By LEA SKENE and BRIAN WITTE (Associated Press)
Massive barges with cranes are heading to Baltimore to remove the twisted metal and concrete from the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which is blocking an important shipping route.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore assured that experts are working on clearing the debris, moving the cargo ship, recovering the bodies of the missing workers, and investigating the cause of the collapse.
Governor Moore, a Democrat, stated that the government is collaborating with the industry to investigate the area, remove the ship, and requested $60 million in emergency federal funding for the initial work.
The governor emphasized the need for the initial funding to lay the groundwork for a speedy recovery. President Joe Biden has committed that the federal government will cover the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge.
On Wednesday night, the U.S. Coast Guard announced that the barges were en route to the location where the bridge crossed the Patapsco River, but the arrival time was uncertain.
The damage at the collapse site is extensive. Divers were able to retrieve the bodies of two men near the bridge’s middle span on Wednesday, but clearing the wreckage is necessary before reaching the bodies of the other missing workers. Divers will resume searching once the debris is removed.
Colonel Roland L. Butler Jr., Maryland State Police superintendent, stated that the operation is shifting from recovery to salvage due to the conditions around the wreckage, which make it unsafe for divers to operate.
Colonel Butler mentioned that all search efforts in the surrounding areas of the wreckage have been exhausted, and based on sonar scans, they believe the vehicles are trapped in the concrete and superstructure that collapsed.
Colonel Butler assured that his agency will assist the unified command during the salvage assessment phase, but he cautioned that there's no definite timeline for the operation.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board boarded the ship, the Dali, to gather data from its electronics and paperwork, and to interview the captain and crew members. Investigators provided a preliminary timeline of events leading to the crash, which authorities believe was accidental.
Governor Moore stated that the top experts are coming together to gather the necessary information for a prompt and safe response to the collapse.
According to Randhir Jaiswal, foreign ministry spokesperson for India, of the 21 crew members on the ship, 20 are from India. One crew member sustained minor injuries and needed stitches, but all are in good health.
The people who were working on fixing holes in the bridge were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, according to Butler. When the ship hit the bridge column, at least eight people fell into the water, and two of them were rescued on Tuesday, officials said.
The accident made the bridge break and fall into the water very quickly. Authorities managed to stop the vehicle traffic in time, but they couldn't warn the construction crew.
The Dali, which is managed by Synergy Marine Group, was going from Baltimore to Sri Lanka. It is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered it.
Synergy expressed its regret and offered sympathy to the families of those who died in a statement early Thursday.
Synergy said they deeply regret the incident and the problems it caused for the people of Baltimore and the region's economy, which depends on this important port. They also mentioned that they would continue to collaborate with investigators.
The sudden closure of a highway that carries 30,000 vehicles a day and the disruption at the port will impact not only thousands of dockworkers and commuters but also U.S. consumers, who are likely to experience shipping delays.
The governors of New York and New Jersey have offered to handle cargo shipments that have been disrupted. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement Thursday that ports in their states can manage additional shipments to reduce supply chain disruptions.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that the Biden administration was focused on reopening the port and rebuilding the bridge, but he did not specify a timeline for those efforts. Buttigieg planned to meet Thursday with supply chain officials.
According to the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure, there were 35 major bridge collapses worldwide due to ship or barge collisions from 1960 to 2015.
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Sarah Brumfield in Washington and Krutika Pathi in New Delhi contributed to this report, with Brian Witte reporting from Dundalk, Maryland.
