Maersk-chartered ship hits bridge in Baltimore

A container ship DALI smashed into a four-lane bridge in the U.S. port of Baltimore on Tuesday, causing it to collapse and sending cars and people plunging into the river below, Reuters reported.

"Rescuers pulled out two survivors, one in a very serious condition, and were searching for more in the Patapsco River after huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water. Baltimore officials said at least seven vehicles plunged into the water but could not give an exact figure."

Maersk said in a statement: "We can confirm that the container vessel DALI, operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group, is time chartered by Maersk and is carrying Maersk customers’ cargo. No Maersk crew and personnel were onboard the vessel. We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy, and we will do our utmost to keep our customers informed."

Video footage showed the bridge across the Patapsco river at the mouth of the port collapsing at about 1.30 a.m. local time. The bridge carries the Interstate 695 highway across the river.

(Video Credit: X/@BNONews)

Baltimore is one of the busiest ports on the U.S. East coast, serving a large metro area including Washington D.C. Serious collisions between ships and civilian infrastructure are rare events, especially ones causing damage and injury, Financial Times reported. The accident comes after a cargo ship collided last month with a bridge in Guangzhou, southern China, killing five people.

"This is a major disaster and will create significant problems on the U.S. East Coast for U.S. importers and exporters," writes Lars Jensen in his LinkedIn post. "The bridge collapse will mean that for the time being it will not be possible to get to the container terminals - or a range of the other port terminals - in Baltimore. In 2023 the terminals handled 1.1 million TEU. This is some 21,000 TEU per week which now has to be routed through other ports in the region."