Baltimore City Fire Boat 2 drifts past the Dali container ship after it struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge that collapsed into the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, USA on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
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The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore was undergoing “routine engine maintenance” at the port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday, as divers retrieved the bodies of two of the six workers who plunged into the water when it collapsed.
The others were presumed dead, and officials said search efforts had been exhausted.
Investigators on Wednesday began collecting evidence from the ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge the previous day. The bodies of the two men were found in a red pickup truck in the morning, submerged in about 25 feet of water near the center span of the bridge, Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent of the Maryland State Police, said. , announced during a meeting. evening press conference.
He identified the men as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, a native of Mexico and a resident of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, a native of Guatemala and a resident of Dundalk, Maryland.
The victims, who were part of a construction crew repairing potholes in the bridge, were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Butler said.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore addressed their families in Spanish during the news conference, saying, “Estamos contigo, ahora y siempre,” meaning “we are with you, now and always.”
All search efforts were unsuccessful and, based on sonar scans, authorities “firmly” believe the other vehicles with victims inside are encased in superstructure and concrete of the collapsed bridge, Butler said. Divers will return to search for remains once the water is clear of debris.
Vice Adm. Shannon Gilreath of the U.S. Coast Guard said authorities had been notified that the ship was undergoing maintenance.
“As far as the engine is concerned, we have not been informed of any problems with the ship,” he said. “We were told that they were going to do routine engine maintenance on it while it was in port. And that’s the only thing we were told about the ship in that regard.”
The investigation was ramped up as the Baltimore region reeled from the sudden loss of a key transportation link that is part of the highway loop around the city. The disaster also closed the port, which is vital to the city’s shipping industry.
National Transportation Safety Board officials boarded the ship to extract information from its electronics and paperwork and to conduct interviews with the captain and other crew members, NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy said at a separate news conference. Twenty-three people, including two pilots, were aboard the ship when it crashed, she said.
The ship was also carrying 56 containers of hazardous materials, including corrosive substances, flammables and lithium ion batteries, Homendy said. She added that some containers had broken and that authorities would address the sheen on the water from those materials.
The agency is also examining the voyage data recorder recovered by the Coast Guard and putting together a timeline of what led to the crash, which federal and state officials have said appeared to be an accident.
The ship’s crew issued a distress call early Tuesday morning, saying they had lost power and control just minutes before hitting one of the bridge’s columns.
At least eight people initially went into the water, and two of them were rescued Tuesday, officials said.
The debris complicated the search, according to a Homeland Security memo described to The Associated Press by a law enforcement official. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the document or the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Governor Moore said the divers encountered dangerous conditions.
“They’re down there in the dark where they can literally see about a foot in front of them,” Moore said, adding that they were also trying to navigate through mangled metal.
One missing worker, a 38-year-old man from Honduras who came to the U.S. nearly two decades ago, was described by his brother as enterprising and hardworking. He started last year at the company that did bridge maintenance.
Video showed the ship moving toward the 1.6-mile bridge at a speed of about 9 miles per hour, according to Maryland’s governor. Traffic was still crossing the stretch and some vehicles appeared to escape within seconds. The crash broke the bridge and fell into the water within seconds.
A last-minute warning from the ship gave police just enough time to stop traffic on the highway. One officer parked sideways across the lanes and planned to drive onto the bridge to alert a construction crew once another officer arrived. But he didn’t get the chance when the powerless ship crashed into the bridge.
Attention is also focused on the container ship Dali and its past.
Synergy Marine Group, which manages the ship, said the impact occurred while it was under the control of one or more pilots, local specialists who help guide ships safely into and out of ports.
The ship, which was en route from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered the vessel.
The ship passed foreign port state inspections in June and September 2023. The June 2023 inspection resolved a faulty fuel pressure monitor gauge before the ship sailed, the Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement on Wednesday.
The ship was flying the flag of Singapore and officials there said they would conduct their own investigation in addition to supporting U.S. authorities.
The sudden loss of a highway that carries 30,000 vehicles a day and the disruption of the vital port will affect not only thousands of dock workers and commuters, but also American consumers, who will likely feel the impact of shipping delays.
“A lot of people don’t realize how important the port is to everything,” said Cat Watson, who used the bridge every day to go to work and lived so close that the collision woke her up. “We will feel it for a long time.”
The Port of Baltimore is a busy entry point for new vehicles made in Germany, Mexico, Japan and the United Kingdom, along with coal and agricultural equipment.
Shipping traffic has been suspended indefinitely. Windward Maritime, a maritime risk management firm, said its data shows a large increase in ships waiting for a port of call, some of which are anchored off Baltimore or nearby Annapolis.
At the White House, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the Biden administration was focused on reopening the port and rebuilding the bridge, which was completed in 1977. But he avoided putting a timeline on those efforts. He noted that the original bridge took five years to build.
Buttigieg also planned to meet with supply chain officials on Thursday.
Barges, including some with cranes, were headed to Baltimore to help remove the wreckage, Gilreath said.
Homendy said the NTSB investigation could take 12 to 24 months, but the agency may be able to issue urgent safety recommendations sooner. A preliminary report should be released within two to four weeks.
“It’s a huge undertaking for an investigation,” Homendy said. “It’s a very tragic event.”
According to the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure, 35 major bridges collapsed worldwide between 1960 and 2015 due to collisions with ships or barges.