Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Being Hit by Singaporean Ship

Picture shows before and after the Baltimore Bridge Collapses

As reported by Reuters, a bridge in the East Coast Port City of Baltimore has collapsed after being hit by a Singapore Flagged cargo vessel, The Dali, according to a report carried by the BBC.

The 300-metre-long vessel was enroute to Colombo in Sri Lanka when it rammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge that spans Baltimore Harbour, which is adjacent to Washington DC.

At the time of writing, there are no confirmed casualties but Baltimore Police and Fire and Rescue Services confirm that there are vehicles in the water and they are expecting a ‘Mass Casualty Incident’. 

Videos on social media show the bridge to have completely collapsed after the vessel struck one of the support columns. The incident happened about 12.45 am local time (about 12.45pm in Kuala Lumpur).

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in better days, which forms a part of the Major Highway I-695 which is the orbital road for Baltimore, was a four-lane reinforced concrete arch bridge that spans the Potomac River and was, until this afternoon, 3 kilometres long.  It was constructed between 1972 and March of 1977 at a cost of USD60.3 million, until recently it carried 31,000 vehicles daily.

The ship was identified as the Dali, owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd and managed by Synergy Marine Corp. Synergy said the Dali collided with one of the pillars of the bridge and that all its crew members, including the two pilots, had been accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries.