Key Bridge in Baltimore collapses after being hit by a tanker

A Marine Emergency Team 21 boat from Bowleys Quarters Volunteer Fire Department floats past the Francis Scott Key Bridge following a collapse into the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, US, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The commuter bridge collapsed after being struck by a container ship, causing vehicles to plunge into the water and halting shipping traffic at one of the most important ports on the US East Coast. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

At 1:28 a.m. on Tuesday, March 26, a cargo ship bound for Columbo, Sri Lanka, lost power briefly before it crashed into a pylon on the Francis Scott Key bridge, which crosses the Patuxent River in Baltimore, Maryland. In less than 10 seconds, several sections of the bridge collapsed into the water like a child’s tinker toy as it snapped and buckled. The ship had just left the port of Baltimore around 1 a.m. with 22 crew members. There was a mayday call from the ship when it lost power (and propulsion), which allowed authorities to stop traffic on the bridge before it collapsed. The water where the crash occurred is 50 feet deep.

A seven-man work crew was repairing potholes on that span of the bridge and search and rescue efforts continued 16 hours after the collapse. There are reports that an inspector was also on the bridge at the time of collapse. Two members of the crew were rescued, with one individual taken to Baltimore’s Shock Trauma center and later released. According to media reports, the workers were aged 28 through their mid-30s and were natives of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

The Dali container ship measures 985 feet long, holds 95,000 gross tons and is owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd., and managed by the Synergy Marine Group. It was traveling at approximately eight knots or 10 miles per hour. A vessel that large would take a half-mile or more to change course to avoid a collision.

The impact from the loss of the bridge and the hold on marine traffic in and out of the Baltimore Harbor will be substantial. An economist estimates that the state of Maryland could lose as much as $15 million per day.  Approximately $217 million worth of goods travel through the port daily and Baltimore is the primary port for auto imports in the country. There could also be impacts in terms of supply chain issues, long-term traffic disruptions and other logistical challenges.

Insurance coverage involved in a loss of this scope will include business interruption, commercial general liability, property & casualty, cargo, haul and machinery, charter liability, travel, auto and workers’ compensation among others. According to Captain Rahul Khanna, global head of marine risk consulting for Allianz Commercial, there will be many insurers involved in a loss of this magnitude. “The bridge is insured under a property policy and will be one of the first to pay out. The owners of the ship and their liability insurer, the P&I Clubs, the hull and machinery insurers will pay for the damage to the ship itself, and cargo insurers for the cargo, although there doesn’t seem to be much damage,” observed Khanna.

 The ship’s insurer is a member of the Britannia P&I Club, a marine mutual insurer which is based in London. Khanna explained that claims will need to be filed with the respective insurers for the damage involved.

In its Safety and Shipping Review 2023, Allianz said that significant improvements in maritime safety have been made in the past decade. The report indicated that 30 years ago, the global fleet lost over 200 vessels a year, but a recent review finds that number has dropped to 38 in 2022 for vessels over 100 gross tons. Only 10 cargo ships were lost in 2022. The leading cause of claims from 2017 through 2021, 18% of the claims were the result of fire and explosion, followed by 17% of the claims that involved shipping incidents such as sinking and collisions. From 2013 through 2022, there were only 311 cargo vessel losses. In 2022, cargo ships accounted for almost 25% of all of the vessels lost. Khanna said the largest loss they’ve seen was an $800 million claim when a car carrier capsized in the port of Brunswick.

As far as the payouts for this loss, Khanna said he wouldn’t be surprised if the claims reach their coverage limits. “Losses of this magnitude aren’t that common…I can say there have been close to 2,000 reported incidents of ships colliding with structures from 2013 to 2022. However, there have only been 35 bridge collapse incidents from 1960-2015,  and 18 were in the U.S., so it doesn’t happen often.”

There will definitely be subrogation opportunities with this loss, said Khanna. “Damage to the bridge would be the responsibility of the liability owners of the ship.”

He explained that the shipping industry has made significant safety improvements in the last decade with fewer than 40 losses occurring in 2022. However, the cost of claims has increased due to groundings, fires and ships striking cranes in ports.

Another issue is that the country’s infrastructure is old and many ports are not made for today’s vessels. “In the last 50 years, ships have grown 1500% in size. Where they carry 25,000 containers now, they used to carry 1000-2000 containers 50 years ago.”

The Key bridge, named after the author of the Star Spangled Banner, took five years to build and was completed in 1977 at a cost of $100 million. The replacement cost is expected to much more, but President Joe Biden said in a press conference that the federal government would cover the rebuilding costs for the bridge, so that work could begin as soon as possible. At 1.6 miles long, the four-lane bridge connects the I-695 beltway across the Patuxent River and provides an alternative to traveling through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, which does not allow vehicles carrying hazardous cargo to go through it.

Engineers interviewed by various media outlets have indicated that no redundancies were built into the bridge and that there were no bumpers to protect the piers supporting the bridge. The National Transportation Safety Board has two-dozen individuals on site including a safety team and breach engineers to help with the investigation, which is expected to take some time. Vessel traffic in and out of the port of Baltimore is suspended until further notice.