Baltimore Bridge collapse live: Vessels pass through temporary channel amid warning of ‘national economic catastrophe’

The mayor of the city of Baltimore is calling on Congress to act as a united body in response to the devastation caused by the crash of a massive container ship into his city’s iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge, which destroyed the crossing and has shut down one of the biggest ports on the East Coast.

Mayor Brandon Scott appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation and told guest host Ed O’Keefe that the disaster was more than just an issue for his state, citing the specific sectors likely to be impacted by the expected months-long closure of the port. The Port of Baltimore is the largest import site for foreign automobiles in the United States, and also services other sectors including agriculture.

“This should not be something that has anything or any conversation around party,” he told CBS. “It matters to the global economy.”

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At least 21 crew members onborad the Dali container vessel were stranded on the ship for the last week since the collapse of Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

The ship has been stuck under steel bridge debris with 4,000 containers and its mostly Indian crew since last Tuesday after the vessel lost power and collided with a support column of the bridge.

The stranded men were “rattled” and keeping quiet about their situation as the investigation continues, said Joshua Messick, the executive director of non-profit Baltimore International Seafarers’ Center.

“They’re not saying much at all to anyone who has been in touch with them,” he told BBC.

“They didn’t have WiFi until Saturday and they didn’t really know what the perception of the rest of the world was. They weren’t sure if they were being blamed, or demonised. They just didn’t know what to expect.”

“They are also in a very sensitive situation. What they can say can reflect on the company. I would imagine that they’ve been advised to keep a low-profile for the time being,” Mr Messick added.

Federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have unveiled a more precise timeline of exactly what happened in the runup to the cargo ship’s brutal collision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Here’s the NTSB’s revised timeline of the disaster, given in hours, minutes and seconds after experts’ first full day examining the scene on Wednesday:

12.39am: Dali container ship departs from Seagirt Marine Terminal.

1.07am: It enters Fort McHenry Channel.

1.24.59am: Numerous audible alarms recorded on ship’s bridge audio. Voyage data recorder (VDR) stops recording the vessel’s system data, although it is able to continue taping audio from alternative power source.

1.26.02am: VDR resumes recording ship’s system data after glitch. Steering commands and orders regarding its rudder captured on audio.

1.26.39am: Pilot issues very high frequency (VHF) radio call to nearby tugboats requesting assistance for the stricken vessel. Pilot association dispatcher also notifies Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) duty officer regarding blackout, according to data from latter organisation.

1.27.04am: Pilot orders ship’s port anchor to be dropped and issues additional steering commands.

1.27.25am: Pilot issues radio call over VHF radio, reports that vessel has lost all power and is approaching bridge. Transit authority duty officer radios two of its units — one on each side of bridge — that are already on scene and orders them to close traffic. All lanes shut down.

1.29am: Ship’s speed recorded at just under 8 miles per hour. VDR records 33 seconds of sound consistent with vessel’s smash with bridge. MDTA dash cameras meanwhile capture bridge lights going out.

01.29.39am: Pilot radios US Coast Guard to report bridge is down.

Limited ship traffic resumed for the first time after recovery teams opened a temporary channel with a controlling depth of 11 feet on the northbound side of the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The first vessel to transit the channel was a tugboat pushing a barge supplying jet fuel to the US Department of Defence, the Coast Guard said.

A second temporary channel on the southbound side with a depth of 15 to 16 feet would open “in the coming days”, Maryland governor Wes Moore said.

A third channel with a depth of 20 to 25 feet would allow almost all tug and barge traffic in and out of the port after the debris was cleared, said Coast Guard rear admiral Shannon Gilreath.

A highway in Oklahoma was temporarily shut on Saturday after a barge struck a bridge over the Arkansas River, just days after the tragic collision in Maryland.

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A crane stands by at Tradepoint Atlantic terminal near the wreckage:

Debris is cleared from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge:

This aerial view shows the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge lying on top of the container ship Dali in Baltimore:

Carnival Cruise Line said it is temporarily moving its operations to Norfolk, Virginia, a move that Royal Caribbean also took in the wake of the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse.

One ship “Carnival Legend” returned to the Virginia port on Sunday. Guests were provided complimentary bus services back to Baltimore, the cruise line said in a statement. A seven-day cruise scheduled to begin on 31 March also departed from Norfolk. Guests on the cruises were informed of the changes.

“Our thoughts remain with the impacted families and first responders in Baltimore,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

“We appreciate the pledge made by President Biden today to dedicate all available resources to reopen Baltimore Harbor to marine traffic as soon as possible. As those plans are finalized, we will update our future cruise guests on when we will return home to Baltimore, but in the meantime, we appreciate the quick response and support from officials in Norfolk.”

President Biden will visit the site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Friday and will meet with Maryland Governor Wes Moore and other state and local officials as efforts to clear a key maritime shipping artery continue, the White House has said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at the daily White House press briefing on Monday that Mr Biden would use the visit to “meet with state and local officials and get an on the ground look at federal response efforts”.

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US president Joe Biden said on Friday he will go to Baltimore next week.

Tom Perez, senior adviser and assistant to Biden, said on Sunday that plans for the visit were still being worked out. He called the salvage operation a “Herculean undertaking”.

“The Port of Baltimore will be back,” Mr Perez told MSNBC. “The president has said this. We’re going to move heaven and earth to make sure we rebuild the bridge, we clear out the debris as soon as possible, so that we can minimize these disruptions.”