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  • NTSB to hold hearing on Key Bridge collapse that killed 6 workers – WTOP News

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    The NTSB will hold a public hearing Tuesday on the 2024 crash and collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge across the Patapsco River in Baltimore.

    The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday is holding a public hearing into the March 26, 2024, crash and collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge across the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland.

    The NTSB said its board will vote on findings, probable cause and safety recommendations during the hearing.

    Six construction workers died when the container ship MV Dali struck the bridge around 1:30 a.m., bringing the structure down in less than a minute.

    Stacy Tetschner, CEO of the Virginia-based American Traffic Safety Services Association, said the tragedy underscores the need for worker safety.

    “You would have thought it was the safest time to be up there and that a vessel wouldn’t have lost power and crashed into the bridge like that,” Tetschner said. “These are six people whose families were relying on them, and so worker safety has to remain at the forefront of everything we do when we see people working out on the roadways.”

    The six workers who died were on the bridge to patch potholes when the ship hit:

    • Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, foreman
    • Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26
    • Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 38
    • Carlos Daniel Hernández Estrella
    • Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49
    • José Mynor López, 37

    Two other workers were rescued with injuries.

    The collapse is among the most expensive infrastructure disasters in U.S. history. Maryland officials said it will be remembered for decades.

    Officials estimate replacing the bridge will cost at least $2 billion, with federal funds and insurance expected to cover most of it. President Donald Trump has signaled he may revisit a congressional commitment made under former President Joe Biden’s administration to fully fund the replacement.

    Meanwhile, families of the victims, along with Maryland and Baltimore officials, have not reached a settlement with the ship’s owners and are pursuing lawsuits. The NTSB is expected to reveal the definitive cause of the disaster and issue safety recommendations to prevent similar crashes.

    “Sometimes there is a perfect storm, and it happens on occasion. Unfortunately, this is one of those times,” Tetschner said. “These aren’t just six random workers that were out working one night. These are six people that didn’t come home. Those are still six people, six people that deserve our respect and six people that deserve to be remembered.”

    In this aerial image released by the Maryland National Guard, the cargo ship Dali is stuck under part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the ship hit the bridge, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Baltimore. (Maryland National Guard via AP)

    What happened on March 26, 2024

    Video of the collision, seen worldwide, showed the ship’s lights flicker moments before impact. A backup generator restored power shortly after, but it was too late to steer the vessel away from a bridge support.

    The ship had just left the Port of Baltimore, beginning a voyage to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

    Investigators said the crew reported electrical problems before the crash, and moments before impact the ship suffered a “complete blackout,” drifting at low speed out of the shipping channel toward the 47-year-old, four-lane, 1.6-mile bridge that carried Interstate 695 between Hawkins Point in Baltimore and Sellers Point in Dundalk.

    The NTSB’s preliminary report was released May 10, followed by a Sept. 12 update that cited multiple electrical issues aboard the MV Dali. The ship experienced two electrical failures while docked in Baltimore the day before departure. Investigators believe a loose cable in the electrical system was the likely cause.

    Structural engineers with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials estimate the slow-moving ship, which is larger than three football fields, hit the Key Bridge with a force possibly eight times greater than a Saturn V rocket launch. A mayday call allowed police to stop traffic from driving onto the bridge before impact.

    Recovering from collapse and rebuilding Key Bridge

    The collapse disrupted freight traffic at the Port of Baltimore, the nation’s busiest port for what’s called ‘roll on, roll off’ cargo, such as cars, trucks and heavy equipment. Coal shipments were also affected. For 11 weeks, shipping nearly halted, though smaller channels were opened to move some cargo. Cleanup and recovery have cost at least $100 million so far, and litigation could last years.

    At the same time, the U.S. Coast Guard, Maryland officials and hundreds of highly skilled workers, including divers, welders and crane operators, removed tons of metal and other debris from the bridge to eventually open the full channel so the port could resume operations.

    Maryland officials have begun planning a replacement bridge.

    In February, Gov. Wes Moore unveiled a design concept with a 230-foot vertical clearance to accommodate larger container ships.

    The new cable-stayed bridge will be two miles long, slightly wider than the old span, and include two 12-foot lanes in each direction with wider shoulders, according to design renderings released in October.

