A 2023 inspection of the ship in a Chilean port turned up a problem with the fuel heater’s pressure gauges, but it was corrected before the ship left the port, the Maritime Authority of the Chilean Navy says. Previous reports had indicated the June inspection of the Dali in Chile identified a problem with the ship’s “propulsion and auxiliary machinery,” according to the shipping information website Equasis, but the records didn’t elaborate.
The Latest on the ship crash that collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore:
Quick Read
- Ship Inspection in Chile: The Dali, a ship involved in the Baltimore bridge collapse, was inspected in Chile in June 2023, revealing issues with the fuel heater’s pressure gauges, which were corrected before the ship departed.
- Federal Memo on Truck Recovery: A Homeland Security memo indicates that one truck has been recovered from the water at the collapse site, but at least one more vehicle is still hanging from the damaged bridge structure.
- Legislative Support for Baltimore Workers: Maryland lawmakers are drafting emergency legislation to provide income replacement for workers affected by the bridge collapse, emphasizing the importance of the Port of Baltimore to the national economy.
- Diverse Nationalities Among Missing Workers: The six missing workers, presumed dead, hailed from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, showcasing the diverse backgrounds of those involved in the bridge maintenance work.
- Investigations and Recovery Efforts: Investigations into the collapse are ongoing, with recovery efforts for the missing workers resuming. The National Transportation Safety Board is analyzing data from the ship’s voyage recorder to understand the sequence of events leading to the collision.
- Pilot’s Attempts to Avert Disaster: The pilot on the Dali attempted to slow down the ship by steering hard to port and dropping the anchor after losing power, but was unable to prevent the collision with the bridge.
- Buttigieg’s Tribute to the Collapsed Bridge: U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg described the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge as one of the “cathedrals of American infrastructure,” highlighting its significance and the challenges ahead in rebuilding it.
- Hospital Discharge and Construction Worker Break: One individual involved in the collapse has been discharged from the hospital, while a construction worker reported that his missing colleagues were on a break, possibly in their trucks, when the bridge collapsed.
- Mexican President’s Remarks: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged the contributions of migrant workers to the U.S. economy and highlighted the situation of the Mexican workers involved in the incident, emphasizing the importance of treating migrants with respect and dignity.
The Associated Press has the story:
Baltimore bridge latest updates: Ship’s fuel heater pressure gauges had problem in 2023
Newslooks- Baltimore- MD. (AP)
A 2023 inspection of the ship in a Chilean port turned up a problem with the fuel heater’s pressure gauges, but it was corrected before the ship left the port, the Maritime Authority of the Chilean Navy says. Previous reports had indicated the June inspection of the Dali in Chile identified a problem with the ship’s “propulsion and auxiliary machinery,” according to the shipping information website Equasis, but the records didn’t elaborate.
The Chilean Navy said in a statement Wednesday that the ship had been inspected in the port of San Antonio on June 27, 2023, and that the pressure gauges of the fuel heaters “were detected to be illegible.”
The problem was corrected the same day, and the ship was able to depart, the Chilean Navy says.
The Dali was most recently inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard in New York in September 2023, and no deficiencies were detected, according to Equasis.
FEDERAL MEMO SAYS TRUCK RECOVERED FROM WATER
One truck has been recovered from the water, but at least one vehicle remains hanging from the metal, according to a Homeland Security memo that was described to The Associated Press by a law enforcement official.
The official was not authorized to discuss details of the document or the investigation and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
Gov. Wes Moore on Wednesday praised divers who have spent hours in frigid water.
“They are down there in darkness where they can literally see about a foot in front of them,” he said. “They are trying to navigate mangled metal and they’re also in a place it is now presumed that people have lost their lives, so the work of these first responders, the work of these divers, I cannot stress enough how remarkable these individuals are.”
LAWMAKERS SEEK TO HELP BALTIMORE WORKERS
Maryland lawmakers are drafting emergency legislation to help workers affected by the bridge collapse.
State Sen. Bill Ferguson, the Senate president, said he and a fellow Democratic lawmaker, Del. Luke Clippinger, are proposing income replacement for the thousands of workers who rely on daily operations at the Port of Baltimore. He said he spent hours Tuesday talking to dock workers, business owners and others.
“The human cost of lives lost yesterday is overwhelming and tragic,” Ferguson posted Wednesday on X. “The economic and stability loss to the thousands impacted in the days ahead cannot be understated.”
Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, also noted Wednesday morning the importance of the Port of Baltimore to the nation’s economy, saying the shutdown is affecting everyone from farmers in Kentucky to auto dealers in Michigan.
“It’s imperative that we get the Port of Baltimore back up and going, and it is not just about how we’re supporting Maryland,” Moore said. “This is about how we’re supporting the American economy.”
MISSING WORKERS CAME FROM SEVERAL COUNTRIES
Among the six missing and presumed dead after the bridge collapse are people from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, according to diplomats from those countries.
Guatemala’s consulate in Maryland confirmed that two of the missing were Guatemalan citizens working on the bridge. Mexico’s Washington consulate also confirmed in a statement posted on X that Mexican citizens were among the missing but did not say how many.
The Honduran man was identified as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval by that country’s deputy foreign affairs minister.
Father Ako Walker, a Catholic priest at Sacred Heart of Jesus, said outside a vigil that he spent time with the families of the workers as they waited for news of their loved ones.
“You can see the pain etched on their faces,” Walker said.
INVESTIGATORS HOPE TO BOARD SHIP TO COLLECT EVIDENCE
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy says investigators expect to have more information Wednesday on the timeline of events after information from a ship data recorder was sent to an agency lab.
