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With Bluewater's expertise in crew training and yacht crew recruitment, finding your ideal yacht crew vacancy is simple. We offer yacht management services to a variety of exclusive superyachts. Our team excels in sourcing top-notch yacht crew positions, spanning from 25-meter private yachts in the Bahamas to 50-metre charter yachts in the Mediterranean to luxurious 100+ metre superyachts navigating the globe extensively.

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135 JOBS FOUND

• Qualifications: Capitaine 200 validé
• Experience: 1 year +
• Salary: 2800 euros
• Qualifications: CFBS ENG1

• 2:2 rotation
• Qualifications: STCW, ENG1
• Experience: 2 years on a large vessel over 60m
• Salary: DOE
• Qualifications: STCW, ENG1, PBL2
• Experience: 1 to 2 Seasons
• Salary: 3000EUR
• Qualifications: STCW, ENG1, Food & Hygiene Level 2
• Experience: 1 Year
• Salary: 3500EUR
• Qualifications: Yacht Master
• Experience: 2 years minumum
• Salary: $4000
• Seasonal until November-could be permanent
• Experience: 1 season minimum
• Salary: €5000-6000 DOE
• 2 to 4 Weeks
• Experience: -
• Seasonal Until November 2024
• Experience: 2+ Years
• Salary: 4250 EUR
• Qualifications: STCW, ENG1, Food Hygiene Level 2
• Salary: 6000 EUR

Captain - 21m Support Vessel

Posted on 25 Mar 2024 by Quay Crew

Job description

Are you looking to progress into Captaincy and command a support vessel/water sports centre? We are looking to employ a friendly & athletic Captain to take charge of this 21m motor yacht. The yacht will be used either as a stand-alone dayboat operating in local waters or as a floating water sports centre, operating independently in tandem with the owner's chosen charter yacht. The Captain should have strong engineering skills and be a water sports enthusiast, able to confidently instruct the owner's children. The yacht will be based out of Genoa, with shoreside accommodation provided when the yacht is not in use. The yacht operates with a crew of four, who are encouraged to use the toys off-cruise to familiarise themselves with the equipment onboard and hone their skills. Master 200 ticket as a minimum, with a proven history of water sports instruction on their CV. The salary on offer is €7000.00+ and 60 days annual leave. This is a wonderful opportunity for the right person to join this unique vessel, and build a solid relationship with its adventurous outdoors owners. Start date end of March, please call now.

Salary note

Not specified

Starting location

Leave allowance, gym for crew, job requirements, qualifications.

MCA Master 200GT

Minimum experience

No minimum experience required

Shadow boat: 7 superyacht support vessels as cool as their motherships

Whether they are used as a floating helipad, tender garage or accommodation for specialist staff, superyacht support vessels are an increasingly popular way of enriching the yachting experience. BOAT rounds up the superyacht support vessels as impressive as their motherships...

Koru and Abeona

The 75-metre Abeona marks the largest support vessel ever built by Damen Yachting . Fitting, as the custom project accompanies Oceanco 's flagship (and world's largest sailing yacht), the 125.8-metre Koru . Abeona was launched in October 2023 at Vlissingen, the Netherlands, sporting a grey hull and orange bootstripe designed entirely in-house. Key numbers include a 12.6-metre beam and volume of 1,900GT. She has the capacity to accommodate 45 people and features a helicopter hangar, a vast array of marine gear and additional tenders and toys.

More about this yacht

Gene machine and gene chaser.

Originally launched by Damen Yachting as Blue Ocean , this 55-metre support vessel has been transformed into Gene Chaser to accompany the Amels 180 superyacht Gene Machine . The yacht is being used as a working research laboratory to support the scientific research of owner Dr Jonathan Rothberg . The main saloon has been converted into a working wet and dry laboratory, while other interior areas are used for conferences and other educational purposes. Gene Chaser 's sleeping quarters can accommodate a total of eight visiting researchers or experts, while the crew quarters allow for a crew of seven and four full-time scientists.

Lonian and Hodor

Dubbed "the world's largest floating toy box" , the 66-metre Hodor is the first hull in Incat Crowther 's ShadowCat range and boasts enough deck space to house every toy imaginable. Among Hodor ’s cargo is a 7.3-metre Novurania catamaran RIB, a nine-metre Metal Shark landing craft and an insane 388 Skater race boat, capable of a genuine 240km/h. Toys and tenders are launched from two knuckle boom cranes, while a submarine garage offers a launch and recovery system for a submarine. Her mothership is the ultra-private 87-metre Lonian , delivered by Feadship in 2018.

Gigi and Axis

The 55.3-metre Axis belongs to serial superyacht owner Carl Allen, who first saw her at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in 2016. It was to be the perfect vessel to accompany his 49.9-metre Westport mothership Gigi around the world. Axis carries a Triton sub, an Icon A5 aeroplane, several tenders, Jet Skis and a complete dive shop. She also holds 60,000 gallons of fuel and her watermaker produces 20,000 gallons of fresh water daily. A Viking 52 Frigate completes the Allen Exploration fleet.

White Rabbit and Charley

Charley was launched in 2017 by Echo Yachts to serve as the shadow boat for the Australian shipyard's 84-metre trimaran White Rabbit . Measuring 51 metres in length, this catamaran support vessel has ample space to entertain guests with her sheltered observation deck and piano lounge. However, it is her tender storage capacity that is the most notable feature, as Charley can carry a fleet of up to ten watercraft, including five tenders, four Jet Skis and a hovercraft. Other key features include a dive store, decompression chamber and sonar system for searching out the best wreck dives.

Moonrise and Nebula

Featuring architecture by Incat Crowther , the 68.2-metre support yacht Nebula joined her ShadowCat siblings Hodor and Wayfinder on the water in 2022. Her primary mission is to support her 99.9-metre mothership Moonrise in helicopter operations, and she fits the bill with a wide enough beam to host a full-size hangar. It is the largest hangar found on any private vessel and can accommodate a twin-engine helicopter without it having to fold its rotor blades.

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Yacht Support

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Welcome to the world of Yacht Support . A world of unlimited possibilities for those Owners looking to take on yachting on their own terms. Those who embody an active and dynamic lifestyle and have a particular vision or mission. Who above all seek capability and multifunctionality. Wanting to be ready for every moment, no matter where in the world it unfolds. Knowing that two decades of Yacht Support experience and deep understanding of high-end yacht operations and global adventure lifestyles will be supporting them every step of the way.   

Unlimited Possibilities -

Mission Ready

The YS53 is the latest addition to the Yacht Support portfolio. A next generation 53-metre support yacht built on spec for fast delivery and resulting from the technical know-how and first-hand experience of close to 20 support vessels already delivered. Her exterior deck with crane mirrors her purpose-built functionality and can be used to carry tenders, toys, aircrafts and supplies or even host events. Her upgraded guest accommodation make her ideal for overflow guests and crew or even dedicated staff for a specific mission.   

Updated Design

The Yacht Support 65 is a concept design in the portfolio that offers multipurpose functionality and lots of room for tenders and toys on a larger scale. The flexibility in the design allows for a number of customisations ensuring this is a yacht that can be worked to your exacting requirements for example, the potential for a helideck with a roll-in helicopter hangar without needing to fold the rotor blades. 

Yacht Support 75

Next level support.

If you are looking for next level support then the YS75 brings everything to the table. This 75-metre Yacht Support is designed to provide Owner's with the autonomy they need to support even the largest of superyachts. Her striking exterior, spacious and extensive interior plus all the capability, storage and functionality you can think of, the YS75 is all about unlimited possibilities.

Yacht Support Insider

We have recently aired an exclusive series taking a deep dive into the world of Yacht Support ownership. Going where no other shipyard has gone before, some of our Yacht Support Owners welcome you on board to show you everything that they use their vessels for. From pursuing their passions to delivering disaster relief, these vessels are the source of their Owners’ unique and untold stories.  

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Tangled in Steel With No Way Out: How the Crew Stuck in Baltimore Is Faring

Twenty-two seafarers from India find themselves not only trapped in the ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, but also in an unexpected spotlight.

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By Eduardo Medina

Reporting from Baltimore

Even from miles away, the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is a jarring visual: Chunks of steel jut above the water like metallic icebergs. Twisted gray beams protrude in crooked positions. From a park near Fort McHenry, visitors can see the giant cargo ship that struck the bridge and remains lodged in the wreckage.

Less visible, however, are the 22 crew members from India who have remained on the ship, named the Dali, since the disaster on Tuesday.

Little is publicly known about them other than that they are seafarers who embarked on a journey aboard the 985-foot-long cargo ship that was on its way to Sri Lanka, carrying 4,700 shipping containers, when it lost power and struck the Key Bridge, causing the structure to collapse.

Since the accident, which killed six construction workers, the crew members have found themselves in an unexpected spotlight. While keeping the ship operable, they are answering a deluge of questions from officials investigating the nighttime catastrophe, as the evidence of what occurred lies around them in mangled ruins stretching across the bow and deck.

