Vessel traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore is suspended until further notice after a cargo ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge early this morning, causing it to collapse.
Trucks are still being processed inside the state-owned port’s terminals, according to the Maryland Port Administration, despite the disaster cutting off a main access point that carries a southeast section of Interstate 695 over the Patapsco River. An estimated 35,000 vehicles traverse the bridge each day.
The collapse, which occurred at about 1:30 a.m., sent several vehicles into the river below and rescue crews continue to work to pull people from the water. Estimates for the number of people who fell into the water ranged from seven to as many as 20, according to local news outlets.
First responders continue to search for six people as of Tuesday morning, according to Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld.
“We are still investigating what happened,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a morning news conference. “But we are quickly gathering details. The preliminary investigation points to an accident. We haven't seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack.”
Workers had been doing concrete deck repair on the bridge at the time of the collapse, Wiedefeld told reporters Tuesday morning.
“We know there were individuals on the bridge at the time of the collapse, working on the bridge, contractors for us,” Wiedefeld said.
Approximately 45 ships were inside the port as of Tuesday morning, according to maritime tracking platform My Ship Tracking. Two ships were stranded at the Port of Baltimore’s publicly owned terminals, one at Dundalk and another at South Locust Point, a port spokesperson said via text message.
I’ve spoken with Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott to offer USDOT’s support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge. Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response.
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) March 26, 2024
The ship, called Dali, is owned by Grace Ocean Co. and managed by Singapore-based Synergy Maritime Group. It was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka and was set to arrive on April 22, according to VesselFinder.
Tradepoint Atlantic, the landlord for Amazon and other large shippers with distribution centers near the port, was meeting Tuesday morning with its tenants to assess effects to their operations, EVP of Corporate Affairs Aaron Tomarchio said in an interview.
Tradepoint is open to providing space to store roll on-roll off and commodities as needed during the emergency, Tomarchio said. The company is in the midst of a permitting process to build a new container terminal at the port.
“No one knows how long it’s going to take to [re]build that bridge,” he said.
Vehicles in excess of 13' -6" inches, in height, or 96" (8 feet) in width are prohibited from using the I-895 Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. I-95 Ft. McHenry Tunnel is Height – 14’ - 6” Width – 11’ - 0”. #baltraffic #mdtraffic
— MDTA (@TheMDTA) March 26, 2024
Baltimore has been the busiest U.S. port for autos and light trucks for the past 13 years, thanks to its farthest inland position up the Chesapeake Bay and rail connections to automakers in the Midwest. The port handled a record 847,158 cars and light trucks in 2023.
Tradepoint is ready to partner with federal, state and local officials and the rest of the Port of Baltimore “to figure out how we minimize the impact to the supply chain, minimize the impact to the port industry, which is huge in our region, and figure out how we get back on track as a region and as a port as expeditiously as possible,” Tormarchio said.
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