There was quite a bit of commentary in Tuesday’s Forum about the awful news that a barge crashed into the Francis Scott Key bridge near Baltimore, taking out some key infrastructure for the foreseeable future. Given how little know about commercial shipping, bridge architecture, and maritime search and rescue, I saw no real need to weigh in. Indeed, it’s not even clear which of the many categories we’ve created over the last two decades-plus that I’d file it under.
Still, side from the tragic loss of life and the massive disruption that this will cause, a few things seem noteworthy.
First and foremost, the sheer readiness of people to spin off wild conspiracy theories and racist nonsense. Axios (“Misinformation runs rampant after Baltimore bridge collapse“):
Why it matters: Rampant misinformation during mass casualty events is not a new phenomenon. But under Elon Musk’s ownership of X, the platform has changed from an essential real-time news source to a breeding ground for conspiracy theories.
Driving the news: Federal and state authorities said Tuesday there’s no evidence that terrorism played a role in the collapse of the 1.6 mile-long bridge, which was struck by a container ship at around 1:30am ET Tuesday.
[…]
What they’re saying: “Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident. At this time, we have no other indication, no other reason to believe there’s any intentional act here,” President Biden said in remarks Tuesday afternoon.
Zoom in: Within hours, X accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers were promoting baseless claims that the Dali had been the victim of a cyber-attack or had intentionally rammed into the bridge.
- Much of the misinformation was being pushed by “verified” users who pay for a premium subscription that boosts their posts.
- Some verified right-wing accounts speculated that corporate diversity and inclusion initiatives were to blame for the disaster — a claim also embraced during a spate of recent aircraft safety issues.
- Several antisemitic accounts with blue check marks claimed that the “attack” was perpetrated by Israel.
The terrorism speculation was at least understandable given the constant stream of threats from the usual suspects, especially in the wake of US support for Israel in the brutal war in Gaza. The DEI and Israel theories are, at best, nutty and, at worst, pure racist bullshit.
In other political news, President Biden argues that federal taxpayers should be on the hook for cleaup and rebuild. NBC:
President Joe Biden said he wants the federal government to pay to rebuild the Baltimore bridge that collapsed early Tuesday after a large cargo ship sailed straight into one of the bridge’s support pillars.
“We’re going to work with our partners in Congress to make sure the state gets the support it needs. It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort,” Biden said in brief remarks from the White House before he left for North Carolina.
Biden said that it will take “some time” to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which transverses the Patapsco River, but that he told Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, that he’s directing the federal government to “move heaven and earth” to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge “as soon as humanly possible.”
[…]
The Port of Baltimore, one of the largest shipping hubs in the U.S., is the top port in America for both imports and exports of automobiles and light trucks, Biden said, noting that 850,000 vehicles are moved through the port annually.
“We’re going to get it up and running again as soon as possible. … Fifteen thousand jobs depend on that port, and we’re going to do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers,” he said.
He also said that the bridge is “critical for travel,” not just for Baltimore but for the Northeast Corridor, saying more than 30,000 vehicles cross it daily.
I think this is the right instinct, although with some significant caveats. Right in that the Federal government has the ability to marshall resources quickly and that repair is vital from a national, not merely a local perspective.
On the other hand, the bridge is a Maryland state highway, and one that collects tolls, no less. It seems reasonable that they should pay part of the cost of this revenue producer. That’s especially true if a private contractor maintains the roads in exchange for a cut of the fees. (I haven’t the foggiest whether they are; it is true for many of the toll roads in Northern Virginia.)
Moreover, this calamity was caused by a private company. While the captain is rightly being lauded for quickly informing authorities, allowing traffic to be stopped and thus likely saving countless lives, if the investigation shows that there was negligence on the part of the company, then they (and, by extension, their insurance company) certainly ought to be held liable to the extent possible. Notably, this is not the first time this particular vessel has had an accident. USA Today:
This was not the Dali’s first harsh encounter with a pier, and that time its leadership was determined to be at fault. It’s too early to know what caused Tuesday’s accident.
The cargo ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge collided with a shipping dock in Belgium in 2016. That incident occurred as the Dali was leaving port in Antwerp and hit a loading pier made of stone, causing damage to the ship’s stern, according to the VesselFinder.com website, which tracks ships across the world. An investigation determined a mistake made by the ship’s master and pilot was to blame.
My purely amateur speculation at this point is that the captain the Key Bridge incident did an exemplary job under the circumstances but that the ship was not maintained to standard. A Reuters report provides some evidence for that:
An inspection in 2023 carried out in Chile found “propulsion and auxiliary machinery” deficiencies, according to data on the Equasis public website, which provides information on ships.
But Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority said in a statement that the vessel passed two separate foreign-port inspections in June and September 2023. It said a faulty fuel pressure gauge was rectified before the vessel departed the port following its June 2023 inspection.
If so, the US taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for all the damages.
Also interesting. According to an AP report, at least four of the six workers killed from the bridge collapse are from Latin America:
The six missing people were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge, said Paul Wiedefeld, the state’s transportation secretary.
Guatemala’s consulate in Maryland said in a statement that two of the missing were citizens of the Central American nation. It did not provide their names but said consular officials were in contact with authorities and assisting the families.
Honduras’ Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio García told The Associated Press that a Honduran citizen, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, was missing. He said he had been in contact with Suazo’s family.
And the Washington Consulate of Mexico said via the social media platform X that citizens of that nation were also among the missing. It did not say how many.
Since I haven’t seen this shouted from the rooftops, I presume they were all here legally. Still, it would give the impression that the crew was mostly, if not entirely, foreign born.
Finally, this incident should renew focus on our failing infrastructure. We’ve spent decades talking about the state of our bridges but really haven’t invested much money into fixing the problem. Presumably, this particular bridge was in good shape. But, while it’s apparently nearly impossible to design one that can withstand a full-on collision from a massive vessel, there are mitigation measures (“dolphins” and other barriers) that could have been in place that weren’t.
Relatedly, as at least one commenter noted in the Open Forum discussions, it’s dangerous to have a whole region of the country so dependent on a single bridge. We really need to build in more redundancy.
