Mayor says rescue efforts are under way after vessel crashed into Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending vehicles into water

A portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore has collapsed after a large boat collided with it early on Tuesday morning, sending multiple vehicles into the water.

At about 1.30am, a vessel crashed into the bridge, catching fire before sinking and causing multiple vehicles to fall into the water below, according to a video posted on X.

“All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured,” the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X.

Matthew West, a petty officer first class for the coastguard in Baltimore, told the New York Times that the coastguard received a report of an impact at 1.27am ET. West said the Dali, a 948ft (29 metres) Singapore-flagged cargo ship, had hit the bridge, which is part of Interstate 695.

  • WillyEnglish
    12·
    8 months ago

    will this close down one of the biggest ports on the East Coast? how will other ships get by?

    • CptEnder@lemmy.world
      9·
      8 months ago

      Yeah DOT confirmed the port of Baltimore is closed to sea traffic, local truck traffic from port is still active so the closure won’t be felt immediately. But it will be significant the longer it’s closed. 9th largest port in the US.

    • d00phy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      41·
      8 months ago

      As soon as the investigation is finished, they’ll get on removing the debris. That area has no shortage of transportation engineering companies. I’m sure people from the governor’s and mayor’s respective offices are already reaching out to line up inspections and eventual bids. Once the investigation is over, their top goal will be getting the port opened up.

    • Tug@lemmy.world
      3·
      8 months ago

      Yeah they won’t get by, in bound traffic will reroute to Norfolk, Philadelphia and NY until a plan is in place. I would guess they have the channel open in 2 weeks or less.

    • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
      3·
      8 months ago

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Baltimore

      Currently, the port has major ro-ro (roll-on roll-off) facilities and bulk facilities, especially steel handling. The port handles around 700,000 vehicles annually. Most Mercedes-Benz cars that are imported into the U.S were handled here as well in 2004.

      The Port handles one-fourth of the country’s coal exports.