While officials investigate what could have caused the tragedy, another question has emerged this week: What could the crew members, who have limited access to the outside world, be going through right now?

“They must feel this weight of responsibility that they couldn’t stop it from happening,” said Joshua Messick, the executive director of the Baltimore International Seafarers’ Center , a religious nonprofit that seeks to protect the rights of mariners.

Even so, officials have praised the crew’s swift mayday message that was transmitted over the radio as the ship lost power on Tuesday. Before the Dali struck the bridge, traveling at a rapid eight knots, the mayday call helped police officers stop traffic from heading onto the bridge, most likely saving many lives, the authorities said. A local harbor pilot with more than 10 years of experience was onboard, as well as an apprentice pilot in training.

As the ship remains stuck in the Port of Baltimore, where it may remain for weeks, the lives of the crew members have entered an uncertain phase. But one thing is certain: They will no longer cruise through the sea around South Africa toward their destination in Sri Lanka anytime soon.

But they are not going to imminently dock at the port either, as they must wait for enough debris to be cleared to free the ship and reopen the channel to one of the busiest ports in the United States. On Saturday, the governor of Maryland said officials planned to remove the first piece of the debris.

So, for now, crew members are most likely working a grueling schedule to maintain the ship that is similar to the one they would be if they were out at sea. The difference, though, is that they are in an immobile state as the eyes of the world fixate on them, experts said.

“The captain of the vessel and the crew have a duty to the ship,” said Stephen Frailey, a partner at Pacific Maritime Group, which helps with marine salvage and wreck removal.

According to Chris James, who works for a consulting firm assisting the ship’s management company, Synergy Marine, the crew members have ample supplies of food and water, as well as plenty of fuel to keep the generators going. Indeed, when Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, went onboard the ship this week, she observed the cook cooking. “It smelled very good,” she said.

But there is still no exact timeline for when the ship might be extracted from the wreckage, Mr. James said. Once the N.T.S.B. and the Coast Guard finish their investigations, he said, “we’ll look at potentially swapping the crew out and getting them home.”

India, the home country of the crew members, is one of the world’s largest hubs for seafarers, according to John A. Konrad, a ship captain and the chief executive of gCaptain, a maritime and offshore industry news website. Though Indian captains and engineers are paid less than their American counterparts, Mr. Konrad said, they make a decent living when they work for three or more months out of the year at sea.

Working on a cargo ship, he said, is a 24-hour ordeal with no weekends off: Every day, decks are checked for maintenance and safety, cooks and cleaners serve the other members, and workers in the engine room keep things on track.

Cargo ship crew members do have some leisurely activities available to them onboard, though, such as video game breaks in cabins, workouts in gyms, table tennis sessions and movie nights. The Dali crew has at least a TV, magazines and books onboard, said Andrew Middleton, who runs Apostleship of the Sea, a program that ministers to sailors coming through the port.

Clistan Joy Sequeira, an Indian seafarer who was not on the Dali but who docked in Baltimore from another cargo ship on Friday, said in an interview that he feared the repercussions that the bridge collapse could have on his industry and his country.

“I’m scared that because this crew is Indian, our international image will suffer,” said Mr. Sequeira, 31. “Maybe we lose jobs.”

Some in Baltimore’s port community have had some contact with the Dali crew, albeit brief, through third parties or WhatsApp. Mr. Messick said he sent the crew two Wi-Fi hot spots on Friday because they did not have internet onboard.

Mr. Middleton said he had been keeping in touch with two crew members, reminding them that “we’re here for them.”

“When I’ve asked how they’re doing, their answers range from ‘good’ to ‘great,’” he said. “So, by their own accounts, they’re OK.”

Mr. Messick said he had also sent a care package to the crew through a salvage company helping with operations. In the package were candy, home-baked muffins from a concerned local and thank-you cards from children.

With so many questions still unanswered about the crew members’ next steps, Mr. Messick said he was eager to provide them with trauma care and emotional support. On Friday, he wrote a letter to the captain, which was delivered by another vessel.

“We’re here to support you,” it read.

Mike Baker contributed reporting.

Eduardo Medina is a Times reporter covering the South. An Alabama native, he is now based in Durham, N.C. More about Eduardo Medina

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Bridge collapse live updates: No timeline on wreckage removal yet, Buttigieg says

The cargo ship struck Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday.

A cargo ship crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning, causing a near-total collapse of the span and halting vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore.

