THE Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Wednesday (Mar 27) that a cargo ship that slammed into a Baltimore bridge, causing it to collapse and block one of the busiest US commercial harbours, had passed two overseas inspections in 2023.

“The vessel’s required classification society and statutory certificates covering the structural integrity of the vessel and functionality of the vessel’s equipment, were valid at the time of the incident,” MPA said.

It added that a faulty monitor gauge for fuel pressure was rectified in June.

Late Tuesday, the port authority said its investigators and those from the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau were heading to Baltimore, offering assistance to the US Coast Guard.

The Singapore-flagged ship had “experienced momentary loss of propulsion” just before it ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed and blocked the commercial harbour.

The Port of Baltimore is the ninth-busiest major US port in terms of both foreign cargo handled and foreign cargo value, and is directly responsible for more than 15,000 jobs, supporting almost 140,000 more.

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Search divers are expected to return near dawn on Wednesday to the waters surrounding the twisted ruins of the bridge, leaving six workers missing and presumed dead.

Starting at 6 am (1000 GMT) on Wednesday, “we’re hoping to put divers in the water and begin a more detailed search to do our very best to recover those six missing people,” state police Colonel Roland Butler told reporters late on Tuesday.

“We do not believe that we’re going to find any of these individuals alive,” Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said at the briefing.

Rescuers pulled two other workers from the water alive on Tuesday, and one of them was hospitalised. The six presumed to have perished included workers from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, according to the Mexican Consulate in Washington.

Officials said all eight were part of a work crew repairing potholes on Key Bridge’s road surface when the Singapore-flagged container vessel Dali, leaving Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka, ploughed into a support pylon of the bridge at about 1.30 am (0530 GMT).

A trestled section of the 2.6 km span almost immediately crumpled into the icy water, sending vehicles and workers into the river.

The 289 m ship had reported a loss of propulsion shortly before impact and dropped anchor to slow the vessel, giving transportation authorities time to halt traffic on the bridge before the crash. That move likely prevented a higher death toll, authorities said.

It was unclear whether authorities also tried to alert the work crew ahead of the impact.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said at a Tuesday news briefing the bridge was up to code with no known structural issues. There was no evidence of foul play, officials said.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said closure of the port would have a “major and protracted impact on supply chains.” The Port of Baltimore handles more automobile freight than any other US port - more than 750,000 vehicles in 2022, according to port data, as well as container and bulk cargo ranging from sugar to coal.

Still, economists and logistics experts said they doubted the port closure would unleash a major US supply chain crisis or major spike in the price of goods, due to ample capacity at rival shipping hubs along the Eastern Seaboard.

Loss of the bridge also snarled roadways across Baltimore, forcing motorists onto two other congested harbor crossings and raising the specter of nightmarish daily commutes and regional traffic detours for months or even years to come.

The bridge, named for the author of the Star-Spangled Banner, carries some 31,000 vehicles across the harbour daily and serves as the main route for motorists between New York and Washington seeking to avoid downtown Baltimore. It opened in 1977. REUTERS, AFP