    Construction is expected to begin next year and finish in late 2028.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Dan Ronan

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  • Baltimore dockworkers, still impacted by Key Bridge collapse, describe emotions about looming strike – WTOP News

    Baltimore dockworkers, still impacted by Key Bridge collapse, describe emotions about looming strike – WTOP News

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    Longshoremen in Baltimore, Maryland, still recovering from the impacts of the Key Bridge collapse, expressed their concerns about a looming strike.

    Click here for updates on this story

    BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore longshoremen, still recovering from the impacts of the Key Bridge collapse, expressed their concerns about a looming strike that could be devastating to the nation’s consumer supply.

    Thousands of dockworkers along the East and Gulf coasts, including in Baltimore, could strike if a new labor agreement is not reached by Tuesday, Oct. 1, with shipping companies represented by the U.S. Maritime Alliance.

    The International Longshoreman’s Association, which represents 45,000 dockworkers at three dozen U.S. ports, wants better wages and protection from job-killing automation.

    “I think once we exhaust our savings, I mean, we don’t know what the next move is going to be, so were are quite unprepared in all honesty,” said Baltimore longshoreman Alonzo Key.

    Dockworkers at the Port of Baltimore lost wages because of the port’s closure following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse last March. Next week, the port could once again see production come to a halt.

    East Coast and Gulf Coast ports handle roughly 43% of all U.S. imports and bring in billions of dollars worth of consumer goods, ranging from car parts, to produce and pharmaceutical drugs. A strike could also mean higher shipping costs and prices.

    “In terms of a strike, which we hope to avoid, everyone starts back at zero,” said Baltimore longshoreman Ryan Hale.

    Some of the longshoremen told WJZ they are prepared to strike but are nervous because they don’t know when their next paycheck will come.

    Alonzo Key said the dockworkers want to be compensated appropriately for the dangerous work they do.

    Union workers at ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast earn a base wage of $39 an hour after six years on the job. That is significantly less than their unionized West Coast peers, who make $54.85 an hour — a rate that will increase to $60.85 in 2027, excluding overtime and benefits, according to CBS News.

    “There are no second chances at the Port of Baltimore,” Key said. “It’s an extremely dangerous job.”

    Baltimore’s longshoremen filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Grace Ocean Ltd., and Synergy Marine Group, the Singapore-based owner and manager of the cargo ship that crashed into the Key Bridge, causing it to collapse, on March 26.

    The lawsuit, filed by civil rights attorney Billy Murphy, claims the longshoremen should be compensated for lost wages while the port was closed.

    “This is equivalent to a longshoreman to what the world experienced during COVID when everything stopped,” Ryan Hale said.

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    WTOP Staff

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  • First container ship arrives at Port of Baltimore since Key Bridge collapse – WTOP News

    First container ship arrives at Port of Baltimore since Key Bridge collapse – WTOP News

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    The MSC Cargo Passion III made it through the 35-foot temporary channel on Sunday carrying nearly 1,000 containers.

    ▶ Watch Video: Community leaders honor victims of Key Bridge collapse

    BALTIMORE — The first container ship arrived at the Port of Baltimore since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed more than a month ago.

    The MSC Cargo Passion III made it through the 35-foot temporary channel on Sunday carrying nearly 1,000 containers.

    “Another milestone today!” the Port of Baltimore said on social media.

    Four temporary channels have been opened since the bridge’s collapse on March 26.

    This fourth channel will only be open for a few days, but at 35 feet deep and 300 feet wide it will allow several ships that are stuck in the Port of Baltimore to get out.

    (Courtesy CBS News)

    “Around that 35-foot draft is where you’re really starting to get some of the inventory that’s coming onboard that had really been some of the hallmarks of The Port of Baltimore,” Maryland Governor Wes Moore said.

    The opening of these channels follows the largest of four recent openings on Thursday, which restored 15% of the pre-collapse commercial activity at the Port of Baltimore. The adjustment will allow large commercial ships that were stuck to depart and others to enter, including those carrying containers, vehicles, and farm equipment.

    Recreational boats allowed

    Recreational boats will also be able to pass through the Key Bridge collapse salvage area during specific hours.

    Larry Lewis has spent the last 20 or so years on the water. He says the opportunity to pass through the collapse site is important for recreational boaters, not just chartering businesses.