Six construction workers are believed to have fallen from the collapsing bridge into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River below. The bodies of two of the victims have been recovered so far, while four remain missing and are presumed dead, officials said.

Latest headlines:

2,600 carnival cruise passengers rerouted from baltimore arrive in virginia, 200-ton piece of collapsed key bridge removed, still no timeline on when baltimore port will reopen: buttigieg.

• 1st portions of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge will be lifted Saturday
• 3 crane barges from US Navy arrive in Baltimore, 4th coming next week
• Freight nearly size of Eiffel Tower, shipping containers 'ripped in half as if they were papier-maché'

What to know about the collapse

The container ship Dali struck Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, partially collapsing the bridge , officials in Maryland said.

A local pilot was at the helm of the ship at the time, Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said.

The crash appeared to be accidental , not intentional, officials said.

Two construction workers were rescued and six went missing in the immediate aftermath of the collapse, officials said. The bodies of two of the victims were recovered from the water on Wednesday amid ongoing search and recovery efforts, while four remain missing and are presumed dead, officials said.

The first of multiple Carnival cruise ships rerouted from Baltimore due to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge arrived at a port in Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday

About 2,600 guests aboard the Carnival Legend returned from a cruise to the Bahamas, getting off the ship in Norfolk. The passengers boarded 70 buses and were driven four hours back to Baltimore, where many left their cars parked.

"When we left Baltimore, we had to go under that bridge," passenger Viktoriia Aldred told ABC affiliate station WVEC in Norfolk. "The bridge looked amazing and you go under the bridge and you're like 'wow.'"

Baltimore native Michael Lukoski told WVEC he heard the news of the bridge collapse while on the cruise to the Bahamas.

"When I got the news Tuesday morning … you couldn’t believe it," said Lukoski. adding that when he first heard of the bridge collapse "it was like, 'no way.'"

A 200-ton piece of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was removed Sunday from the vast debris field of twisted metal and concrete clogging entry to the Port of Baltimore, officials said.

Tons more wreckage as well as the crippled container ship Dali that crashed into the span and collapsed it still needs to be cleared, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told ABC News Sunday.

"We're talking about huge pieces," Moore said of the debris crews are cutting up and preparing to remove from the waterway. "I mean, just sitting on the Dali, you're looking at 3,000 or 4,000 tons of steel sitting on top of the ship."

The operation to clean up the disaster site and reopen the channel began on Saturday and continued throughout Sunday, officials said.

Moore told ABC News a timeline hasn't been set on when the channel will be reopened, echoing a statement from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Additionally, crews conducted a “grounding survey” on Sunday to “determine how hard the ground around the Dali is to inform the strategy for pulling it off," officials told ABC News.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Sunday there is still no timeline for when the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge and the crippled container ship Dali will be removed so the Port of Baltimore can reopen.

In an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America," Buttigieg said the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy are bringing in a 1,000-ton crane and a 600-ton crane to clear the twisted debris from the channel.

Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Key Bridge recovery

"They have not wanted to speculate yet on a timeline because the operation is so complex," Buttigieg said. "It's not that you just have to remove the wreckage, it's that you have to do it in a way that doesn't cause portions of the bridge that are there across the water to shift. They've been under a lot of compression, tension; they could behave almost like a spring if they are not expertly managed."

In addition to removing the debris, Buttigieg said the 248 million-pound shipping vessel still poses a problem, saying, "Measures are being taken to stop the ship from swinging into the channel."

The secretary said part of the $60 million in federal funding released for the cleanup and recovery efforts will also go to the "acquisition, procurement and preparation for the new bridge."

He said that while other East Coast ports have been absorbing container traffic, the Port of Baltimore is uniquely designed to handle the bulk of automobiles shipped to the United States.

"So as soon as it can safely be reopened, that, of course, is a major priority that really affects our entire national supply system," Buttigieg said.

Highly trained crews on site to begin removal of collapsed bridge

Highly trained demolition crews will begin cutting the top portion of the north side of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge into smaller sections for safe removal by crane. One crane barge and one working barge are staged at the incident to support Saturday’s operations.

Salvage teams will use gas-powered cutters to systematically separate sections of the steel bridge, which will be taken to a disposal site. At the same time, salvage divers continue to conduct underwater assessments of the work site to support further operations. Every lifting operation requires engineering analysis to inform salvage operation plans.

The Unified Command is working in partnership with Baltimore Gas and Electric to reduce pressure of an underwater pipeline that spans the width of the channel and runs under the incident site. Unified Command is coordinating to inert the pipeline to free it from hazards and risk. Pipeline operations will continue through the weekend.