Homendy says in an interview with WBAL-TV that the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the ship Tuesday and downloaded the voyage data recorder. It has been sent to the NTSB’s lab, and she says they expect to have information Wednesday on the timeline.
If the weather allows, Homendy says, investigators will board the ship to look for electronics and documentation. Their focus will be on collecting evidence.
Homendy said she hopes to have substantial information for the public later Wednesday.
RECOVERY EFFORTS RESUME FOR MISSING WORKERS
Recovery efforts have resumed at the collapse site.
Divers returned to the site early Wednesday after challenging overnight conditions improved. Maryland State Police spokesperson Elena Russo said in a text message that “recovery efforts are underway.”
The six people unaccounted for and presumed dead were part of a construction crew repairing potholes on the bridge.
ALL 6 MISSING WORKERS ARE PRESUMED DEAD
All six workers missing after a Baltimore bridge collapsed Tuesday are presumed dead and the search for them has been suspended until Wednesday morning.
Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent for Maryland State Police, said Tuesday evening that the search and rescue mission was transitioning to one of search and recovery. He said divers would return to the site at 6 a.m. when challenging overnight conditions were expected to improve.
The six people unaccounted for were part of a construction crew repairing potholes on the bridge. Police had stopped traffic on the bridge just before the crash and said there is no evidence that anyone went into the water other than the workers.
TRADE ASSOCIATION DIRECTOR SAYS SHIP’S PILOT TRIED TO SLOW DOWN
The pilot of the ship that caused the Baltimore bridge collapse tried to slow it down before the crash, the head of a trade association for maritime pilots said.
Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots’ Association, said he has been in close contact with officials from the Association of Maryland Pilots who described to him what happened as the ship approached the bridge. He said when the ship was a few minutes out, it lost all power, including to its engines.
The pilot immediately ordered the rudder hard to port to keep the ship from turning right and ordered the port anchor be dropped, which it was, Diamond said. The pilot also contacted a dispatch office to get the bridge shut down.
Diamond said widely circulated images show the ship’s lights turning off and then back on, sparking questions about whether the vessel had regained power. But, he said, the emergency generators that kicked in turned the lights back on but not the ship’s propulsion.
Every foreign-flagged ship entering U.S. waters must have a state-licensed pilot on board. Pilots board the ships before they enter local waterways and take “navigational control” of the ship, Diamond said, meaning they give orders for the ship’s speed and direction.
“These are among the most highly trained mariners in the world,” he said.
BUTTIGIEG THANKS FIRST RESPONDERS AND PAYS TRIBUTE TO COLLAPSED BRIDGE
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the path to rebuilding the collapsed Baltimore bridge won’t be easy or quick.
“This is no ordinary bridge. This is one of the cathedrals of American infrastructure,” he said at a news conference in Baltimore on Tuesday afternoon. “It has been part of the skyline for this region for longer than many of us have been alive.”
Buttigieg thanked first responders, including those still in the water as he spoke, and offered comfort to those “who woke up today to the news that no one wants to receive.”
“This is an excruciating day for several families,” he said.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he’s spent time with the families of victims. “The strength of these families is absolutely remarkable,” he said.
1 PERSON INVOLVED IN THE BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL
One person involved in the Baltimore bridge collapse has been discharged from the hospital, an official with the medical center said.
Dr. David Efron, the chief of trauma at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center, did not comment on the nature or severity of the patient’s injuries. The hospital has not released the patient’s name.
A cargo ship lost power and rammed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, destroying the span in a matter of seconds and plunging it into the river. Six construction workers are missing and presumed dead by their employer. One worker was taken to a hospital, a senior executive at the company confirmed.
COLLEAGUE SAYS MISSING WORKERS WERE ON BREAK WHEN BRIDGE COLLAPSED
A fellow construction company employee says he was told his missing co-workers were on a break and some were sitting in their trucks when a Baltimore bridge collapsed early Tuesday after being struck by a container ship.
Brawner Builders employee Jesus Campos says he learned about the disaster from a co-worker and immediately worried about colleagues he knew were working on the bridge.
“When he told me that, they came to mind and I was praying to God that nothing had happened to them,” Campos said, speaking in Spanish.
“It is so hard for me to describe. I know that a month ago I was there, and I know what it feels like when the trailers pass. Imagine knowing that it is falling. It is so hard, one would not know what to do,” Campos said.
Jeffrey Pritzker, the company’s executive vice president, said six workers are presumed dead. Campos says the workers ranged in age from about 30 to 45 and all had families.
MEXICAN PRESIDENT HIGHLIGHTS CONTRIBUTIONS OF MIGRANT WORKERS
The president of Mexico says three Mexicans were among the workers on the bridge when it collapsed.
Two of the Mexican workers are missing. The third was injured and rescued.
“He is safe now,” President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday.
López Obrador also highlighted the contributions migrant workers make to the U.S. economy.
“This demonstrates that migrants go out and do risky jobs at midnight, and for this reason they do not deserve to be treated as they are by certain insensitive, irresponsible politicians in the United States,” he said.
Currently:
— Police had about 90 seconds to stop traffic before Baltimore bridge fell. 6 workers are feared dead
— What we know about the Baltimore bridge collapse
— Baltimore bridge collapse and port closure send companies scrambling to reroute cargo
— Named for ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ author, Key Bridge was part of Baltimore’s identity
— Who was Francis Scott Key, whose namesake bridge fell?
— A list of major US bridge collapses caused by ships and barges
— Live Updates at APNews.com
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com
