March 28, 2024 - Baltimore Key Bridge collapse

The Maryland Department of Transportation has requested $60 million in federal emergency relief funding to assist in costs related to cleaning up the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge and rebuilding it, according to a Thursday news release.

The funds will “lay the foundation” for recovery, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.

Maryland Transportation Sec. Paul J. Wiedefeld sent a letter of intent informing the Federal Highway Administration of its plans to request funding to help with the costs of “debris removal, demolition, detour to restore, emergency repairs and design and reconstruction on I-695 and the Francis Scott Key Bridge.”

The letter sent Wednesday to Shailen Bhatt, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, said preliminary estimates of the damage are being assembled and emergency operations are underway. 

Tuesday’s catastrophe was not the first time a vessel has slammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was built in the 1970s. Four decades ago, another container ship that also lost power hit the same bridge — and it stood strong.

The dramatic difference in outcomes between the two accidents is an example of the dangers caused by the massive increase in shipping vessel size in the intervening decades.

A CNN review of public records and interviews with about a dozen bridge and shipping experts show that hundreds of bridges over US waterways were built decades ago when container ships were a fraction of the size and weight they are today. Bridges of the era when the Key Bridge was built weren’t designed to protect against collisions with ships as big as the Dali, the vessel that caused the Baltimore to topple.

The Dali has a capacity of about 10,000 20-foot equivalent units of cargo — compared to the approximate cap of about 2,500 20-foot equivalent units that could be carried by container ships in the 1970s, CNN has reported.

Here’s how that stacks up:

A heavy lift crane vessel will arrive at the Port of Baltimore later Thursday to help clear debris from the collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge, a senior White House adviser said, as the federal government reiterates its pledge to surge resources.

Tom Perez, the director of intergovernmental affairs, said that while salvage work has begun, officials are “incredibly sensitive to the notion that this is also the resting place for four fathers, for four brothers, for four sons.”

About the victims: Four workers who were on the bridge when it collapsed are presumed dead. The Maryland State Police said two bodies were recovered on Wednesday.

During an appearance on MSNBC, Perez reflected on visiting with “inconsolable” families of some of the victims this week, stressing the urgency with which officials are working to recover the remaining bodies. 

The workers were all immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Perez said the White House is working with family members abroad on the possibility of a humanitarian parole process for them to come to the US “for a limited period of time.”

People view the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge on Wednesday, March 27, in Baltimore.

The massive cargo ship crash into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore will likely lead to billions of dollars in liability claims. Marine insurance companies will be on the hook for much of the costs.

With various owners and companies involved – and with some maritime laws predating even the Titanic sinking – untangling the web, figuring out who owes what, and addressing the damages from both lives lost and to physical structures will be complex.

And paying for it will be no simple task. It’s still too early to know how much the final bill for damages and rebuilding, but insurers will have to foot the bill.

The Dali ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private, a Singapore-based company, and insured by the Britannia Protection and Indemnity Club. Britannia is one of the dozen marine insurance member clubs under the International Group of P&I Clubs, a consortium that provides marine liability coverage for 90% of ocean freight and pools liability claims among members. (The International Group of P&I Clubs did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.)

These insurance companies are backed by insurance companies of their own – a type of business known as a reinsurer. Around 80 different reinsurers provide around $3 billion in coverage to the Dali’s insurers, according to Moody’s analyst Brendan Holmes. Since the losses will be spread across so many insurers, it’s unlikely to bankrupt any of the companies or cause a major bump in insurance prices, he said.

Read more about the challenges paying for the bridge reconstruction here.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said that Key Bridge workers need to be protected following the span’s collapse in Baltimore.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks during a press conference in Baltimore on Thursday.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says there is a “very long road ahead” for rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

He said leaders from multiple local, state and federal authorities are gathering funds to rebuild the bridge.

“This work is not going to take hours, this work is not going to take days, this work is not going to take weeks; we have a very long road ahead of us,” he said.

Speaking at a news conference ahead of the Orioles’ home opener at Camden Yards, Moore said reconstruction would require the assistance of everyone in the region.

“Together, again we are going to have another reopening day — and that will be the reopening of the Francis Scott Key Bridge,” he said.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says “we are thinking about the families” of the victims who lost their lives in the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse earlier this week.