The Unified Command continues to maintain a 2000-yard maritime Safety Zone for the recovery efforts and a Temporary Flight Restriction with a radius of three nautical miles from the surface -- up to and including 1,500 feet above ground level -- also remains in effect.

The Safety Zone is enforced for the protection of personnel, vessels, and the marine environment from the potential hazards associated with salvage work. The vessel remains stable with crew aboard.

-ABC News' Sam Sweeney

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Support yachts for sale.

Support yachts are the finest way to improve your yachting experience. Not only you will be able to increase the number of guest & crew accommodations, but also the amount of water toys & tenders that are within your fleet. Upgrapding the mothership to obtain the same results usually comes at a much heftier cost than a support vessel. In addition, the support yacht will be able to resupply the mothership while at anchor and make sure that you never run out of food, wines and all the supplies you may ever need. 

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Baltimore bridge collapse: what we know about the bridge, ship and port

Biden laments ‘terrible accident’ as six people still missing after Francis Scott Key Bridge snapped from collision with vessel

A bridge in the US city of Baltimore has snapped and collapsed after a ship collided with one of its support columns. Rescuers are searching the water for survivors and the state’s governor has declared a state of emergency.

Joe Biden has said search and rescue efforts remain a “top priority”, as six people are still missing. The president added there was no evidence the collapse of the bridge was intentional, calling it “a terrible accident”.

Here is what we know about the bridge, the ship and the port.

Baltimore’s 1.6-mile (2.57km) Francis Scott Key Bridge was built out of steel and opened in 1977. With four lanes, the bridge is part of Interstate 695 and served as a major route along the ring road that encircles the city in the US state of Maryland.

It is named after the author of the American national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. The Maryland governor, Wes Moore, said the bridge had been “fully up to code” before Tuesday’s collision and collapse, indicating it met safety standards.

Live video posted on YouTube showed the ship ploughing into the bridge in darkness, with its main section collapsing into the Patapsco River below.

Several vehicles fell into the water, and officials said eight construction workers assisting with a project fell off. Six people remained unaccounted for.

One official said that sonar had detected cars in the water, which is about 50ft (15 metres) deep.

The National Transportation Safety Board is dispatching a team to investigate the disastrous collapse. Andrew Barr, an expert in civil and structural engineering at the University of Sheffield, said: “The video doesn’t show any obvious structural deficiencies with the bridge, but it will not have been designed to survive a head-on collision with such a large vessel.”

Ship-tracking data showed a Singapore-flagged container ship, the Dali, at the location of the bridge where the accident occurred at about 1.30am ET (0530 GMT) on Tuesday.

The Dali, a 290-metre (948ft) cargo vessel, left Baltimore at 1am and was headed for the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, according to the maritime data platform MarineTraffic. The shipping company Maersk said it had chartered the vessel.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) confirmed that the vessel was registered in Singapore and said the agency was coordinating with the US Coast Guard and the ship’s management company to help. It also said it would investigate the incident itself.

Moore said the ship had lost power around the time it hit the bridge and the vessel’s crew had issued a “mayday” radio call. The ship then appeared to catch fire as part of the bridge collapsed over it, sending plumes of thick, black smoke into the air.

The shipping company Maersk said that it chartered the container ship in Baltimore, with the operator named as Synergy Marine Group. Maersk confirmed that there were 22 crew, and said they were all Indian. None of them were Maersk crew or personnel.

Reuters cited the manager of the ship, Synergy Marine Group, as saying the crew, including the two pilots, had been accounted for and there were no reports of injuries onboard.

Maersk added that there were 4,679 containers on board, roughly half of its 10,000 capacity.

The same vessel was also involved in a collision in 2016 in Antwerp, Belgium, according to VesselFinder and the maritime incident archive Shipwrecklog. At the time, the stern scraped the side of the quay, significantly damaging several metres of the hull. There were reportedly no injuries or adverse pollution and the weather was reported to be fine at the time. The incident was reportedly blamed on the ship’s master and pilot onboard.

The harbour is one of the busiest in the country and an important hub for shipping on the US east coast, especially in transporting road vehicles. It also handles farming, construction machinery and coal, according to a Maryland government website.

Port traffic was suspended until further notice after the bridge collapse.

Agencies contributed to this report

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Biden says Baltimore bridge rebuild should be paid for by the federal government after collapse

WASHINGTON — 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."

