Maryland Governor Wes Moore cautioned on Thursday that recovering from the loss of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge will be a difficult process, as the Biden administration granted $60 million in immediate federal aid after the fatal collapse.
In the meantime, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was relocating the largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard to assist in clearing the wreckage of the bridge, Moore mentioned. This is crucial to begin the work of clearing the channel and reopening the significant shipping route. The machine, capable of lifting up to 1,000 tons, was anticipated to arrive Thursday evening, and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen stated that a second crane with a 400-ton capacity might arrive on Saturday.
During an evening news conference, Moore expressed deep gratitude for the federal funds and support.
Moore assured on Thursday that experts from around the world are developing plans to remove the debris, relocate the cargo ship that collided with the bridge from the channel, retrieve the bodies of the four remaining presumed dead workers, and investigate the cause of the incident.
“The government is collaborating closely with the industry to examine the area, including the wreck, and remove the ship,” said Moore, a Democrat, who emphasized the necessity for swift assistance to lay the groundwork for a rapid recovery. President Joe Biden has committed that the federal government will cover the full cost of rebuilding the bridge.
“This task will not be completed in a matter of hours, days, or weeks,” Moore stated. “We are facing a challenging road ahead.”
Van Hollen revealed that 32 members of the Army Corps of Engineers are evaluating the site of the collapse, and 38 Navy contractors are involved in the salvage operation.
The aftermath following the collision of the powerless cargo ship with a support pillar early Tuesday is significant. Divers recovered the bodies of two men from a pickup truck in the Patapsco River near the bridge’s central span on Wednesday, but officials stated that the wreckage must be cleared before reaching the bodies of the four other missing workers.
Based on sonar scans, state police have determined that the vehicles seem to be surrounded by a “superstructure” of concrete and other debris.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board boarded the ship, the Dali, to gather data from its electronics and paperwork and to conduct interviews with the captain and crew members. Investigators presented a preliminary timeline of events leading up to the crash, which federal and state officials have described as an accident.
“The most knowledgeable experts worldwide are pooling their findings to enable us to proceed swiftly and safely in our response to this collapse,” Moore stated on Thursday.
According to Randhir Jaiswal, the foreign ministry spokesperson for India, of the 21 crew members on the ship, 20 are from India. One individual sustained minor injuries and required stitches, but all are in good health, Jaiswal informed reporters.
The individuals, who were part of a construction team repairing potholes on the bridge, hailed from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, according to Butler. When the ship collided with the bridge column, at least eight people initially fell into the water, and two of them were rescued on Tuesday, as per officials.
The accident caused the bridge to snap and fall into the water very quickly. Officials had just enough time to stop vehicle traffic, but didn’t have a chance to alert the construction crew.
During the Baltimore Orioles’ first game on Thursday, Sgt. Paul Pastorek, Cpl. Jeremy Herbert and Officer Garry Kirts of the Maryland Transportation Authority were recognized for their actions in stopping bridge traffic and preventing further loss of life.
The three stated that they were “proud to carry out our duties as officers of this state to save the lives that we could.”
The Dali, which is managed by Synergy Marine Group, was traveling from Baltimore to Sri Lanka. It is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and was chartered by Danish shipping giant Maersk.
Synergy expressed condolences to the victims’ families in a statement early Thursday.
“We deeply regret this incident and the problems it has caused for the people of Baltimore and the region’s economy that relies on this vitally important port,” Synergy said, noting that it would continue to cooperate with investigators.
Scott Cowan, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333, said the union is rushing to assist its approximately 2,400 members whose jobs are at risk of drying up until shipping can resume in the Port of Baltimore.
“If there’s no ships, there’s no work,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can.”
The massive vessel, nearly as long as the Eiffel Tower is tall, was carrying nearly 4,700 shipping containers, 56 of them with hazardous materials inside. Thirteen of those were destroyed, officials said. However, industrial hygienists who evaluated the contents identified them as perfumes and soaps, according to the Key Bridge Joint Information Center.
“There was no immediate threat to the environment,” the center said.
About 21 gallons (80 liters) of oil from a bow thruster on the ship is believed to have caused a sheen in the waterway, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said Thursday.
Booms were placed to prevent any spreading, and state environmental officials were sampling the water.
At the moment there are also cargo containers hanging dangerously off the side of the ship, Gilreath said, adding, “We’re trying to keep our first responders … as safe as possible.”
Divers sent to work beneath the bridge debris and container ship will encounter challenging conditions, including limited visibility and moving currents, according to officials and expert observers.
“Debris can be dangerous, especially when you can’t see what’s right in front of you,” said Donald Gibbons, an instructor with the Eastern Atlantic States Carpenters Technical Centers.
The sudden loss of a highway that carries 30,000 vehicles a day and the port disruption will affect not only thousands of dockworkers and commuters but also U.S. consumers, who are likely to feel the impact of shipping delays.
The governors of New York and New Jersey offered to take on cargo shipments that have been disrupted, to try to minimize supply chain problems.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who met Thursday with supply chain officials, has said the Biden administration was focused on reopening the port and rebuilding the bridge, but he did not put a timeline on those efforts.
Between 1960 and 2015, 35 significant bridge failures happened globally because of ships or barges crashing into them, as stated by the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.
