Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Collapses After a ‘Ship Strike’
“Officials confirmed six people are still unaccounted and two people have been rescued.”
Maryland officials are still conducting a search and rescue after a ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore at 1:30AM ET.
The Dali sailed under a Singapore flag. It was headed to Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Those on the Dali told authorities they lost power before the ship hit the bridge.
The alert gave the Maryland Transportation Authority Police enough time to prevent a lot of cars from going on the bridge.
After the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore was hit by a cargo ship around 1:30 a.m. on March 26, it collapsed. The incident is considered a “mass casualty event” by first responders. pic.twitter.com/5k3EtRFqtn
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) March 26, 2024
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
There are a lot of comments at X asking if the helmsman was a DEI hire, given the policies of the ship’s owners.
I’m more curious about the engine crew because a) a harbor pilot was at the helm, and v) the big amount of smoke before the collision.
My comments keep crashing- will try yet again. I read that the smoke came from a desperate attempt to back up the engines. I know nothing of ships except that they are suppose to float.
This was an attack. Maybe cyber, maybe otherwise.
But that ship hit that bridge support DEAD center, and was making course changes to ensure that it hit it.
What appears to be a “course change” can be attributed the the current, the tides, the loss of power to the rudder and the fact that the crew dumped the port anchor.
Sorry that the facts don’t fit your scenario.
Current, tides, wind and the setup to the bridge via the dredged channel combined with a possible power outage. Not everything is a terrorist attack
Paranoia strikes deep in you, man.
Epoch Times says questions still remain regarding the collision, so I don’t think Olinser is paranoid at all!
Of course questions remain, it happened today.
To quote Captain Freud:
“Sometimes a shipwreck is just a shipwreck”
Thankfully we have top notch expert investigators like you on the job to report your findings, including words in all caps. I look forward to the next issue of your newsletter.
I’m sure investigators will be all over this, including ones NOT controlled by the govt – private liability to the rescue.
But if the ship lost engine power it seems contra intuitive to conclude that they were able to steer into bridge supports.
The only definitive thing one can say is that all the facts have not been disclosed. Was it going too fast? If so why? Remote vulnerabilities? Internal sabotage? It could have been accidental. I just wouldn’t presume anything at the present accept that the FBI is probably lying.
The ship would be under control of the harbor pilot, not the captain. It appears that the ship underwent an electrical failure, that would pose a question as to who is at fault. The pilot would be controlled by a government body, Federal or State. So, DEI is in play.
Over at “What is Going on With Shipping?” on YOuTube is a very good initial review of the disaster. Why the ship lost power is the key issue. The harbor pilot only directs the captain and does not personally command the ship. As can be seen, there are two major power outages and then port anchor dropped as the ship drifts right…. Was the rudder operative?
Looking back at Titanic. When they reversed the outboard screws, the center screw powered by the turbine was not giving authority to the rudder. The lingering point is that not reversing the engines and maintaining the center screw might have steered the ship away from the berg.
FYI the center screw on the Titanic could not reverse, and the ship was going at a good clip too.
True…. the two triple expansion engines powered the turbine… but only going forward…. As I said.. .maintaining the center screw. It was a good clip and perfect weather and sea conditions to NOT see an iceberg until right up on it. Smith should have forgotten the Blue Ribbon and backed the speed back regardless of Ismay.
Was it going at a “good clip”? Faster than other similar ships in the same circumstances? If so why?
Concise:
There was the “Blue Ribbon” for the fastest trip across the ocean. This was usually a competition for the maiden voyages for this class of ship. Titanic was supposed to be the fastest ship. As to why Smith chose to not slow down in known ice berg area will never be known. Other newly christened ship didn’t go for the speed but for the luxury of the cruise. It was a moonless night with mirror flat seas and totally calm. The scouts in the crow’s nest didn’t have binoculars. The perfect setup to overrun a berg. So… it was a speed run …..
Nah, you are talking about a Port of Baltimore Pilot’s job. Ain’t no government on earth strong enough to force those guys to hire anybody who isn’t in “the family”. Seriously, Harbor Pilots are a closed club.
Yes….i work for a company that specializes in forensic engineering that will probably have experts out there collecting evidence. The insurance liability here is so gigantic and there will be multiple private and public investigators on the case. The fact that we have video helps tremendously, but the chances that this was intentional—-and the public will not know because of a cover up——well, the chances are not zero, but it’s getting there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZbUXewlQDk
explains the smoke. also mentions fact port anchor was dropped (unable to see starboard) to try to stop/slow.