He said he also plans to visit Baltimore as "quickly" as he can.

"Our prayers are with everyone involved in this terrible accident and all the families — especially those waiting for the news of their loved one right now," Biden said. "I know every minute in that circumstance feels like a lifetime. You just don’t know. It’s just terrible."

Biden said that a search and rescue operation is the top priority and that ship traffic and the Port of Baltimore have been suspended until further notice.

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. 

Several vehicles plunged into the water when the collision occurred at 1:30 a.m. ET. At least six people were still believed to be missing, Moore said at a news conference. Sonar used by rescue crews also detected at least five vehicles in the water, he said: three passenger cars, a cement truck and another vehicle.

Moore said the ship, the Dali, which had just left the Port of Baltimore en route to Sri Lanka, notified authorities about a "power issue" on board and issued a mayday moments before the crash. Moore credited that call with saving people's lives.

Rebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington.

Pilot on board the Dali tried to slow ship before it struck Key Bridge

The specially trained pilot ordered the rudder turned hard to the left and an anchor drop to steady the ship and slow it down, an industry official said.

When a massive ship lost power on its way out of the Port of Baltimore and headed toward a major bridge, the pilot ordered its rudder turned hard to the left and its left anchor dropped in an effort to slow the vessel and stop it swinging to the right, according to the head of a national association for ship pilots.

The 985-foot container ship, known as the Dali, left Baltimore about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, bound for Sri Lanka. Clay Diamond, the executive director of the American Pilots’ Association, said the ship experienced a “full blackout” around 1:20 a.m., meaning it lost both engine power and electrical power to the ship’s control and communications systems.

Baltimore bridge collapse

The ship was traveling at 8 knots, a normal speed for the area that Diamond described as “ahead slow.” The ship never regained engine power, but Diamond said a diesel backup generator did kick in, restoring the electrical systems — the possible source of a puff of black smoke visible in video of the collision circulating on social media.

Unable to slow the ship, Diamond said the pilot, who had more than a decade of experience, radioed an emergency message to have the Francis Scott Key Bridge closed. That mayday call has been credited with saving lives.

The huge vessel soon struck one of the bridge’s supports, causing it to crumple and crash down into the Patapsco River. Two members of a work crew on the bridge were rescued, but another six are presumed dead, the Coast Guard said. The collision led to the closure of the Baltimore port and leaves officials facing a massive cleanup and rebuilding job.

The 22 crew members on board the Dali all survived .

Who are the people presumed dead in the Baltimore bridge collapse?

Diamond said he had been in constant communication with the Association of Maryland Pilots on Tuesday and that the pilot on board had given a statement to investigators from the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into what went wrong. A second pilot aboard the Dali was an apprentice who had started his training last month, Diamond said.

Diamond said it is unusual for a ship to experience a total loss of power. “It’s not unheard of for a pilot to experience an engine casualty, it’s not that common to have a full blackout like this,” he said. “This is a complicated piece of equipment so it could be any number of causes.”

Foreign-flagged ships are required to have pilots aboard to guide them in and out of U.S. ports. Pilots have detailed knowledge of local shipping channels and complete an apprenticeship before becoming fully qualified. Diamond said they don’t take direct command of the vessel, but work with its crew to get it safely out to sea.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the body of water into which the Key Bridge collapsed. It was the Patapsco River, not the Chesapeake Bay.

How it happened: Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being hit by a cargo ship . The container ship lost power shortly before hitting the bridge, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said. Video shows the bridge collapse in under 40 seconds.

Victims: Divers have recovered the bodies of two construction workers , officials said. They were fathers, husbands and hard workers . A mayday call from the ship prompted first responders to shut down traffic on the four-lane bridge, saving lives.

Economic impact: The collapse of the bridge severed ocean links to the Port of Baltimore, which provides about 20,000 jobs to the area . See how the collapse will disrupt the supply of cars, coal and other goods .

Rebuilding: The bridge, built in the 1970s , will probably take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild , experts said.

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• International

March 27, 2024 - Baltimore Key Bridge collapse

By Kathleen Magramo , Antoinette Radford, Alisha Ebrahimji , Maureen Chowdhury , Elise Hammond , Tori B. Powell and Aditi Sangal , CNN

Our live coverage of the Baltimore bridge collapse has moved here .

Here's what you should know about the Key Bridge collapse

From CNN staff

Officials recovered the bodies of two construction workers who were on Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed early Tuesday morning after a 984-foot-long cargo ship collided into a pillar.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore called the collapse Wednesday " a global crisis ."

