Cargo ship performs engine maintenance before collision | Wilnesh News

The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday that the cargo ship that lost power and hit a bridge in Baltimore was in port for “routine engine maintenance” beforehand, and divers recovered two of the six workers who fell into the water when the ship collapsed. corpse.

Others are believed to be dead and officials said the search has been exhausted.

Investigators began gathering evidence Wednesday from the boat that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge the day before. Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Roland L. Butler Jr. announced at a news conference that the bodies of the two men were found in a red pickup truck that was submerged on the bridge in the morning About 25 feet (7.6 meters) of water near midspan. Evening press conference.

He identified the two men as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, from Mexico, living in Baltimore; Dorian Roniel Casti Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, from Guatemala, lives in Dundalk, Maryland.

Butler said the victims were construction workers repairing potholes on the bridge and came from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

“Estamos contigo, ahora y siempre,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told the family in Spanish at a news conference, which means “We are with you, now and always.”

Butler said all search efforts had been exhausted and authorities “firmly” believed based on sonar scans that other vehicles carrying victims were encased in the collapsed bridge’s superstructure and concrete. Once the waters are clear of debris, divers will return to search for remains.

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gillies said authorities had been informed that the ship would be undergoing maintenance.

“We have not been informed of any problems with the ship as far as the engines are concerned,” he said. “We were told that they would be performing routine engine maintenance on the vessel while it was at anchor. That is the only information we have about the vessel in this regard.”

The investigation intensifies as the Baltimore region is reeling from the sudden disruption of a major transportation line that is part of the Beltway. The disaster also closed the port, which is vital to the city’s shipping industry.

National Transportation Safety Board officials boarded the ship to recover information from its electronic equipment and documents and interviewed the captain and other crew members, NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy said at a separate news conference. Conduct interviews. She said there were 23 people on board at the time of the crash, including the two pilots.

Homendy said the ship also carried 56 containers of hazardous materials, including corrosives, flammable materials and lithium-ion batteries. She added that some containers had been vandalized and the sheen created by the materials in the water would be dealt with by authorities.

The agency is also reviewing a voyage data recorder recovered by the Coast Guard and developing a timeline of events leading up to the crash, which federal and state officials say appears to be an accident.

The ship’s crew sent a distress call early Tuesday, saying they lost power and steering minutes before hitting a pillar on the bridge.

At least eight people initially fell into the water, and two of them were rescued Tuesday, officials said.

The debris complicates the search, according to a Department of Homeland Security memo described by a law enforcement official to The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to discuss the document or details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Governor Moore said the divers were facing dangerous conditions.

“They were in the dark and could actually see about a foot in front of them,” Moore said, adding that they also tried to move through the broken metal.

One of the missing workers, a 38-year-old Honduran man who came to the United States nearly two decades ago, was described by his brother as entrepreneurial and hard-working. He started working for a company responsible for bridge maintenance last year.

The video shows the ship heading toward the 1.6-mile-long (2.6-kilometer) bridge at what Maryland’s governor said was about 9 mph (15 kph). Traffic was still moving across the span, with some vehicles appearing to flee with only seconds remaining. The collision caused the bridge to break apart within seconds and fall into the water.

A last-minute warning from the ship gave police enough time to stop traffic on the highway. One officer pulled into the driveway and planned to drive onto the bridge to alert construction crews once another officer arrived. But he didn’t get the chance as the powerless vessel hurtled into the bridge.

Attention has also turned to the container ship Dali and its past.

Synergy Marine Group, which manages the ship, said the collision occurred while under the control of one or more pilots, who are local experts who help guide ships safely in and out of port.

The ship, bound for Sri Lanka from Baltimore, is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Danish shipping giant Maersk said it has chartered the vessel.

The ship passed foreign port state inspections in June and September 2023. The Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement on Wednesday that a faulty fuel pressure monitoring gauge was corrected before the ship’s departure during an inspection in June 2023.

The ship flew the Singapore flag, and Singaporean officials said they would conduct their own investigation in addition to supporting U.S. authorities.

The sudden disruption of a highway that carries 30,000 vehicles a day, along with disruption at a critical port, would affect not only thousands of longshoremen and commuters, but also American consumers who may feel the impact of shipping delays.

Cat Watson commutes to work across the bridge every day and lives close to it, so she was awakened by the collision. “We’re going to feel it for a long time.”

The Port of Baltimore is a busy entry point for new cars made in Germany, Mexico, Japan and Britain, as well as coal and agricultural equipment.

Vessel traffic has been suspended indefinitely. Maritime risk management firm Windward Maritime said its data showed a significant increase in ships waiting to dock at ports, with some anchored in suburban Baltimore or near Annapolis.

At the White House, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the Biden administration was focused on reopening the port and rebuilding the bridge, which was completed in 1977. But he set no timetable for those efforts. He noted that the original bridge took five years to build.

Buttigieg also plans to meet with supply chain officials on Thursday.

Gilreath said barges, including some with cranes, are on their way to Baltimore to help clear the wreckage.

Homendy said the NTSB investigation could take 12 to 24 months, but the agency could issue emergency safety recommendations sooner. A preliminary report should be released within two to four weeks.

“This is a huge undertaking for the investigation,” Homendy said. “This is a very tragic incident.”

According to the World Water Transport Infrastructure Association, from 1960 to 2015, 35 major bridge collapses occurred globally due to ship or barge collisions.