In the report above, it states the boat was registered from Singapore bound for Sri Lanka. I don’t think it had a lot of diversity, just 3rd world parts.
Don’t know what happened but I am not willing to accept the word of the rancidly corrupt FBI.
Baltimore is over 60% black.
How long before biden cabinet secretary of transportation buttigieg claims this is fault of racist roads and bridges infrastructure?
#StopCaissonHate
Things happen when those caissons go rolling along
It was named after the writer of the National Anthem. Way too racist.
Renaming it as inclusive People’s Republic of Baltimore Bridge would have prevented this tragedy.
It will be renamed
Let us know as soon as you hear something to that effect.
Please, get over it. You are just as bad as the racists who blame everything on racism.
Watching the video on X, there were several semis and smaller vehicles crossing the bridge moments before the ship took out the bridge. Some very lucky people.
One of my wife’s drivers crossed the bridge 13 min before the collapse. She pinged him on the bridge at 0109
Ships are supposed to have voyage data recorders. I wonder if we will hear about that.
They are. The good news is that while much in America is hopelessly broken, the NTSB is still a world-class agency. Their report will be delivered in exacting detail. If VDR data is available, it will be included.
The problem is the VDRs are notoriously inoperable, either through neglect or they’re simply turned off. For a variety of reasons, the use of a VDR isn’t as meticulously enforced as its analog is in aviation. There was a fatal accident in the Bahamas a couple years ago involving a large passenger yact (300+GT) and a bulk carrier. The bulk carrier’s VDR was inoperable and had been for years, apparently and the yacht’s VDR was not powered on (the breaker had been intentionally tripped).
How long before woke progressive leftists clamor for renaming of bridge after rebuilding?
I’m sure you’re on the edge of your seat hoping they do so.
The George Floyd bridge is the replacement.
I heard it will take your breath away.
Now that’s some funny sht !!!
Parts of the bridge remained standing, which suggests they were overbuilt. Everything ought to turn to dust at once in a properly designed structure, like the one horse shay.
The resident rape apologist is also a civil engineer apparently.
The parts that I saw that were still standing were primarily the approaches to the bridge portion. And, perhaps some of the bridge that was at least 2 spans away (I am unsure if that side is just approach or more of the bridge.)
So I see they lost power and I guess just the current pushed them. That would explain why the video looks like they are steering toward the bridge support.
If a ship of the size loses propulsion, it will continue to move forward for miles…plus whatever the current is.
There are other factors involved in this as well.
One key thing that is missing is that we do not know the status of the rudder and whether it was turned, straight ahead or fluttering. We do not know the method used to turn the rudder. (Whether it “steers” via electric motors, a pure hydraulic system, or whether the rudder was “fluttering.”)
What is also missing is that the crew dumped the port side anchor. When that occurred is unknown, but they did lower the anchor which also would affect the heading of the ship.
They were probably using reverse thrust, which unsteers the ship. They’d have been better off coasting straight.
The ship had lost power which meant it lost propulsion.
Even when the power comes back on for an instant, it goes off again.
These are huge engines and they don’t spin up, down or reverse at the drop of a hat.
For clarity, the size of Dali is 32 meters less than the USS Nimitz, and 5,ooo tons less in displacement.
The Dali is not a jet ski or a skiff.
It looked like the anchor was dropped just before the puff of black smoke. That black smoke was probably the captain putting her hard back once he regained propulsion. Like so many gigantic container ships, the Dali was single screw. If they did indeed put the engines in hard reverse, the bow would have gone to starboard/aft to port, which is likely why they dropped the port anchor. Of course, even with all that, it would have taken a couple thousand meters to stop the vessel.
It may seem silly, but a lot of people think that stopping a boat or a ship is just like stopping a car. They forget that watercraft do not have brakes.
Booty-Edge-Edge will quickly demand that the lack of sea brakes must be fixed.
Grow up. Stop your lurid fantasizing about Booty-Edge.
Economic lynchpin for a struggling shithole
Baltimore, the oakland of the east coast.
smh
It’s a by-pass for the most part. While a bit out of the way for most people, the Key Bridge helped move traffic up and down 95 when 695 was packed.
You never have been on 695 during rush hour. This baby is going to hurt a good 45 mins. more.
You do not know what the fuck you are talking about. 695 is the beltway around Baltimore.
Look on a fucking map asshat.
The Key Bridge is part of 695 – not 95.
The Key Bridge is in no way a “by-pass.” The bridge was built back in 1977 to take pressure off of the Harbor Tunnel (now 895.) It allowed people to get to and from the east side of the City without having to go through it from via the Harbor Tunnel.
