necessary work. Your husband will know better than most just how difficult the retrieval, recovery, and rebuilding processes will be for the city of Baltimore.

MOO

 

[imstilla.grandma]

A group of people who said they were family members of workers employed by Brawner Builders Inc. gathered at a Royal Farms convenience store near the entrance of the bridge.

They said their loved ones were working on the bridge at the time. One woman told NBC News that her father-in-law, Miguel Luna, was among the workers.

They went to the store because it was the closest they could get to the bridge, but were yet to get any formal guidance as to the status of their loved ones, they said.

6 workers presumed dead after cargo ship crash levels Baltimore bridge

The six vanished after the Francis Scott Key Bridge disintegrated from the impact of a container ship that struck it early Tuesday. A search is now a recovery effort, officials said.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[DS2021]

Six people remain unaccounted for at this time, all of them are believed to be from the construction crew

Its an absolute miracle that it wasnt worse

 

[imstilla.grandma]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772619045218521362

'Our prayers go out to everyone': Md. leaders react to Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse

Leaders across Maryland are reacting to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

wjla.com

 

[Jsizzle]

A group of people who said they were family members of workers employed by Brawner Builders Inc. gathered at a Royal Farms convenience store near the entrance of the bridge.

They said their loved ones were working on the bridge at the time. One woman told NBC News that her father-in-law, Miguel Luna, was among the workers.

They went to the store because it was the closest they could get to the bridge, but were yet to get any formal guidance as to the status of their loved ones, they said.

6 workers presumed dead after cargo ship crash levels Baltimore bridge

The six vanished after the Francis Scott Key Bridge disintegrated from the impact of a container ship that struck it early Tuesday. A search is now a recovery effort, officials said.

www.nbcnews.com

Also from the article. It appears they don’t really know how many “cars” are down there which is alarming.

Underwater drones, as well as sonar and infrared surveillance tools, had confirmed there were several cars in the river, Wallace said.

Its an absolute miracle that it wasnt worse

 

[DS2021]

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said crew on the ship were able to issue a "mayday" before colliding into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which allowed authorities to stop traffic from going on the bridge.

Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse: Rescuers are searching for at least 6 people in Patapsco River, official says | CNN

The crew of a massive container ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday warned of power issues before the collision, which caused the bridge to collapse into the frigid Patapsco River, officials said.

amp.cnn.com

 

[DS2021]

Also from the article. It appears they don’t really know how many “cars” are down there which is alarming.

Underwater drones, as well as sonar and infrared surveillance tools, had confirmed there were several cars in the river, Wallace said

Yeah.thats my concern too

 

[iamshadow21]

Also from the article. It appears they don’t really know how many “cars” are down there which is alarming.

Underwater drones, as well as sonar and infrared surveillance tools, had confirmed there were several cars in the river, Wallace said.

Or how many occupants are in each car. Least awful scenario possible is one per, but it's possible that some have more.

MOO

 

[imstilla.grandma]

*The Francis Key Scott Bridge received a grade of 6 out of 9 in its last federal inspection.

*The bridge was last inspected in May 2021 and received a “fair” rating, according to federal data reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/baltimore-bridge-francis-scott-key-collapse-ship-6649dd14

 

[branmuffin]

I heard on the news that initial reports were 7 Construction Workers and 3-4 Civilian Vehicles missing. Of course those numbers could be wrong.

Are the civilian vehicles related to the construction workers? Maybe the vehicles were empty.

 

[branmuffin]

Baltimore port's private and public terminals handled 847,158 autos and light trucks in 2023, the most of any U.S. port.

The port also handles farm and construction machinery, sugar, gypsum and coal, according to a Maryland government website.

“While Baltimore is not one of the largest U.S. East Coast ports, it still imports and exports more than one million containers each year, so there is the potential for this to cause significant disruption to supply chains," said Emily Stausbøll, market analyst at Xeneta, an ocean freight shipping rate benchmarking and intelligence platform.

"Far East to U.S. East Coast ocean freight services have already been impacted by drought in the Panama Canal and recent conflict in the Red Sea, which saw rates increase by 150%, so this latest incident will add to those concerns."

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/least-10-ships-bound-baltimore-drop-anchor-nearby-shipping-data-shows-2024-03-26/

It is one of the smallest container ports on the Northeastern seaboard, handling 265,000 containers in the fourth quarter of last year, according to container shipping expert Lars Jensen.

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, so the flow of containers to Baltimore can likely be redistributed to bigger ports, Jensen said.

More than 40 ships remained inside Baltimore port, including small cargo ships, tug boats and pleasure craft, data from ship tracking and maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic shows.

At least 30 other ships had signalled their destination was Baltimore, the data showed.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/baltimore-port-coal-cars-cruise-lines-2024-03-26/

The Port of Baltimore — the biggest handler of US imports and exports of cars and light trucks — looks to be out of commission indefinitely. The resulting bottleneck could accelerate a shift of goods through West Coast ports. Another crucial question: Which other ports have spare capacity to handle the Ro-Ro vessels that carry automobiles if Baltimore is closed for an extended period.

With the Key Bridge in ruins ahead of the Easter weekend, trucks and passenger vehicles that would normally take Interstate 695 will face long detours and delays along the busy highway corridor that links Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York.

I-695 was an alternate route for hazardous materials and oversized vehicles that are prohibited from going through the more direct drive through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.

Baltimore Bridge Disaster to Test Trucking, Port Flexibility Yet Again

An economic disruption along the US East Coast is unfolding with potentially tragic human consequences after a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, sending nearly the entire roadway structure crumbling into the water.

www.bloomberg.com

Do we know what's in those containers? Do they have hazardous materials in them? How difficult would it be to remove them from the vessel?