"The national economy and the world's economy depends on the Port of Baltimore. The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other port in the country," Moore said.

Here's what you should know:

• The victims: The six people who are presumed dead were from Mexico Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, according to Col. Roland L. Butler Jr, the superintendent of Maryland State Police. Two bodies were recovered and have been identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes from Mexico and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera from Guatemala. The two workers were filling potholes on the bridge and were later found trapped in a red pickup truck in about 25 feet of water, Butler said. The FBI is handling notifying the victims' families, Butler said.
• Recovery efforts: Authorities are pausing search efforts for the four other workers who are presumed dead, because additional vehicles are encased in concrete and other debris, making it unsafe for divers, Butler said. Once salvage operations clear the debris, divers will search for more remains, he said.
• The investigation: The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the fatal incident, according to the agency's chair Jennifer Homendy. During a Wednesday news conference, Homendy said there were 21 crew members and two pilots on board the Dali cargo ship when it crashed into the bridge. She also said a senior NTSB hazmat investigator identified 56 containers of hazardous material, and that some containers are in the water. The agency received six hours of voyage data from the ship and the investigation could take 12 to 24 months to complete, Homendy said. She emphasized that NTSB will not analyze information collected or provide conclusions while on scene of the collapse.
• Looking forward: Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said rebuilding the bridge will not be "quick or easy" but that it will get done. He said there are four main focus points ahead: reopening the port, dealing with supply chain issues until its reopening, rebuilding the bridge and dealing with traffic issues until the bridge is rebuilt. Biden  pledged the full support  of the federal government in the response and recovery efforts. His administration has already conveyed a sense of urgency to open up federal funding to remove debris and ultimately rebuild the bridge. Maryland has submitted a request to the Biden administration for emergency relief funds "to assist in our work going forward," Moore said Wednesday.

It's almost impossible to place people on the bow of ship due to the unstable structure, fire official says

 From CNN's Sarah Engel

Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said Wednesday that the cargo ship's bridge structure and containers at the bow remain unstable.

"It's going to be very difficult, if not impossible, and very dangerous, to place people on the bow of that boat right now," Wallace told CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

"Naturally, we're still very cognizant of the fact that there are hazardous materials on board the vessel itself," Wallace said, alluding to the National Transportation Safety Board saying earlier that 56 containers were carrying hazardous materials.

Wallace said his team is relying heavily on aerial recognizance, including drones. "That's the only way we're able to see in," he said.  

He added that the aerial surveillance has "been able to really assure us right now we have no [chemical] reactions on board." 

"It's just utter devastation," NTSB chief says of the bridge collapse site

From CNN's Aditi Sangal

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, called the site of the Key Bridge collapse "devastating."

"It's pretty devastating, certainly, seeing not just what's going on with the cargo containers, but just looking at what was a bridge span — three bridge spans that is pretty much gone. It's just utter devastation," she said at Wednesday evening's news briefing.

She added that she is thinking of families who lost loved ones and those who are waiting to reunite with their lived ones.

NTSB interviewed the Dali's captain and some other crew members today, agency chief says

The National Transportation Safety Board has interviewed the ship's captain, his mate, the chief engineer and one other engineer today, according to Chair Jennifer Homendy.

The two pilots on board the Dali at the time of collision will be interviewed tomorrow, she added.

Cargo ship's voyage data recorder is basic when compared to an airplane's, NTSB chair says

From CNN's Tori B. Powell

The voyage data recorder on the cargo ship Dali was a "newer model" but is considered basic when compared to that on an airplane, according to National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy.

"But it is very basic compared to say, a flight data recorder, where we would have 1,000 parameters," she said at a news conference on Wednesday.

The NTSB chief investigator Marcel Muise added:

"It's not a ship-wide system recorder, so most of the sensors that are being recorded are from the bridge. So things like GPS, the audio, rudder feedback, rudder commands are recorded on there. But not engineering, the temperature of each cylinder, power distribution sensors."

There were no tug boats with Dali at the time of the collision. That's normal, NTSB chief says

There were no tugs with Dali when the cargo vessel collided with Baltimore's Key Bridge, which is normal protocol, according to National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy.

Remember: At 01:26:39 on Tuesday, Dali's pilot made a general very high frequency (VHF) radio call for tugs in the vicinity to assist, the NTSB investigator Marcel Muise had said.

"The tugs help the vessel leave the dock, leave the port and get into the main ship channel. And then they leave. Once it's on its way, it's a straight shot through the channel. So there are no tugs with the vessel at the time. So they were calling for tugs," she said.

