Do you know about the Baltimore bridge collapses and how the giant cargo ship struck a bridge? What’s the reason behind mishappening which leads to the loss of lives and millions of dollars? What investigation shows the dark reality of the bridge collapse incident? In case, till now you don’t know about the Baltimore bridge incident. Then you are in the right place because in this article we are going to provide a deep analysis of the saddening bridge incident and how it affected the economy of America.
Know About Baltimore Bridge Collapses
A giant container ship which was carrying large containers struck and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in the early morning of 26th March. Many officials have put their efforts to recover the bodies of the victims, remove all the vessels and reopen the city’s port as soon as possible. They have collected all the remains or debris of the bridge and ship to clear the channel.
The port was one of the busiest ports in the world where all the transportation business takes place from one country to another country. As per a few reports almost 200 ton pieces of the bridge have removed and also the official has brought a crane to lift 1,000 tons. There is a possibility to reopen the port by the end of April , said by the U.S. Army Corps of engineers. The federal investigators have said that they are interviewing the key crew members and also examining the data recordings. But the investigation about the ship crash could take years.
The bridge is a critical transportation link on the East Coast and the incident has become America’s deadliest bridge collapse. About six construction workers went missing in the incident; few bodies have been recover. Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland and the FBI has said that there is no evidence that it was a terrorist attack.
Reason Behind the Baltimore Bridge Collapses
Reason is still not clear why Baltimore Bridge Collapses. The investigator from National Transportation Safety Board stepped into the ship on the night of 26 March to gather documents. They have obtained data from the data recorder. The data has sent to the authorities to develop the timeline of the events. The cargo vessel was a 985-feet-long vessel called Dali.
The cargo ship was leaving the port of Baltimore; it had a complete power shut-down along with the navigation equipment. They made a call before crashing into the critical component of the bridge. The emergency worker said that the crew was struggling to steer the ship, as per the audio published by Broadcastify. The ship was traveling nine miles per hour, the official said.
More Details of Baltimore Bridge Incident
- Reopening the Port: The shipping port in Baltimore will partially reopened by the end of April said by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
- Trapped in the Steel: Around twenty two crew members from India were stuck in the stip that struck the Francis Scott Bridge.
- Barries: The bridge did not had an fender system to prevent the ship from colliding into the bridge.
The audio from a Maryland Transportation Authority channel has shown that the mayday call through which the officers close the bridge and rapidly shut down the traffic. The effort has prevented the cars from being onto the bridge during the collapse and saved lives.
Victims of The Bridge Collapse Incident
In the bridge collapse, two victims were recover on 27 March. The victims were identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes who was 35 years old and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera who was 26 years. Md. Mr.Fuentes was from Mexico and Mr. Cabrera is from Guatemala.
The authorities have announced that divers have recovered the body of Maynor Yasir Suazo Sandoval who is 38 years old from Honduras. The other three people who died in the collapse were named Jose Lopez from Guatemala, Carlos Hernanadez from Mexico and Miguel Luna from El Salvador.
When Maynor Yasir Suazo Sandoval was 20 he left Honduras in search of a job or economic opportunity in the United States. There he met his wife in Baltimore and so had two childrens. He has opened his own business and he operates a small fleet of delivery trucks said by his brother Martin Suazo. But during the pandemic his business was forced to close and then he took a job repairing roads and bridges.
Jose Lopez is one of the first people in his family to leave Guatemala to start a new life in the United States. In the 2000s, he shifted to Baltimore with his wife and he had two childrens, said by his brother Jovani Lopez. He started his job as a contractor, repairing roads on the bridges.
Miguel Luna was married and also had three children, he had been living in Maryland . As per few sources for at least 19 years.
Details of The Ship and Its Crew
The cargo ship departed from Singapore and headed for Colombo, Sri Lanka. As per the MarineTraffic, it is a maritime data platform. The ship was carrying around 4,700 containers according to Synergy marine. The ship had 1.5 million gallons of fuels and lubricant oil stored on it, said by Vice Adm. Peter Gautier, the deputy commandant for the operations for the Coast Guard.
There were 56 containers from 4,700 on the ship that contained harmful materials. Governor Moore has said that the state officials have sampled the water but they do not find fuel or any other harmful materials. There were about 21 members on the ship in which most of them were Indian citizens and there were no injuries to those on the ship. The crew members stayed inside the ships, as it is normal for crew members to stay inside the damaged ship. It is necessary for the crew member to ensure that the crashed vessel does not cause further danger.
Chris James, who works as a consulting firm assisting Synergy Marine, has said crew members had sufficient amounts of water, food and fuel stored to keep the generator on. He has said that once the investigation is completed, then the authorities will replace the crew. Few people are in contact with the crew members, sending packages to show their support.
Bridge Cleanup and Recovery Process
The construction of the bridge was start in 1972 and it was complete in 1977. The bridge spanned 1.6 miles over the Patapsco River. The overall structure and the connectivity approaches was about 11 miles. The bridge used to carry about 35 million vehicles.
After the collapse of the bridge the entire vessel traffic was shut down and several ships were stuck in the port. Clearing the debris was really a difficult task and it will be cleared within a week, said by engineers and salvage experts. The Army Corps expected to open the port for the limited transportation by the end of April and permanently open it by the end of May. The corps are fully at their work to remove the debris and clear the channel. The President Administration said that they have allocated $60 million in emergency federal highway funds to build the bridge again. The army corps has brought a crane to lift 1,000 tons of debris from the water to help the authorities. They are also using sonar technology to see the twisted metals that have sinked into the bottom of the river.
After the collapse within a week two channels were temporarily cleared and open to allow small ships and vessels to transport from the port. Rebuilding the collapsed bridge can take several years, according to the engineers.
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Conclusion
The investigation is still going on and the federal investigators are searching for the answer to how the giant cargo ship got struck into the bridge and destroyed it within a minute. The cargo ship struck and sank the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26. According to our research the bridge started building in 1972 and it was completed in 1977. The port is one of the busiest ports across the world, from which major business transportation takes place. This mishappening and the deadliest bridge collapsed has shook the world. However, the river will temporarily cleared by the end of April.
