• Baltimore Key Bridge

What happened

Six people died after cargo ship crashed into Baltimore bridge

March 26th 2024

A cargo ship smashed into a big bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday morning. Just a few seconds after the impact, the bridge totally collapsed into the river.

Because of the accident many cars and people fell into the river. The port of Baltimore, which is one of the busiest in the United States, was closed.

A work crew was on the bridge fixing potholes at the time of the collapse at about 1:30 AM. Rescuers pulled two survivors from the eight-degree Celsius water. The police searched for six members of the work crew and other people that were thrown into the water by the collapse. Thanks to radar technology they identified vehicles under about 15 meters of water. Unfortunately, six people have died.

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Timeline of the desaster

  • 12:30 AM

    Departure

    Dali leaves Seagirt Marine Terminal and heads north west in direction of Wagners Point.

  • First turn

    In the middle between Seagirt Marine Terminal and Wagners Point the ship turns south east and heads towards the Key Bridge.

    1 AM

  • 1:30 AM

    Crash

    The ship turns a little bit south and crashes into the southern big supports of the bridge.

Francis Scott Key Bridge

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was named after the man who wrote the lyrics of the national anthem. Construction of the bridge started in 1972 and was completed in 1977. The big arches are made from steel. More than 12.4 million vehicles crossed the 2.5 km long bridge in 2023. On average that is about 31,000 cars, buses and trucks every day.

Dali Cargo Ship

The container ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge is very big. When fully loaded it can weigh more than 116,000 tons and carry thousands of containers of cargo. It was built by Hyundai in South Korea in 2014. The Dali is powered by a MAN Diesel engine and has a maximum speed of 41 km/h. In 2016 the Dali already had an accident in Antwerp (Netherlands), where it crashed into a dock. The ship was named after the Spanish painter Salvador Dali. It has a sister ship (identical design) that is named after French painter Paul Cezanne.

When it left Baltimore on the day of the accident it was heading to Colombo Sri Lanka.

Baltimore Port

The container ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge is very big. When fully loaded it can weigh more than 116,000 tons and carry thousands of containers of cargo. It was built by Hyundai in South Korea in 2014. The Dali is powered by a MAN Diesel engine and has a maximum speed of 41 km/h. In 2016 the Dali already had an accident in Antwerp (Netherlands), where it crashed into a dock. The ship was named after the Spanish painter Salvador Dali. It has a sister ship (identical design) that is named after French painter Paul Cezanne.

When it left Baltimore on the day of the accident it was heading to Colombo Sri Lanka.