Cargo ship had ‘routine engine maintenance’ before fatal crash
THE cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent “routine engine maintenance” in the port beforehand, the US Coast Guard has said, as divers recovered the bodies of two of six workers who plunged into the water.
The others were presumed dead and officials said search efforts had been exhausted.
Investigators began collecting evidence from the cargo ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The bodies of the two men, aged 35 and 26, were located by divers in the morning inside a red pickup submerged in about 25ft (7.6 metres) of water near the bridge’s middle span, Colonel Roland L Butler Jr, superintendent of Maryland State Police, announced at an evening news conference.
The victims were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Col Butler said.
All search efforts have been exhausted, and based on sonar scans, authorities “firmly” believe the other vehicles with victims inside are encased in superstructures and concrete from the collapsed bridge, Col Butler said.
A co-worker of the people missing said on Tuesday that he was told the workers were on a break and sitting in their trucks parked on the bridge when it crumpled.
US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said at a news conference that authorities had been informed that the ship was going to undergo the maintenance.
He added that they were not informed of any problems.
The ship collided into a support pillar early on Tuesday, causing the span to collapse. The bodies of two of six workers who plunged into the water were recovered on Wednesday.
The investigation picked up speed as the Baltimore region reeled from the sudden loss of a major transportation link that is part of the highway loop around the city.
The disaster also closed the port that is vital to the city’s shipping industry.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) boarded the ship and planned to recover information from its electronics and paperwork, NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said.
The agency is also reviewing the voyage data recorder recovered by the Coast Guard and building a timeline of what led to the crash, which federal and state officials have said appeared to be an accident.
The ship’s crew issued a mayday call early on Tuesday, saying they had lost power and the vessel’s steering system just minutes before striking one of the bridge’s columns. At least eight people went into the water. Two were rescued, but the other six – part of a construction crew that was filling potholes on the bridge – were found dead.
The debris complicated the search, according to a Homeland Security memo described to The Associated Press by a law enforcement official. Maryland governor Wes Moore said the divers faced dangerous conditions. “They are down there in darkness where they can literally see about a foot in front of them. They are trying to navigate mangled metal, and they’re also in a place it is now presumed that people have lost their lives,” he said.