Danish shipping giant Maersk’s share price plummets over 3% as Dali that was carrying 4,600 20ft containers smashes into Baltimore bridge crushing freight and sending dozens to the bottom of river: Firm says it is ‘omitting’ port for foreseeable future
Danish shipping giant Maersk has cut Baltimore from all its services after Tuesday’s horror bridge collapse, sending the company down more than three percent.
Hours after the cargo ship struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge overnight, prompting massive rescue efforts, the company said it will stop serving the Port of Baltimore “in the near future.”
“Due to the damage to the bridge and resulting debris, it will not be possible to reach the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore for the foreseeable future,” the company said in a statement. “In line with this, we are omitting Baltimore on all of our services for the foreseeable future until it is deemed safe for passage through this area.”
When markets opened at 9 a.m., the company’s share price fell as much as 6.8 percent before eventually leveling off at a decline of 3.8 percent.
Rescuers continue to scour the waters near the Port of Baltimore for survivors as Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency.
A search is underway for at least six construction workers as of Tuesday morning, while five vehicles have been identified beneath the Patapsco River in freezing temperatures.
The Maersk shipping container was spotted Tuesday morning, hours after it collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore
Danish shipping giant Maersk suffered a dramatic 6.8 percent share price drop as a result of the crash, before leveling off at a 3.8 percent decline
Stunning footage shows the moment the ship plowed into the bridge, sending the colossal steel structure plunging into the Patapsco River, shortly before 1:30 a.m.
Maersk owned the ship, which was operated by Singaporean company Synergy Group. The company declined to comment on the share price drop when contacted by DailyMail.com.
The 1,000-foot DALI ship collided with the 1.2-mile bridge shortly after 1:26 a.m. as it left the Port of Baltimore.
As of Tuesday morning, authorities have flagged three passenger vehicles in the river, in addition to a cement truck and another vehicle, using side-scan sonar technology.
Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace told CNN that there were eight dive teams in the water conducting search and rescue operations.
He said it is unclear whether the fifth car is a passenger car and the number of deaths or injuries remains unclear.
The Maersk freighter appeared to have suffered a mechanical failure before hitting the bridge, as footage showed its lights turning on and off in previous moments.
Observers said black smoke billowed from the ship in the moments before, indicating the crew may have tried to reverse the engines.
It later emerged that the ship was commanded by specialized pilots trained to avoid obstacles at ports, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld told a news conference Tuesday morning.
He said none of the 22 crew members were injured and the ship was operated by pilots who helped navigate the harbor and then took off as soon as open water entered.
Rescue personnel gather on the shore of the Patapsco River after a container ship encountered the Francis Scott Key Bridge and caused it to collapse
Officials said they are searching for at least six people in the icy waters. By early Tuesday morning, two people had been rescued
Officials quickly ruled out the catastrophe as intentional or an act of terrorism, and an early report from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) found that the container ship “lost propulsion” as it left port.
“The vessel notified the MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that it had lost control of the vessel and that a collision with the bridge was possible,” the report said. ‘The ship hit the bridge and completely collapsed.’
The Dali ship was also found to have been cited during inspections for two “deficiencies,” according to a CNN review of Electronic Quality Shipping Information System (Equasis) data.
In 27 inspections since 2015, a June 2023 inspection in San Antonio, Chile, found a deficiency in “propulsion and auxiliary machinery” – with propulsion failures also noted in the early CISA report.
The Dali was also involved in an incident in the port of Antwerp in 2016. During an investigation in November of that year in Antwerp, Belgium discovered another ‘shortcoming’ in the ‘structural conditions’.
No defects were found during the ship’s last inspection on September 9, 2023 by the US Coast Guard in New York.
The ship, a 300-meter DALI operated by Singaporean company Synergy Group, collided with the 2.0-kilometer bridge shortly after leaving the port of Baltimore.
The bridge spans 9,000 feet over the Patapsco River and is 180 feet above the water
Visibility around the harbor was clear at the time of the accident
All activity from the Port of Baltimore, one of the most important trade hubs in North America, has come to a standstill.
The ship had left the Seagirt Marine Terminal around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday before turning southeast toward the bridge about half an hour later.
The Dali was supposed to pass under the bridge, but it struck a support beam, causing the bridge to collapse within seconds of impact.
Two people were pulled from the water on Tuesday morning. One was unharmed and the other was rushed to hospital in a ‘very serious condition’.
After declaring a state of emergency, Governor Moore praised the response of bridge workers who stopped traffic after a distress call was made from the ship.
“These people are heroes,” he said.
Moore claimed there is “no credible evidence” to suggest the crash was the result of a terrorist attack.
“The preliminary evidence points to an accident,” he said.
He also stressed that the collapse does not appear to have been caused by any structural problems, and that the bridge is fully compliant. “(Our) exclusive focus is on saving lives, search and rescue,” he said.