    “We have boaters and owners who are stuck on the other side of the bridge, and some who are trying to get out for maintenance and things done,” Lewis said.

    Traffic through the temporary channels will be strictly one-way, with outbound movements scheduled from 3:30 to 4:30 PM and inbound from 4:30 to 5:30 PM.

    “There’s going to be plenty of people out there that’s going to be directing and keeping this a very safe and orderly passage,” Lewis explained.

    Salvage effort at Key Bridge site ongoing

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is leading the salvage effort. The branch said its priority is to clear the main channel through the river to reopen access to the Port of Baltimore.

    Massive floating cranes are being used as wreckage and debris removal continues. Engineers have to break the mangled bridge into smaller pieces to lift them away, and Navy sonar images revealed wreckage in the deepest part of the channel.

    Gov. Wes Moore announced Friday that over 1,300 tons of steel from what used to be the Francis Scott Key Bridge have been removed from the river so far.

    The rubble and debris are going to nearby Sparrows Point for processing and recycling.

    Main shipping channel timeline remains end of May

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expects to reopen the main shipping channel – which is 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep – by the end of May.

    “There’s no way around it that in terms of the impact on the local and the state economy, we want to resume 100 percent of pre-collapse activity because it just contributes to so many jobs in the economy, contributes to so much income that flows through both the city, the county and the rest of the state,” DePasquale said.

    With the main channel closed, businesses have had to use alternative methods to transport their products.

    With nearly half of the 700-foot main shipping channel cleared, salvage teams are now focused on the portion of the span on top of the Dali.

    2 bodies remain missing

    The men killed in the Key Bridge collapse were working for Brawner Builders, filling potholes on the center span of the bridge.

    “Most were immigrants, but all were Marylanders.” President Joe Biden said shortly after the collapse. “Hardworking, strong and selfless. After pulling a night shift fixing potholes, they were on a break when the ship struck.”

    As a memorial grows on Fort Armistead Road for the six men killed in the accident, recovery efforts to locate the two workers still missing under the wreckage are ongoing. They have been identified as Miguel Luna, of El Salvador, and Jose Maynor Lopez, of Guatemala.

    Three of the victims recovered were identified as: Dorlian Cabrera, 26, who was originally from Guatemala and lived in Dundalk; Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, who lived in Baltimore and was from Mexico; and Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38, of Guatemala.

    A fourth body was recovered last week. He has not been identified at the request of his family, but he is known to be from Mexico.

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    WTOP Staff

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  • Ship that caused bridge collapse had apparent electrical issues while still docked, AP source says – WTOP News

    Ship that caused bridge collapse had apparent electrical issues while still docked, AP source says – WTOP News

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    The FBI is conducting a criminal investigation into the deadly collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge that is focused on the circumstances leading up to it and whether all federal laws were followed, according to a person familiar with the matter.

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    Police divers at Baltimore bridge collapse struggle with ‘zero visibility’ underwater

    More on the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse

    BALTIMORE (AP) — The massive container ship that caused the deadly collapse of a Baltimore bridge experienced apparent electrical issues before it left port but set out anyway, someone with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Monday, hours after the FBI said it was investigating whether any laws might have been broken.

    The Dali left Baltimore’s port early on March 26 laden with cargo destined for Sri Lanka when it struck one of the Francis Scott Key Bridge’s supports, causing the span to collapse into the Patapsco River and sending six members of a roadwork crew plummeting to their deaths. Three of their bodies have been recovered.

    The Dali experienced apparent electrical issues before leaving port, according to someone with knowledge of the situation. The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment, said alarms went off on the ship’s refrigerated containers while it was still docked in Baltimore, likely indicating an inconsistent power supply.

    The ship’s crew was aware of the issues and indicated they would be addressed, according to the person.

    Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board have said their investigation will include an inquiry into whether the ship experienced power issues before starting its voyage.

    Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said last week that the investigation is focused on the ship’s electrical system generally. The ship experienced power issues moments before the crash, as is evident in videos that show its lights going out and coming back on.

    Homendy said information gleaned from the vessel’s voyage data recorder is relatively basic, “so that information in the engine room will help us tremendously.”

