Baltimore bridge collapse: Divers recover two bodies

The cargo ship that caused the Baltimore bridge to collapse was carrying hazardous materials, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a press briefing. 

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said there were 56 containers aboard, identified with hazardous materials, including corrosives, flammables and lithium ion batteries. 

She said that some of the containers were breached and there was sheen on the waterway that will be dealt with by authorities. 

Homendy told the media that the ship's voyage data recorder has been recovered.

She said that the probe into the crash could take 12 to 24 months but added that the NTSB will not hesitate to issue urgent safety recommendations during that period. 

In fact, a preliminary report should be released in two to four weeks, she confirmed.

"It's a massive undertaking for an investigation," Homendy said. "It's a very tragic event."

Divers have recovered the remains of two of the six missing workers, officials said.

According to Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent for Maryland State Police, a 35-year-old and a 26-year-old were recovered from a red pickup truck in the Patapsco River near the mid-span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The six construction workers who were missing and presumed dead were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Butler said.

He also added that further efforts to recover remains were being suspended because of the increasingly treacherous conditions.

One of the construction workers presumed dead in Baltimore was a 38-year-old father of two who dreamed of someday returning to his native Honduras, his brother has said.

Carlos Suazo told the Associated Press (AP) news agency that his brother, Maynor Suazo, had entered the US illegally 18 years ago and settled in Maryland, where he did construction and brush clearing work before starting a small package delivery business.

"He always dreamed of having his own business," he said of Maynor, the youngest of sibling among four girls and four boys. "He was someone who was always happy, was always thinking about the future. He was a visionary."

Carlos said Maynor had been in the process of applying for legal residency and planned to return to Honduras later this year to complete the process. In the meantime, other relatives have followed him north.

"He was the fundamental pillar, the bastion so that other members of the family could also travel there and later get visas and everything," Martín Suazo Sandoval said. "He was the driving force so that most of the family could travel."

He insists the family hasn't lost hopes his brother, who can swim, will be found alive.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has called on the federal government to "tear down any barriers, bureaucratic as well as financial" that could delay the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

He also addressed any Republicans in Congress who might be considering opposing federal support for the rebuild, saying infrastructure is a bipartisan issue.

"Today this is happening in [Democratic] Baltimore, tomorrow it could be their [Republican] districts," he said. "We really need to stand together, red blue and purple, to get these things done."

While recovery efforts continue beneath the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, insurers' thoughts are turning to the financial cost of the accident and the subsequent closure of the Port of Baltimore.

"While the total cost of the bridge collapse and associated claims will not be clear for some time, it is likely to run into the billions of dollars," Mathilde Jakobsen, senior analytics director at insurance ratings agency AM Best, told the Reuters news agency.

Ship liability insurance is provided through protection and indemnity insurers known as P&I Clubs. The International Group of P&I Clubs collectively insures approximately 90% of the world's ocean-going tonnage, with members mutually reinsuring each other by sharing claims above $10 million.

"While the total claim is expected to be high, it is unlikely to be significant for individual reinsurers since it will be spread across so many," said Brandan Holmes, an analyst at credit rating firm Moody's.

US President Joe Biden promised on Tuesday that the federal government would cover the cost of physically rebuilding the bridge up front. Initial estimates by economic software analysis company IMPLAN put those costs at around $600 million.

IMPLAN also estimated that the closure of the Port of Baltimore could cost the state of Maryland up to $28 million per month in revenues.

"The economic disruption and pain felt by businesses and individuals in Maryland and the Baltimore economic area will be widespread," said Julien Horn, responsible for ports, terminals and logistics at London insurance broker McGill and Partners.

"[It will] likely take years to fully comprehend and compensate those affected."

The President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, confirmed on Wednesday that three Mexicans were among those on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed.

He said one injured and rescued but that two are missing.

"This demonstrates that migrants go out and do risky jobs at midnight," he said, highlighting the contributions that migrant workers make to the US economy and adding:

"For this reason, they do not deserve to be treated as they are by certain insensitive, irresponsible politicians in the United States."

A grim search was continuing on Wednesday for the bodies of six construction workers who are missing and presumed dead following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge.

"We do not believe any of these individuals are still alive," said regional Coast Guard chief, Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath, as police and coast guard crews, including specialist divers, combed the disaster site.

"We do not know where they are," admitted Maryland state police officer Roland Butler. "But we intend to give it our best effort to help these families find closure."

Maryland Governor Wes Moore praised the divers who have spent hours in the frigid water.

"They are down there in darkness where they can literally see about a foot [30cm - ed.] in front of them," he said.

"They are trying to navigate mangled metal in a place it is now presumed that people have lost their lives. I cannot stress enough how remarkable these individuals are."

A truck which fell from the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it was hit by the Dali cargo ship has been pulled from the Patapsco River, according to a Homeland Security memo that was described to the Associated Press (AP) news agency.

