Ship hits Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, entire bridge collapses into the water
By Elizabeth Prata
I woke this morning to horrifying news. I’ll relate the news then below I’ll discuss a personal connection to the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
A container ship flying under flag of Singapore, the “Dali,” apparently lost power twice briefly just before passing under the Francis Scott Key Bridge, bouncing it off course for safe navigation under the bridge and causing a collision with a pier. This occurred at about 1:30 AM. The bridge immediately collapsed within seconds, taking whatever traffic was upon it into the Patapsco River, along with the iron trusses, concrete, and a construction crew working on the bridge.
Reportedly, the an officer on board the Dali called a mayday prior to the collision, alerting bridge workers to the danger. Thank the Lord he did, because workers were able to halt traffic from that moment on.
“Police radio traffic recorded at 1:27 a.m. captured responders rushing to evacuate and hold traffic on the bridge after an officer announced that a ship had lost control of its steering, according to records from Broadcastify, an open-source audio streaming service“, reports Washington Post. Sadly, not ALL traffic was cleared because reportedly 7 vehicles went into the water and also the construction crew who were on a meal break.
“The bridge is more than 8,500 feet, or 1.2 miles, long in total. Its main section spans 1,200 feet and was one of the longest continuous truss bridges in the world upon its completion, according to the National Steel Bridge Alliance.”
“About 31,000 vehicles a day use the bridge, which equals 11.3 million vehicles per year, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority.”
“The river and the Port of Baltimore are both key to the shipping industry on the East Coast, generating more than $3.3 billion a year and directly employing more than 15,000 people.”
The 1,200 feet (366 m) span bridge was the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland which crosses the Patapsco River has reportedly Collapsed within the last few minutes after being Struck by a Large Container Ship; a Mass Casualty Incident has been Declared with over a Dozen Cars and many Individuals said to… pic.twitter.com/SsPMU8Mjph
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 26, 2024
These were reactions on Twitter that I thought were of interest,
Justin Z, @JayZMD
Going to be a nightmare for a while. Daily Commutes, interstate Travel to and From NY/ Philly, Shipping to and From the Port of Baltimore, and Amazon has a huge facility right there.
David Hobby @strobist The port of Baltimore has also just been severed. Huge downstream economic impacts for the city.
0:21
I’ve sailed under that bridge and I’ve driven over it. The Patapsco River is an important river on the eastern seaboard leading to one of the busiest ports. It receives and sends a lot of container ships but what Port of Baltimore is known for is one of the largest if not THE largest roll-on roll-off ports. That’s items shipped that can roll on and off, like cars, farm machinery, anything that can roll. After the search and rescue turns to recovery and cleanup, which will take months, the port will be closed to all marine traffic. This will cause a disruption in many of our supply chains. Forbes wrote that the port closure will be:
“[P]otentially causing major economic interruption, as the bridge crossed over one of the largest ports in the U.S.—and the single largest port for cars. Besides the impact on car imports, 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo moved through the Port of Baltimore in 2023, worth more than $80 billion, the state said.“
“Outside of the maritime problems, the lack of the bridge will also affect the movement of goods and leave delivery drivers on the East Coast with fewer routes. A number of major companies also have distribution warehouses in an industrial park on the north end of the bridge, including Amazon, BMW, Home Depot, FedEx and Under Armour, Bloomberg reported.”
When I lived on our sailboat cruising up and down the Eastern Seaboard, we passed under the Key Bridge. It is named for Francis Scott Key, who witnessed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814. He was inspired upon seeing the American flag still flying over the fort at dawn and wrote the poem “Defence of Fort M’Henry” which when put to music became the Star Spangled Banner we know today. The Coast Guard sets a red, white, and blue striped buoy at the spot where Key had witnessed the British attack, in commemoration.
We sailed under the bridge, and up to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. We anchored there for a few days and saw the sights. Then we upped anchor and sailed back down the Patapsco. When we traveled across country in our VW camper, we drove across the bridge. It’s a nice looking bridge, and serves a highly important function- We used it to avoid the traffic around the city of Baltimore. It’s part of Rt 695, a beltway around the congested city.
As much as I like bridges and admire their architecture, I am not a fan of driving on bridges. I’ve always been scared of traveling over them. The Jamestown Bridge in RI was built in 1939 and opened in 1940. Our family used to go for “Sunday Drives” and we’d head over to Newport to enjoy looking at the Mansions from the Gilded Age. To get there you had to drive across the Jamestown bridge. There were metal grates on top that clacked loudly as you went over them. I used to worry about falling through and plunging to Narragansett Bay many feet below.
I’ve walked over the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, the Tower Bridge and London Bridge in London the Forth of Forth in Scotland, Chesapeake Bay bridge, 7-mile bridge in Florida, Sunshine Skyway, Golden Gate, sailed under AND traveled over the Brooklyn Bridge (as well as the other NY bridges). Some were white-knuckle traversals, others like Ponte Vecchio and 7-mile which are barely above the water were less anxiety inducing. I have a horrible fear of drowning in a car, unable to get out from some body of water the car plunged into.
I wonder if the people traveling over the Key Bridge had a fear of bridges or if they commuted that way and had become used to it. Either way, the Lord speaks truth. We all have a number of days to live. I cannot imagine the horror of driving over the bridge and suddenly the bottom drops out from under you. The drivers surely didn’t know what was happening exactly, except that death was coming for them.
We all must be ready to meet Jesus at any moment. Death is a specter we all face, the end of our fleshly existence can come at any moment. For 6 of the construction workers eating a meal in the shadow of the night lights from the port, suddenly they were tumbling down 185 feet to the 47 degree water below, to arrive at their final destination moments later. Which destination will it be for you when the end comes? You might not know it’s coming, as the poor unfortunate folks at 1:30 am last night didn’t. Our bodies die but life continues in heaven or in hell.
Repent of your sins to Jesus, who lived a sinless life, died on the cross absorbing the wrath for your sins, was buried, rose again, and ascended to heaven. If you repent He will forgive you and you will escape your due and just punishment because Jesus already took it. Be cleansed, be prayerful and repentant. If you are already saved, be grateful for salvation and His assurance as one of His children that on the day of your death you will be safe forevermore in heaven, alive and joyful.