    The FBI said Monday that it is conducting a criminal investigation into the bridge collapse that is focused on the circumstances leading up to it and whether all federal laws were followed, according to a different person familiar with the matter. The person wasn’t authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

    FBI agents were aboard the cargo ship on Monday conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity, the agency said in a statement. It didn’t elaborate and said it wouldn’t comment further on the investigation, which was first reported by The Washington Post.

    Meanwhile, Mayor Brandon Scott issued a statement Monday announcing a partnership with two law firms to “launch legal action to hold the wrongdoers responsible” and mitigate harm to the people of Baltimore. He said the city needs to act quickly to protect its own interests.

    Scott said the city “will take decisive action to hold responsible all entities accountable for the Key Bridge tragedy,” including the owner, operator and manufacturer of the cargo ship Dali, which began its journey roughly a half-hour before losing power and veering off course.

    The Dali is managed by Synergy Marine Group and owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd., both of Singapore. Danish shipping giant Maersk chartered the Dali.

    Synergy and Grace Ocean filed a court petition soon after the collapse seeking to limit their legal liability — a routine procedure for cases litigated under U.S. maritime law. Their joint filing seeks to cap the companies’ liability at roughly $43.6 million. It estimates that the vessel itself is valued at up to $90 million and was owed over $1.1 million in income from freight. The estimate also deducts two major expenses: at least $28 million in repair costs and at least $19.5 million in salvage costs.

    “Due to the magnitude of the incident, there are various government agencies conducting investigations, in which we are fully participating,” Synergy spokesperson Darrell Wilson said in a statement Monday. “Out of respect for these investigations and any future legal proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

    The companies filed their petition under a provision of an 1851 maritime law that allows them to seek to limit their liability to the value of the vessel’s remains after a casualty.

    Attorneys for some of the victims and a worker who survived the collapse argued Monday that the companies that own and manage the ship are taking advantage of an “archaic law” in attempting to protect their assets.

    “Imagine telling that to grieving families … while they’re planning a funeral, the owner of the boat is in court,” attorney L. Chris Stewart said during a news conference in Baltimore.

    The road crew “absolutely had zero warning” in the moments before the collapse, Stewart said, even though a last-minute mayday call from the ship’s pilot allowed nearby police officers to stop traffic from trying to cross the span. Three of the workers’ bodies are still missing, as crews continue the dangerous work of removing massive chunks of steel from the river.

    Julio Cervantes, who survived falling from the bridge, narrowly escaped drowning by rolling down his work vehicle’s window and fighting through the frigid water despite being unable to swim, attorneys said. He clung to debris until he was rescued.

    “This was all preventable,” Stewart said. “That is why we were brought in to investigate and find out what has happened and give these families a voice.”

    The investigations come amid concerns about the safety of thousands of U.S. bridges and days after more than two dozen river barges broke loose and struck a closed span in Pittsburgh.

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    © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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    WTOP Staff

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  • ‘It’s not a hope — it’s a plan’: Exclusive interview with Army Corps of Engineers official on front line of Baltimore Key Bridge recovery – WTOP News

    ‘It’s not a hope — it’s a plan’: Exclusive interview with Army Corps of Engineers official on front line of Baltimore Key Bridge recovery – WTOP News

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    Baltimore District Commander of the Army Corps of Engineers Col. Estee Pinchasin who joined WTOP’s Shawn Anderson and Anne Kramer for a live interview to discuss the Key Bridge recovery efforts.

    It’s been two weeks since a giant container ship slammed into Baltimore’s Key Bridge sending most of the bridge plunging into the Patapsco River.

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Estee Pinchasin is spearheading recovery efforts at the wreckage of the Baltimore Key Bridge. (Courtesy Executive Office of the Governor)

    Crews from federal and state agencies are trying to get everything cleaned up and moved out of the shipping channel to try and get it reopened so larger ships can make their way to the Port of Baltimore — an extremely complex task.

    One of those on the front line of the operation is the Baltimore District Commander of the Army Corps of Engineers Col. Estee Pinchasin, who joined WTOP’s Shawn Anderson and Anne Kramer for a live interview from Dundalk, Maryland.

    Listen to the full interview below, and read the transcript. .

    Baltimore District Commander of US Army Corps of Engineers Col. Estee Pinchasin

    Anne Kramer: Colonel, thanks so much for being on with us. We appreciate your time. Could you paint a picture for us of what the site actually looks like today as the work continues to remove those massive pieces of metal and concrete?

