Baltimore bridge collapse

In the middle of the night, a dispatcher's short warning came over the radio: A huge cargo ship had lost control of its steering and was heading towards the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

In about a minute and a half, police officers quickly responded, halting traffic on both sides of the Baltimore bridge. One officer mentioned that he was on his way to the bridge to warn a construction crew.

However, despite their efforts, it was too late. The cargo ship, unable to steer and carrying massive containers, collided with a support pillar.

At around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the shipping vessel Dali collided with a support pillar, resulting in a significant section of the bridge collapsing into the Patapsco River. This bridge is a crucial part of the region's transportation system, and its destruction is likely to cause extensive traffic delays for commuters and disrupt operations at an important shipping port.

Eight individuals ended up in the water following the collapse. While two of them managed to survive, the remaining six, who were members of a construction crew working on the bridge, were unaccounted for and believed to be dead. Search efforts to locate their bodies were scheduled to continue on Wednesday morning.

Federal and state authorities have stated that the collision seems to have been accidental. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting an investigation into the incident. Additionally, ship traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore has been halted indefinitely.

Captain Michael Burns Jr. from the Maritime Center for Responsible Energy emphasized that navigating ships in and out of ports situated in narrow and restricted waters, with limited space for maneuvering, is one of the most technically challenging and demanding tasks in maritime operations.

"There are few things scarier than losing power in restricted waters," Captain Michael Burns Jr. explained. "When a ship loses both propulsion and steering, it becomes entirely vulnerable to the forces of wind and current."