But at least one other vehicle is reportedly still entangled in the metal ruins of the bridge.

German car manufacturers BMW and Volkswagen say they are expecting "short-term traffic delays" following the collapse of the bridge but no large-scale disruption to supply chains, according to the Reuters news agency.

A spokesperson for BMW said the company uses the Port of Baltimore to import vehicles. However, the automotive terminal is located at the harbor entrance, in front of the bridge, and can therefore still be accessed.

For the same reason, a Volkswagen spokesperson said: "We do not anticipate any impact on vessel operations but there may be trucking delays as traffic will be rerouted in the area."

But Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Dimitris Psillakis told CNBC that it is "too early" to see an impact.

Baltimore police had about 90 seconds to close the Francis Scott Key Bridge before it was struck by the Dali cargo ship, radio recordings have revealed.

According to the Associated Press (AP) news agency, the mayday call issued by the ship crackled onto police radios, giving officers who just happened to be nearby about 90 seconds to stop traffic.

One officer parked his car sideways across the lanes and planned to drive onto the bridge to alert a construction crew once back-up arrived, but there was no time.

"The whole bridge just fell down," a frantic officer can reportedly be heard saying over the radio. "Start! Start! Whoever! Everybody! The whole bridge just collapsed."

At least eight people plunged into the water along with the bridge, six of whom remain unaccounted for and presumed dead. But it could have been worse.

"Literally by being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge, these people are heroes," Maryland Governor Wes Moore said of the police officers who responded. "They saved lives last night."

The data recorder of the cargo ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge has been recovered, an official told CNN on Wednesday.

Investigators from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) boarded vessel Dali and retrieved the recorder, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told CNN.

The recorder will be analyzed as part of the investigation, Homendy said. The NTSB will also look into whether dirty fuel contributed to the ship's power loss.

A construction crew filling potholes was on the bridge at the time of the crash.

At least eight people are believed to have been thrown into the frigid water when the bridge collapsed. Two were rescued on Tuesday.

Drivers returned to a search for the remains of six others believed to be dead as conditions improved Wednesday morning.  

Those missing include citizens of Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, according to diplomats from the countries.

A senior executive at the company that employed the crew, Brawner Builders, said they were working in the middle of the bridge when it fell.

"This was so completely unforeseen," said Jeffrey Pritzker, the company's executive vice president. "We don't know what else to say. We take such great pride in safety, and we have cones and signs and lights and barriers and flaggers."
 

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy and a team of experts were in Baltimore to investigate the crash. 

Federal and state officials said the crash is believed to be an accident, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation dismissing the possibility that there was foul play.

Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority vowed to assist US authorities in the investigation. The vessel Dali is Singapore-flagged.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, named after the poet who penned the lyrics to the US national anthem, was used by some 34,000 vehicles daily.

It was a key route in Baltimore, a port city on the US east coast. 

The collapse of the bridge has led to a suspension of ship traffic entering and leaving the Port of Baltimore.

It is also expected to have long term effects both on shipping and commuter traffic.

The tangled steel barrier that once made up Key Bridge now lies half-submerged across the harbor entrance, blocking almost all maritime traffic.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said it was too soon to give a time frame for clearing the channel, which is about 50 feet (15 meters) deep.

Transportation Secretary Buttigieg said the closure of the port, which handles more automobile freight than any other US port, would have a "major and protracted impact to supply chains."

Economists and logistics experts, however, have expressed doubt as to whether the port closure would lead to a major US supply chain crisis or spike the price of goods.

The loss of the bridge is also expected to congest roadways across Baltimore. 

The bridge, operational since 1977, spans the Patapsco River and is part of the interstate connection for drivers between New York and Washington seeking to bypass downtown Baltimore.

US President Joe Biden called the collapse a "terrible accident," and said he wanted the federal government to rebuild the bridge.

The timeline for reopening the Port of Baltimore and restoring the bridge is still unclear.

The 985-foot-long (300-meter-long) Singapore-flagged Dali cargo vessel was departing from Baltimore en route on a 27-day journey to Colombo in Sri Lanka. 

The ship was moving at 8 knots, which is roughly 9 mph (15 kph), when it lost control. 

The Dali has a gross tonnage capacity of 95,000. The ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and Danish shipping giant Maersk said it chartered the vessel.

The vessel has also been involved in previous incidents. 

In 2016, the Dali hit a quay in the port of Antwerp, Belgium as it tried to exit the North Sea container terminal.

And an inspection in 2013 carried out in Chile found "propulsion and auxiliary machinery" deficiencies. 

However, Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority said the ship passed two separate foreign-port inspections in June and September last year. And a faulty fuel pressure gauge was fixed.

Investigators said they recovered a data recorder Wednesday morning. The cause for the malfunction has yet to be determined.