    Col. Estee Pinchasin: So I was just out there today, actually, and you can still see from the skyline those trusses going into the water. And unfortunately, what you can’t see is the complexity of the wreckage that’s mangled and collapsed on itself on the bottom of the riverbed. So you see a lot of cranes, a lot of barges and tugboats that are having to support the operations out there. But also you have a lot of movement of equipment heading back out to Trade Point Atlantic, where we’re securing and ensuring that the equipment will be able to get through the next few days of some inclement weather that we’re expecting.

    Shawn Anderson: Now, the governor has said the hope is to have a 35-foot-deep channel open by the end of this month. With so much wreckage in the river there, as you describe, is that a reasonable timeline? Will it be removed from the bottom of the river by then?

    Col. Estee Pinchasin: So, absolutely. It is not a hope — it’s a plan. We are planning to have that 35-foot-deep channel, 280 feet wide, we are planning to have that open by the end of April. Everyone should remember that that channel is normally 50-feet deep. We maintain it, the Baltimore District of the Corps of Engineers maintains that channel at a 50-foot depth to allow all that shipping traffic to come into the Port of Baltimore. So now we have to remove the wreckage from the bottom.

    And while the wreckage is sitting at the bottom of the riverbed there, we are going to be able to remove what I call the span on the far side of the channel. So across from the vessel, that big span that you can see coming out of the water, that alone is 240 feet and parts of it already go deep into the mud line. So we know that as we remove that, we’re going to have portions of that 35-foot channel that are actually deeper. We’re going to have to then pick up other portions of the wreckage, which includes the road debris, and other steel that has been broken off from the bottom of the riverbed.

    But what we’re saying is we’re going to get it down to a depth of 35 feet, where those vessels are going to be able to go through, and as we’re trafficking that through — controlling it with the Coast Guard — we’ll continue to deepen and deepen the channel … as we clear wreckage down until we get to 50 feet.

    Anne Kramer: So, Colonel, that’s going to take a while to get to all of the wreckage that’s at the bottom of the Patapsco there. Will any of it just stay there since it’s kind of caught up in the mud and muck, or is that too dangerous?

    Col. Estee Pinchasin: No, ma’am, we are not going to leave the wreckage at the bottom of the channel. We are going to take it all out, even the wreckage that’s under the mud line. We don’t want to leave that behind. Because, remember, we maintain that channel at a 50-foot depth. We bring in our dredging contractors that come in and maintain that channel for us. And we certainly don’t want them running into any left-behind steel or any left-behind wreckage debris. We are going to clear it completely out, and it might be challenging to get below the 50 feet — where the steel came under the mud line and below what we would normally maintain — but we don’t want to leave it behind so that it would emerge and be a obstruction to navigation later on.

    Shawn Anderson: Colonel, before we go — the bodies of three of the construction workers who died in the collapse are still in the water. What is the biggest biggest challenge right now to get to those bodies?

    Col. Estee Pinchasin: So first of all, we don’t know where they are. I can’t say how proud I am of the team. We we have implemented a plan that allows us to ensure that at every every step, every time we remove a layer of wreckage, we are looking at what we see and we’re scanning the wreckage for how it reacted. But we’re also looking for any shred of information, any chance of anything else that we need to investigate to see if any of those personnel — or any remnants, any parts of vehicles that give my give us a clue as to where they might be — we’re looking to see where they are. And as you remember, a week ago today, we actually were successful in implementing that plan.

    We have the Maryland State Police divers, on call ready to go the second we notice that something is indicating that we could find a missing person. We activated that plan, they responded immediately, and we were able to recover one of the missing persons last Friday. So it’s not just a plan, it’s a proven plan. We made that happen.

    We were able to return and provide closure to that one family, we’ve still got three more. And that is a part of the plan. It’s not an afterthought. And I really hope that the families out there, that every day that goes by, they know that they have the absolute best team working on this. And it’s not lip service, you should see them out there. They’re really getting after it. And we’re just so proud and honored to be a part of that recovery mission for those families.

    Anne Kramer: Colonel, we certainly appreciate your time and insight on all of this, and we’re glad to talk with you.

    More Baltimore Key Bridge collapse coverage

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    Jack Moore

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