“Our hearts are with the families,” Moore said at a news conference ahead of the Orioles’ home opener at Camden Yards Thursday. “And to all the families, we are so sorry for this tragedy.”

Remember: Officials recovered the bodies of two construction workers Wednesday after the bridge collapse. They have been identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes from Mexico and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera from Guatemala. 

The six people who are presumed dead were from Mexico Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, according to Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., the superintendent of Maryland State Police. 

Sen. Chris Van Hollen speaks during a press conference in Washington, DC, on February 9.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen laid out the next steps for covering the cost of the collapse of the Baltimore Key Bridge, telling reporters this morning that an assessment is underway right now to determine the full cost of recovery.

Here is the breakdown of how the Maryland Democrat said the costs will be covered:

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval.

Carlos Suazo Sandoval, the brother of one of those presumed dead following the bridge collapse, said that the families of victims of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse have been prepared by authorities and experts on what to expect next.

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 38, was one of the construction workers who vanished after the bridge collapse, CNN previously reported.

Authorities have told the families they haven’t given up on recovering their loved ones, but they aren’t sure when that process will begin again. Debris must be removed from the water before more bodies can be recovered.

Experts have been preparing the families for what state the bodies might be in, if they are recovered, as it has been multiple days, and they may have been damaged by debris from the collapse.

Carlos Suazo Sandoval said, at this point, family members have accepted that more victims will not be found alive.

View of the Dali cargo vessel and collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26.

Baltimore was sleeping when the fully laden cargo ship, adrift and without power, slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, bringing it down in seconds.

The six people presumed dead from the tragedy couldn’t escape. They were maintenance workers — the kind of people few people notice but who do tough jobs through the night to keep the country running.

All of those missing were immigrants, outsiders who had come to the US from Central and South America for a better life. Their stories and aspirations mirrored the lives of millions of new entrants to the United States. They are far more representative of the migrant population than the extreme and misleading picture often spouted about migrants by Donald Trump. The Republican presumptive nominee often falsely claims foreign countries are entering their asylums and jails to send their “worst people” as a de-facto invasion force to the US.

Often, migrants do jobs that other people don’t want to do — the ones with the lowest wages and the worst conditions. Some do so to support families in the US and to lay the foundation of better lives for their children and grandchildren. Many send money home to support relatives who live in far less affluent economies.

The sacrifices of those missing, presumed dead in Baltimore on Monday night might be worth remembering when the anti-immigrant rhetoric cranks up again in the run-up to November’s presidential election. And when the Francis Scott Key Bridge rises again, it’s a good bet it will be immigrants who are building it.

The cranes for the Port of Baltimore are seen on March 27.

More than 48 hours after the collapse of the Key Bridge, dozens of vessels from as far away as Asia are still scheduled to arrive at the Port of Baltimore, according to maritime AI company Windward. 

As of Thursday morning, 59 vessels were headed toward the Port of Baltimore, up from the 54 vessels as of Wednesday afternoon. Most of those ships will need to be diverted to other East Coast ports due to the collapsed bridge, Windward said. 

The new tally includes 15 service vessels and one military/law vessel, according to Windward. The number of service vessels scheduled to arrive in Baltimore has increased, likely to help with the cleanup, according to Windward. 

Baltimore is the leading US port for vehicles, the import of sugar and second in the nation for coal exports. 

Most of the vessels headed toward Baltimore are coming from Europe, followed by South America, the Middle East and several from Asia, according to Windward. Logistics firm Freightos previously said seven container vessels were scheduled to arrive in Baltimore through Saturday.

Cranes stand over shipping containers at the Port of Newark on March 26 in New Jersey.

New York and New Jersey governors say the Port Authority can take on additional cargo in wake of the Baltimore bridge collapse, announcing they directed the agency to “further evaluate all available resources to minimize supply chain disruptions.”

The governors said they “will continue to work together to support our neighbors in Baltimore and consumers nationwide.”

On Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg predicted the restoration effort for the city and port won’t be quick. He warned of supply chain disruptions, saying, “The impact of this incident is going to be felt throughout the region and really throughout our supply chains.”

Rep. Chip Roy speaks at an event in Grimes, Iowa, on January 7.

Hard-right Republicans are signaling openness to federal dollars being used to pay for the replacement of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, but some want spending cuts to offset the cost.

Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, told CNN he would need to see what the request is and how it would be paid for. “If we gotta go set aside X billion dollars to deal with that port issue, then we should pay for it. Go find somebody who’s paid for it. And so well, I want to have those conversations,” he said. 

Rep. Matt Gaetz similarly stressed “we got to do what we got to do” to rebuild the bridge given the huge economic and trade impact.

The Biden administration has signaled it is open to reducing certain regulations to speed up rebuilding Baltimore’s Key Bridge, something Georgia GOP Rep. Andrew Clyde said is necessary. “The fastest way we could fix that bridge is to bypass a vast majority of the increased environmental regulations that have been put in place since the bridge was built,” Clyde said.

All 21 crew members are still onboard the Dali cargo ship, a senior official in India’s Ministry of External Affairs, who is familiar with the matter, told CNN on Thursday. Of the 21 crew members onboard the Dali, 20 are Indian nationals and are “in good shape,” official said. 

“One of them got injured slightly and needed to have some stitches, the stitches have been given and he has then gone back to the ship,” Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs said in a briefing. 

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation, is working to determine what occurred onboard Dali and also looking at the structure of the Key bridge itself in the wake of its collapse.

Synergy Marine Group, the company that managed the Dali cargo ship, extended its “deepest sympathies” to the families of the two people whose bodies were found in the Patapsco River after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. 

The company said one crew member was injured and had returned to the ship on Wednesday after being treated. “The ship managers have activated their mental health team to provide trauma counseling for crew members feeling distressed, and that service will continue,” it said.

The company said the NTSB began interviewing crew members and collected documents, voyage data recorder extracts, and other evidence as part of their investigation, adding “We will continue to cooperate with investigators throughout this process.” It also said its emergency response teams are on the ground in Baltimore and coordinating with officials “on all stages of the recovery and remediation efforts,” including participation in the Unified Command that has been established to provide information as it is available.

“We deeply regret this incident and the problems it has caused for the people of Baltimore and the region’s economy that relies on this vitally important port,” the company said. 

The Baltimore Orioles will honor the people who are presumed dead in the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse at the season opener on Thursday.

The team said the moment of silence will also pay tribute to the city’s “brave first responders who immediately stepped into action.”

The Orioles are scheduled to face the Los Angeles Angels at Camden Yards in Baltimore at 3:05 p.m. ET.

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval.

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 38, was one of the construction workers who are now presumed dead after the bridge collapse, his brother Martin Suazo told CNN.

Maynor Suazo was originally from Santa Bárbara in Honduras but moved to the US in search of a better life, his brother said. Maynor had lived in the US for the past 18 years. He was married with two children – an 18-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter, Suazo said.

One of eight siblings, Maynor Suazo was described by his brother Carlos Suazo Sandoval who lives in Baltimore as a kind and joyful person who had “vision.”

The Suazo family’s priority is to have Maynor’s body found, then they can move on to other worries, including the financial burden Maynor’s family may face, and telling their 72-year-old mother back in Honduras the painful news. The family plans to repatriate the body to Honduras if found, Carlos Suazo said.

Wreckage lies across the deck of the Dali cargo vessel in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 27.

More than 1,000 US Army Corps of Engineers personnel were activated to help clear the critical shipping channel where Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapsed.

Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, commander and chief of engineers, explained the team will approach the mission in three steps. Here’s what they are:

“We’re up to this task. We have what we need,” Spellmon said.

This post has been updated with additional information about the bridge collapse.

Even before most Americans woke up Tuesday morning to news of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, wild conspiracy theories about what supposedly had “really” happened were running rampant online.

The claims ranged from a cyber-attack or a ship captain impaired by side effects from Covid-19 vaccines being responsible for the crash – to claims that Israel, or even the Obamas had something to do with the bridge’s collapse.

All of these claims are entirely baseless. Officials investigating the crash said early on that there was no indication it was a deliberate act.

But that didn’t stop conspiracy theories from spreading rapidly across the internet, generating tens of millions of views on social media even as dive teams crews were conducting search and rescue operations. In just a few hours an entire alternate reality, devoid of facts, had been created around the bridge’s collapse.

It is a stark reminder of the erosion of trust among Americans in major institutions, particularly government and media, and the perverse online incentive structures that reward the sharing of misinformation.