Since 1977, a straight shot through the city on 95, including the Fort McHenry Tunnel under the harbor has been completed.
It is the beltway around Baltimore. Many people drive around the East and West side of 95 (695) when the main 95 route is backed up.
I was born and raised in Baltimore, my family still lives in Baltimore, I drive through and around Baltimore frequently.
AF_Chief_Master_Sgt, you wrote:
You then doubled down by saying:
The Key Bridge did not help move traffic up and down 95 other than to be bridge to the east side of the City. It did not, as you claim, do anything to help when 695 is packed. Interstate 95 through the City was not built when the Key Bridge opened in 1977.
Frankly, you have your highways switched.
The Key Bridge was built to relieve traffic on the Harbor Tunnel – not 95. The bridge allowed access to the east side of town including Dundalk, Glen Burnie (to an extent,) Pasadena, and Essex. The Key Bridge completed the Beltway (695) encircling the City.
Once again, in 1977, 95 was not completely running through Baltimore at all.
The Fort McHenry Tunnel was built next. It also helped take pressure off of the Harbor Tunnel but the long term goal was to eventually connect to 95 running through the City.
The last step was the completion of 95 running more directly through the City inside the east side of Beltway (695) while 83 and Rte 40 handled the traffic out of the City in the west side.
Don’t try to big dog me. And don’t try to make the logical fallacy of arguing from “experience.” I can beat that easily. My parents moved to Baltimore pre WWII. I was born and raised in Baltimore. I moved to Florida for a long time, but after the deaths of my parents, I moved back to the Charm City.
Furthermore, when the Key Bridge was opened, they had a “walk-over” of the bridge, allowing pedestrians onto the bridge. I was there.
Were you?
You may drive through frequently.
I live here.
That harbor is not just a bypass.
I never said the Harbor was a bypass. What I said was that the Eastern portion (thus the Key Bridge) of 695 is more of a bypass than the main route.
Beautiful reporting. Thanks for including the Mayor’s et al info; well done and well done Baltimore.
The only good news in this tragedy is how much the Port of Baltimore has shrunk over the last two-decades. I’m not even if sure if it’s a top 20 port anymore. So, while there will certainly be a disruption felt, it won’t be nearly as impactful as it would have been had this happened Long Beach or New York, for example.
Perhaps. Still according to USA Today there are 40 ships “trapped” in the harbor and another 30 waiting to come in. Just a couple years ago one of those massive cranes (made in China, of course) was brought into Baltimore to assist with loading and unloading. (Traffic across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was stopped when the crane passed under because it was so tall there was concern drivers would be distracted causing accidents.)
Read another post elsewhere making the arguement that the loss of the bridge is the least part of this disaster – the bridge rubble being the really really bad part….
Apparently the port receives over a million cars every year. If you think new (and used) cars are expensive NOW, wait until that shortage affects prices. Unless other ports can take up that much slack.
Even if the nation has enuf excess port capacity to cover, the local economy will be impacted. Over 100,000 jobs (direct and indirect) lost apparently until the port is reopened, and delivery contracts lost to other ports may not return very fast.
Biden has already said the Feds will front the money to rebuild the bridge – for once he’s arguably doing his job even if his real reason is just to buy Maryland votes. Hopefully the clearing of the passage will proceed at once. Liability money from insurance can be collected later, get work started now.
Going forward, at this bridge AND similar ones it might – for once – be reasonable for a new regulation. One requiring not just a harbor pilot but also one or more harbor tugs to ensure no recurrence of ship meets bridge where the bridge in question is liable to collapse if hit blocking a major waterway.
He’s buying votes that are already his. Biden is a dumbass.
Will the design of the new bridge be argued over for over a decade like they did with the San Francisco Oakland Bay bridge?
“Ship Strike” A term invented on 26 March 2026. Thank God my parents never sent me to government school. Did the girl mean collision? Or cataclysmic collision?
its a known term.
one example
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/insight/understanding-vessel-strikes
Ha Ha, near hit.
Excellent analysis of the collision.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=1QuwyV7Mc4GpwlGu&fbclid=IwAR0a1LZjKSp-UK1PNJ937m0GbpgZ9BvZAZ8KyU98rCOsm1htYNLCmzq4lGw_aem_AdxI0TqSFdr5dL7STGvDaA4ATvib8c-5RdZ7OhpBDW09UddNFYCFyKNRHFoEefvxbeM&v=N39w6aQFKSQ&feature=youtu.be#menu
back in the 1980s we had tugs outbound to ft carroll, and inbound from the same which is just outside of the key bridge,….for just a situation as this
It’s shocking they don’t have mandatory tug support until that bridge is cleared.
now, this liberal shithole will want the whole country to chip in
get the money from NYC
no more conservative money for liberal shitholes
While I agree that the taxpayer should not send money to liberal shit holes, the 695 East bound beltway is a major bypass for traffic up and down 95.
