Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapse updates: US divers recover data recorder

You can keep up to date with all our coverage of the bridge collapse here.

We’re closing this live blog soon. Here are some of the day’s key developments:

• Divers are undergoing an operation to find the six missing workers who are presumed dead.
• All the workers were identified as men coming from Latin America, specifically Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador.
• Two of the men have been named as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandova and Miguel Luna.
• Baltimore’s Mayor Brandon M Scott says he is working with response teams this morning to continue the search-and-rescue efforts.
• Maryland’s State Senator Bill Ferguson and State Delegate Luke Clippinger are proposing income replacement for the thousands of workers who rely on the Port of Baltimore.
• The Maryland Transportation Authority has released the dispatch audio of officers trying to stop traffic after the pilot of the Dali vessel warned the ship was approaching.

Baltimore’s bridge collapse could cost insurers several billions of dollars in claims, sources tell the Reuters news agency.

With little clarity on when the port will reopen, insurers and analysts are assessing the likely losses.

“While the total cost of the bridge collapse and associated claims will not be clear for some time, it is likely to run into the billions of dollars,” said Mathilde Jakobsen, senior director of analytics at insurance ratings agency AM Best.

Economic software analysis company IMPLAN said initial estimates of the cost of rebuilding the bridge, which is likely to be paid by the US federal government, stand at $600m.

The closure of the port for just one month could see a total loss of $28m for the state of Maryland, according to IMPLAN analysis.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says two of the Mexican workers on the bridge when it collapsed were missing, while a third was injured and rescued.

“He is safe now,” Obrador said.

The Mexican leader also highlighted the contributions migrant workers make to the US economy.

“This demonstrates that migrants go out and do risky jobs at midnight, and for this reason, they do not deserve to be treated as they are by certain insensitive, irresponsible politicians in the United States,” he said.

The second of six missing workers has been identified as Miguel Luna, a father of three from El Salvador, according to Casa, a nonprofit that serves immigrant communities.

His wife, Maria del Carmen Castellon, told Telemundo 44 that she was “devastated” by the wait for any information.

“My heart hurts with this situation,” said Campos.

“They’re human beings, and they are my colleagues.”

The mayor of Baltimore, Brandon M Scott, says he is working with response teams this morning to continue the search and rescue efforts.

“Spending the day continuing to help coordinate response this morning, especially with our dedicated dive teams and first responders who are continuing the recovery work,” Scott wrote on X.

Spending the day continuing to help coordinate response this morning, especially with our dedicated dive teams and first responders who are continuing the recovery work.

— Brandon M. Scott (@MayorBMScott) March 27, 2024

Governor Wes Moore highlighted the importance of the Port of Baltimore to the nation’s economy, saying the shutdown is affecting everyone from farmers in Kentucky to car dealers in Michigan.

“It’s imperative that we get the Port of Baltimore back up and going, and it is not just about how we’re supporting Maryland,” Moore said.

“This is about how we’re supporting the American economy.”

State Senator Bill Ferguson and state Delegate Luke Clippinger are proposing income replacement for the thousands of workers who rely on daily operations at the Port of Baltimore.

“The human cost of lives lost yesterday is overwhelming and tragic. The economic and stability loss to the thousands impacted in the days ahead cannot be understated,” Ferguson said on X.

“Yesterday I spent hours talking to labor leaders, dock workers, small business owners, and large port industry leaders who all had the exact same message: ‘We must unlock the channel to the Port of Baltimore.’ They’re right. And until we do, there is enormous cost to families.”

Over 15,000 in the Balt region rely on daily operations at Port of Baltimore to put food on the table.

Today, with Del. @LukeClippinger and colleagues representing Port, we are drafting an emergency bill to provide for income replacement for workers impacted by this travesty.

— Bill Ferguson (@SenBillFerg) March 27, 2024

As we’ve reported earlier, the six missing and presumed dead workers were from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

Honduras’s deputy foreign affairs minister has identified Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandova as one of the workers.

Father Ako Walker, a Catholic priest at Sacred Heart of Jesus, said outside a vigil that he spent time with the workers’ families while waiting for news of their loved ones.

“You can see the pain etched on their faces,” Walker said.

The largest pipeline system for refined oil products in the US, the Colonial Pipeline Company, paused nominations to ship fuel on cycles 15 and 16 on Line 32, which delivers products to its Curtis Bay facility in the port of Baltimore, according to a notice seen by the Reuters news agency.

Consol Energy Ceix.N, the coal producer, also said vessel access in and out of the Consol marine terminal, which is located in the port of Baltimore, has been delayed.

The company added that it reviews all available options to minimise or address direct and indirect impacts on the company and its operations.

Carnival Cruise Line has also temporarily moved Carnival Legend’s Baltimore operations to Norfolk, Virginia, due to the bridge collapse.

They are searching for six workers from Central America and Mexico who were on that bridge.

The National Transportation Safety Board now have the black box data recorder that was on that ship and they’re looking at it to confirm reports that the ship lost power and that what caused it to drift into the bridge.

They’re also looking for perishable materials, documents, anything that might be on board that could disappear in the course of this investigation and they’re trying to just piece together what exactly happened.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Good Morning America that the weight of the ship and the load it was carrying caused an “almost-instant catastrophic result”.

“We are at work to make sure our infrastructure for the future is better prepared for any kind of threat,” Buttigieg said.

“Really, what we saw yesterday was just unimaginable in terms of the proportion of that ship.”

Watch our video on the bridge collapse below:

The Maryland Transportation Authority has released the dispatch audio of officers trying to stop traffic after the pilot of the Dali vessel warned the ship was approaching the bridge.

In the audio, first responders can be heard saying that traffic had to be stopped until the pilot could regain control of the vessel and asking if there were any crew working on the bridge.

“If we can stop traffic, just make sure no one’s on the bridge. Right now, I’m not sure where there’s a crew up there. You might want to notify whoever the foreman is to see if we can get them off the bridge temporarily,” one official said.

A few seconds later, an official announces that the bridge has collapsed.

Let’s bring you up to speed.

• Search efforts have resumed as authorities aim to recover the bodies of at least six missing people presumed dead.
• At approximately 1:30am (05:30 GMT) on Tuesday, the Singapore-flagged container ship Dali, departing Baltimore, crashed into a concrete pier supporting the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
• Moments before the crash, the ship issued a Mayday call warning that it had lost power, prompting authorities to scramble to shut down traffic to the bridge.
• Two people were pulled from the river on Tuesday. One was unhurt, but the other was seriously injured and rushed to the hospital.
• Maryland’s Governor Wes Moore said the investigation into the collapse is still ongoing, and state Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said officials “do not believe” any people were trapped in cars.