Shocking new footage from ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge reveals scale of devastation on board amid fears of hazardous chemical spill – as $60M clean up begins with arrival of one of East Coast’s largest cranes

One of the largest cranes in the eastern US arrived in Baltimore today for the multimillion dollar clean-up of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse as the first footage emerged from on board the vessel which caused the disaster.

The Chesapeake 1000 is crucial to the meticulous task of lifting the enormous pieces of debris from around the Dali cargo ship so it can be moved before the waterway is reopened.

Footage from on board the ship, released by investigators from the National Transportation Safety Bureau, reveals the extend of the damage wrought to the enormous vessel.

A large section of the collapsed bridge tore into the ship’s bow, leaving a hazardous mess of twisted and jagged metal. Several of the containers were destroyed and other debris, including concrete and barrels, is strewn across parts of the deck.

The recovery and clear-up work is taking place while four workers who were on the bridge during the collapse remain missing.

Officials estimate the clean-up alone will cost tens of millions of dollars. The cost of rebuilding the bridge could be more than $1 billion, according to estimates.

The work is taking place while Dali’s crew remains on board the vessel. They could be forced to remain there for several weeks while enough debris is removed to safely bring the vessel back into berth.

The crane that can lift 1,000 tons — the largest that was available on the Eastern Seaboard — which is currently docked near the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and a second that can lift 400 tons should arrive Saturday, officials said earlier.

They will be used to clear the channel of the twisted metal and concrete remnants of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, as well as the cargo ship.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said at a press conference on Friday afternoon: ‘The crane is massive, but so is the challenge ahead of us.’

Moore said although the crane could lift  around 1,000 tons, the part of the bridge that is sitting on top of the stricken vessel is between 3,000 to 4,000 tons, meaning it will have to be cut into sections before it can be safely removed.

Three other heavy-lift cranes, supplied by the US Navy, will also assist with this task, Moore said.

‘In the coming weeks We expect to have the following entities inside of the water: seven floating cranes, 10 tugs, nine barges, eight salvage vessels and five Coast Guard boats,’ he added. 

The Governor said it was too early to put a timeline on recovery, but said the recovery team was likely in for a long haul.

‘I can tell you it is not going to be days or weeks or months,’ Moore said. ‘This is going to take time.’ 

Divers had already recovered the bodies of two men from a pickup truck in the Patapsco River, but the nature and placement of the debris has complicated efforts to find the four workers still missing and presumed dead.

‘The divers can put their hands on that faceplate, and they can’t even see their hands,’ said Donald Gibbons, an instructor with Eastern Atlantic States Carpenters Technical Centers.

‘So we say zero visibility. It’s very similar to locking yourself in a dark closet on a dark night and really not being able to see anything.’

Divers must cut up debris to remove it, Gibbons said, likening it to playing pick-up sticks, since items at the bottom can’t move without disturbing the whole pile.

‘So we use underwater burning and underwater cutting solutions to help make those pieces smaller so that when we do cut them away, we’re not affecting the entire pile,’ said Gibbons, who is not involved in the Baltimore effort.

Baltimoreans made morning stops at vantage points to watch for the cranes. Ronald Hawkins, who is 71 and could see the bridge from his home, recalled watching its construction in 1972. It opened in 1977.

Now, with sadness, he stopped by an overlook, seeking closure.

‘I’m going to come up here every day, because I want to see the bridge coming up out of the water,’ Hawkins said. ‘It’s a hurtin’ thing.’

‘The best minds in the world’ are working on the removal plans, Gov. Wes Moore said. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Baltimore district told the governor that it and the Navy were quickly mobilizing resources from around the country.

‘This is not just about Maryland,’ said Moore, a Democrat. ‘This is about the nation’s economy. The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other port in America.’

He thanked President Joe Biden’s administration for approving $60 million in immediate aid. Biden has said the federal government will pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge.

Ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore remains suspended, but the Maryland Port Administration said in a statement Friday that trucks were still being processed at marine terminals.

‘There is a lot of speculation as to when the channel will be reopened,’ the agency said. ‘The fact of the matter is we do not know.’

Federal and state officials have said the collision and collapse early Tuesday appeared to be an accident that came after the ship lost power. Investigators are still trying to determine why.

The victims, who were part of a construction crew fixing potholes on the bridge, were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, officials said. At least eight people initially went into the water when the ship struck the bridge column, and two of them were rescued, officials said.

The crash caused the bridge to break and fall into the water within seconds. Authorities had just enough time to stop vehicle traffic but were unable to alert the construction crew.

During the Baltimore Orioles’ opening day game Thursday, Sgt. Paul Pastorek, Cpl. Jeremy Herbert and Officer Garry Kirts, of the Maryland Transportation Authority, were honored for their actions in halting bridge traffic and preventing further loss of life.

The three said in a statement that they were ‘proud to carry out our duties as officers of this state to save the lives that we could.’

The cargo ship Dali, which is managed by Synergy Marine Group, had been headed from Baltimore to Sri Lanka. It is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and was chartered by Danish shipping giant Maersk.

The loss of a road that carried 30,000 vehicles a day and the port disruption will affect not only thousands of dockworkers and commuters, but also U.S. consumers, who are likely to feel the impact of shipping delays.

Scott Cowan, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333, said the union was scrambling to help its roughly 2,400 members whose jobs are at risk of drying up.

‘If there’s no ships, there’s no work,’ he said. ‘We’re doing everything we can.’

The huge vessel was carrying nearly 4,700 shipping containers, 56 of them with hazardous materials inside. Fourteen were destroyed, officials said. Industrial hygienists who evaluated the contents identified them as perfumes and soaps, the Key Bridge Joint Information Center said, and there was ‘no immediate threat to the environment.’

Containers are hanging dangerously off the side of the ship, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said. ‘We’re trying to keep our first responders — as safe as possible.’