The outlook for Baltimore harbour after bridge collapse

The FBI has opened a federal criminal investigation into the deadly collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge as work continues to clear the wreckage after last month’s collapse.

In March, a container ship named Dali crashed into one of the bridge’s support pillars, sending the span crashing into Baltimore’s harbour and killing six construction workers who were thrown into the water. The six victims of the bridge collapse were all immigrants from Mexico and Central America who were fixing potholes on the road surface of the bridge.

The ship’s pilot and crew had reported a loss of power before impact and dropped anchor to slow the vessel, giving authorities barely enough time to halt traffic on the bridge, which likely prevented greater loss of life.

Replacing the bridge is likely to take years, but authorities have opened two temporary channels to allow some shallow-draft vessels, such as barges and tugboats, to move around the stricken cargo ship. But major cargo ships need a depth of at least 10.7m.

When was the collapse?

Shortly after 1am on March 26, the container ship Dali was heading out of the harbour along the Patapsco River on its way to Sri Lanka. At 1.24am, the ship experienced a power failure and all its lights went out. Three minutes later, the vessel struck a pylon of the bridge, and nearly the entire structure of the span crumbled into the water in seconds.

The disaster may be the worst US bridge collapse since 2007, when a design error caused the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis to plunge into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people.

What factors played a role?

Bridges such as the one in Baltimore are classified as “fracture critical” by the federal government — meaning that if one component or “member” of its primary structural frame fails, all or most of the span will collapse. There are more than 16,800 such bridges in the US, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board said fracture critical spans lack structural engineering redundancies that are common to newer bridges.

The Key Bridge opened in 1977, three years before a similar vessel collision into the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay, Florida, killed 35 people, and prompted bridge designers to provide better protections for foundation piers.

Cost of replacement?

President Joe Biden visited Baltimore and pledged federal help to rebuild the span, an idea some Republican legislators have resisted.

Federal officials have told Maryland legislators the final cost of rebuilding the bridge could soar to at least $2bn. To fully replace the bridge, Congress would need to approve funding, and there are growing signs of friction about using federal dollars to fund the bridge’s reconstruction.

The transport department on March 28 awarded $60m in “quick release” emergency funds to aid in clearing debris and begin rebuilding. Insurers could face billions of dollars in claims, analysts said, with one putting the cost as high as $4bn, which would make the tragedy a record shipping insurance loss.

Rebuilding could be a lengthy process and will depend on whether any of the remaining structure can be salvaged.

When will the port reopen?

The US Army Corps of Engineers expects to open a new channel for commercial shipping by the end of April and restore port access to full capacity by the end of May.

Closing the Port of Baltimore for just one month would cost Maryland $28m in lost business, according to economic analysis firm Implan.

What about the Dali?

The Dali was leaving Baltimore en route to Colombo, Sri Lanka, with a crew of 21 plus two pilots on board. All were safe and accounted for.

The ship is 289m long and was stacked high with containers. Safety investigators recovered the ship’s black box recorder, which provides data for the vessel’s position, speed, radar, bridge audio and radio communications, as well as alarms.

The same ship was involved in an incident in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016, when it hit a quay as it tried to exit the North Sea container terminal.

An inspection in June 2023 carried out in San Antonio, Chile, found the vessel had propulsion and auxiliary machinery deficiencies, according to data on the public Equasis website, which provides information on ships.

According to Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority, the vessel passed foreign port inspections in June and September 2023. The registered owner of the Singapore-flagged ship is Grace Ocean, LSEG data shows. Synergy Marine Group managed the ship, and Maersk chartered the vessel.

The bridge

The fallen bridge was one of three highway routes traversing the Baltimore harbour — the two others are tunnels beneath the harbour — and handled 31,000 cars a day, or 11.3-million vehicles a year. It crosses the mouth of the Patapsco River.

The bridge is named for Francis Scott Key, who wrote the words to the US national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, in 1814 after witnessing the British bombardment of the US garrison at nearby Fort McHenry.

Effect on the port

Shipping traffic was suspended at the port, the 17th largest in the country, idling some 15,000 workers whose jobs directly depend on port operations. The flow of container freight to Baltimore can likely be redistributed to bigger ports. However, there could be major disruptions in shipments of cars, coal and sugar.

Baltimore is the busiest US port for shipments of cars and light trucks, handling at least 750,000 vehicles in 2023, according to data from the Maryland Port Administration.

In 2023, the port was the second busiest for coal exports. It is also the largest US port by volume for handling farm and construction machinery, as well as agricultural products such as sugar and salt.

Reuters