Andrea Perez
Last Tuesday, March 26th, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore (Maryland, USA) fell down after a big ship (Dalí) crashed into it. Leaving 6 people dead and some others missing.
This will have different types of consequences. Mainly for the United States, but also to other countries that normally export their products to them. Around 11 million vehicles used to travel through this bridge a year, as well as thousands of ships a year. In fact, it’s the 9th most important port in the United States, now leaving the city of Baltimore without communication. Moreover, the ship traffic to the Port of Baltimore is being rerouted to nearby ports, including one in Norfolk, Va. and the ports of New York and New Jersey, even if these are the only ones operating now, ports all around the country are preparing to absorb a surge in volumes as companies reroute their ships.
People are now wondering how to rebuild it, how much would it cost and how long would it take. Experts answer these questions saying that it would be between 18 months and a couple of years, and regarding the cost of the bridge, it is expected to be at least 400 million dollars. The President Joe Biden said “The Federal Government would pay for a new bridge”.
Among other people’s concerns is the fact that the ship was carrying some containers with chemicals inside, like lithium ion batteries, which the search team hasn’t been able to look for as the zone is dangerous due to the amount of debris and bad weather.
Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg said that they are focusing on 4 main things after this event. These are, working with the city to recover the bridge, deal with the impact on the transit, the reopening of the port and ensure to manage the impact on the supply chain.
Moreover, people have been surprised to learn that the captain of the ship at the moment of the crash, was actually one of the pilot ships, authorized to navigate in that area, and not the usual captain who took care of the ship during the rest of the trip. It is also worth noting that the captain issued a distress signal as the ship was running out of power.
Besides all of these, with people’s fears, some of them were theorizing about ideas of why this crash had happened. Among the most said things was a cyber-attack or statements against Israel, all of these just to create fake news and maybe even jeopardize the presidential elections this year.
After this, people have brought to light some curiosities, like the fact that the ship was called Dalí and the painter with said name painted a canvas called “The Broken Bridge”. As well as the TV show “The Wire“ filmed a very iconic scene with his main star and the bridge behind him.
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