Read more about the torrent of conspiracy theories that spread online following the collapse of Baltimore’s Key Bridge.

The coastal flood advisory for Anne Arundel county in Maryland — the county bordering Baltimore county to the south and includes Annapolis — has been extended into Thursday morning.

Coastal inundation up to half a foot is possible in low-lying areas of the county, and tides could be up to 1.5 to 2 feet above normal, according to the local Baltimore/Washington National Weather Service (NWS) office.

Baltimore is not under a coastal flood alert as of this write, though a small craft advisory for the Patapsco River goes into effect Thursday morning at 11 a.m. ET due to strong winds, according to the Baltimore/Washington NWS office.

Rain from Wednesday night going into early afternoon Thursday, and while light, the rain could still contribute to reduced visibility on the river.

Gusts are expected to reach up to 30 knots (34 mph) Thursday on the river, and patchy fog could reduce visibility to 1 to 3 nautical miles.

Baltimore’s forecast Friday calls for sunny skies and seasonal, with highs reaching the low 60s.

A Marine Emergency Team boat passes the wreckage of the Dali cargo vessel in Baltimore on Tuesday.

The bodies of two of the six construction workers who were on Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed have been recovered.

The bridge collapsed after a 984-foot-long cargo ship collided with one of its pillars.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore called the incident “a global crisis.”

Here’s what you should know:

National Transportation Safety Board investigators work on the Dali cargo vessel in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 27, in this NTSB handout photo.

The investigation into the cargo ship crash into Baltimore’s Key Bridge could take up to two years, according to National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy.

She called the investigation “a massive undertaking” and said there are “many different components to the investigation.”

“It’s multimodal,” Homendy said, noting that “this is not new for the NTSB.”

“We’ve conducted other investigations of bridge strikes, bridge collapses,” she said.

A senior hazmat investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board looked at the cargo and ship’s manifest, identifying 56 containers of hazardous material, agency Chair Jennifer Homendy said Wednesday.

Some of the hazmat containers “were breached,” she said, adding that sheen was seen on the waterway.

In an aerial view, cargo ship Dali is seen after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, in Baltimore, Maryland.

There were 21 crew members and two pilots onboard the Dali cargo ship when it crashed into Baltimore’s Key Bridge, according to the National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy.

The NTSB, which is leading the investigation, board will try to determine what occurred onboard Dali and also look at the structure of the bridge itself.

Read more about what investigators are working on.

Authorities are pausing recovery efforts for the four additional people who are presumed dead after the bridge collapse, Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., the superintendent of Maryland State Police said Wednesday evening.

“At this point, based upon the conditions, we are now moving from a recovery mode to a salvage operation,” he said.

The superintendent added that based on sonar scans, officials believe that the vehicles are “encased in the superstructure and concrete” of the bridge.

Butler Jr. added that there is “no definitive timeline” for how long the salvage phase will take, once it is complete, the divers will go back to the site.

Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., the head of the Maryland State Police, speaks during a press conference on Wednesday, March 27.

Officials have recovered the bodies of two of the missing workers who were on the Francis Scott Key bridge when it collapsed, the head of the Maryland State Police said Wednesday.

Col. Roland L. Butler Jr. said that shortly before 10 a.m. ET divers found a red pickup truck in about 25 feet of water.

He said Maryland State Police notified the families of those found about an hour ago. Their names were given as:

The workers, who were filling potholes on the bridge at the time of the incident, were from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, officials said.

Butler Jr. confirmed that both men whose bodies were found today were working for the construction company. One was identified by a driver’s license in his pocket, the other was identified by fingerprint, he said.

Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are the countries of origin for the six people who are presumed dead following the bridge collapse, Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., the superintendent of Maryland State Police, said Wednesday at a news conference.

“Again, I encourage you all to think about these people and those that they love and they lost. They’re going to need your love and support.”

Maryland has submitted a request to President Joe Biden’s administration for emergency relief funds “to assist in our work going forward,” Gov. Wes Moore said Wednesday.

Moore said he spoke to Biden Wednesday by phone.

Remember: Biden pledged the full support of the federal government in the response and recovery efforts after Tuesday’s collapse. His administration has already conveyed a sense of urgency to open up federal funding to remove debris and ultimately rebuild the bridge.