This section of 695 is as important to the East coast as is the entire 95 interstate from Florida to Houlton Maine.
Disclosure. I was born in Baltimore, was there when the Fort McHenry Tunnel and the Key Bridge didn’t exist, and recall the traffic on 695 and the Harbor Tunnel (one tube at the time).
Then Baltimore Mayor Willie Don Schaffer (followed by Maryland Comptroller), and the governors at the time, had enough sense to work with the feds to add another tube to the Harbor Tunnel in the 80’s, build the Key Bridge in 1977, and build the McHenry Tunnels.
I commend the actions of the leadership, law enforcement, and the Baltimore Fire Department (both Baltimore City and Baltimore County) for their efforts to close the bridge to traffic, as well as their actions follow this incident.
“liberal shitholes”
Another stunningly articulate commenter weighs in with their brilliant opinion on commerce.
You and a few others object to accurate characterizations of Democrat-run-for-decades, or blue, cities and districts a little too strenuously. The predictions these posters make are perfectly logical extensions of trends observed over these same decades — the nationalistic penchant for renaming stuff, for example.
Why is it you guys find accuracy so morally repugnant? Real question.
I heard ISIS-K did it/s
Time to short sell Walmart /s
Boat Captain was paid $5500
That’s the cost of a tugboat escort. Ship didn’t pay.
That’s effectively the cause of this disaster.
My daughter called us to talk about this within hours after the accident.
Poor pier design, no safely refits.
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/03/26/nation/the-latest-expert-says-bridge-didnt-appear-to-have-pier-protection/
This has happened to other bridges. The question is why the bridge didn’t have protective barriers. It’s a foreseeable event.
Because I would assume that when the bridge was built the pier protection was deemed adequate to protect the piers and the bridge in the event of a collision. But was time passed and ships became larger and heavier nobody thought to upgrade the protections in the event one of these larger ships collided with the pier. So there we go and here we are.
So Sully was not the pilot on this one?
Joe Biden lyingly claimed during his press conference that he was on that bridge often, taking the train to commute back and forth to DC….
https://twitter.com/i/status/1772672098189656070
The FSK Bridge is a road. There is no rail on that bridge and the NE Corridor Amtrak line from Washington to NY does not go anywhere near that bridge.
There is no way President Biden ever drove over that bridge when driving between DC and Wilmington. He would have taken I-95 through the Fort McHenry Tunnel or I-895 through the Harbor Tunnel. If it was backed up, he would have taken the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and driven up the Eastern Shore. Just another unnecessary lie.
Maybe not.
Driving from Wilmington. Biden could have taken I95 all the way south the Baltimore, then taken 695 east around the city which would have taken him over the Key Bridge. From 695, he could have picked up the Baltimore Washington Parkway (295) south of Baltimore, which is a nice drive because of trucks not being allowed on the Parkway. Or he could have continued past the B-W Parkway to the 95 / 695 interchange and then headed south to Washington.
The Bay Bridge is not really an alternative because it would require traveling on Route 50 and then through Annapolis which is much slower.
That being said, there is no way he took a train over the Key Bridge. The train would have taken him through the heart of Baltimore stopping at Penn Station in the downtown area.
It is, as you say, another unnecessary, and in some ways, insulting lie.
“That was Beau’s favorite bridge. His last words before dying were about that bridge. Every time I think of this bridge, I think of my son.”
train or his car.
Idiotic. It’s not a railway bridge. We’ve lived in the DC area for almost 40 years. When driving North toward NY, Philadelphia, New England, through Delaware, I don’t think we’ve ever crossed it. It’s well to the South and East of I-95.
We’ve been under it a number of times.
just east, not south, but parallel
I don’t know why somebody downvoted my correction to what he actually said on the video…
Listened to the news all day but never heard one word from Buttergeiger Sec Of Transportation.
This was a near duplicate of the Sunshine Skyway disaster 44 years ago. When they rebuilt the bridge they put massive concrete protectors around the bridge supports on either side of the shipping channel. Federal government was instrumental in mandating and overseeing the design. At the time their was discussion to retrofit these barriers to existing bridges that had large ships passing under the bridges. Like all good ideas it died when it came to funding. The FSK is part of the interstate system and thus is a federal responsibility for design and engineering. State DOT is responsible for road and bridge maintenance only.