NTSB chair says she saw some containers that were carrying hazardous materials in the water

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said she did see some of the 56 containers that were carrying hazardous materials in the water.

When asked how many

When asked how many containers of hazardous materials were in the water, Homendy said:

"I did see some containers in the water, and some breached significantly on the vessel itself," she said. "I don't have an exact number, but it's something that we can provide in an update."

Homendy said that a preliminary report should be out in two to four weeks.

This post has been updated with more quotes from Homendy.

Bridge did not have any redundancy, unlike the preferred method for building bridges today, NTSB chair says

Baltimore's Key Bridge did not have any redundancy, which is included in the preferred method of building bridges in the present day, according to National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy.

"The bridge is a fracture critical," she explained. "What that means is if a member fails that would likely cause a portion of, or the entire bridge, to collapse, there's no redundancy. The preferred method for building bridges today is that there is redundancy built in, whether that's transmitting loads to another member or some sort of structural redundancy. This bridge did not have redundancy," Homendy said.

There are 17,468 fracture critical bridges in the United States out of 615,000 bridges total, she said, citing the Federal Highway Administration.

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Loss of ship's power and stiff current may have led to bridge collision, experts say

Scott Neuman

Jackie Northam

The container ship Dali after it ran into and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday in Baltimore. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption

The container ship Dali after it ran into and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday in Baltimore.

Details are still scant on what might have caused a giant container ship to collide with Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday, sending the span crashing into the water.

While authorities have said a "momentary loss of propulsion" could have caused the incidents, videos appear to also indicate a loss of electrical power aboard the nearly 1,000-foot ship as it careened into the structure's support.

The Singapore-flagged, Grace Ocean-owned vessel, Dali was departing Baltimore harbor destined for Colombo, Sri Lanka , at 1:27 a.m. EDT Tuesday, when the collision with the bridge span occurred.

More from WYPR in Baltimore:

• Construction worker says friends, colleagues missing in bridge collapse
• Federal government pledges full support to rebuild FSK bridge, reopen port

For the latest from member station WYPR in Baltimore head to wypr.org

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore issued a statement Tuesday saying that the ship's management company, Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, reported "that just prior to the incident, the vessel, Dali had experienced momentary loss of propulsion" and that "As a result, it was unable to maintain the desired heading and collided with the Francis Scott Key bridge."

If propulsion was lost on the Dali just as the vessel was maneuvering in a tight channel in Baltimore's Patapsco River, it may well have triggered a cascade of events leading to the collision, experts tell NPR.

The Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore collapses after a ship crashed into it

"Generally, believe it or not, today's ships do not have much redundancy, especially these big ships," says Basil Karatzas, the CEO of Karatzas Marine Advisors.

Matthew Collette, a professor of naval architecture at the University of Michigan notes, "there's one propeller on the ship. It is the only engine that can turn the propeller."

However, Collette speculates an electrical failure suggested by the video of the accident could have been a contributing factor. The lights on the ship could be seen switching on and off several times before it struck the bridge.

The Picture Show

Photos: baltimore's key bridge collapses; search and rescue efforts continue.

He says the engine has redundant systems, but the fuel system requires electricity to keep fuel feeding it. A ship the size of the Dali "would have either three or four independent diesel generators" to provide electricity and another above the main deck ready to "automatically start in a blackout condition," Collette says.

"But it's not instantaneous. It might take 30 seconds or 60 seconds" to start them and restore power to the ship, he says. Without electrical power, both the engine and the steering system could have been disabled in the critical moments leading to the collision, he says.

While, the steering system is triply redundant, Collette notes, each of the backups is dependent on electricity to run pumps that then pressurize the hydraulics and activate the ship's massive rudder.

At the time of the collision, an ebb tide was also running, meaning that the current would have been flowing out of the harbor — the same direction the vessel was traveling. When a tide is running with the ship, it makes maneuvering more difficult, according to Collette. Compounding that difficulty, the collision occurred just one day past a full moon , when tidal current velocities are especially strong .

In its statement, the Singapore port authority said the Dali dropped its anchor before the collision.

"It's standard practice in this situation to try to anchor the ship," to stop it, Collette says. "If they have room and they have channel depth."

"That's an evolution that's going to be taking minutes," he says.

The ship reportedly had aboard two harbor pilots — personnel with specialized knowledge of the port who assist with navigation — to assist in transiting the narrow channel leading to the Chesapeake Bay. With an engine and/or a steering failure, there is little else the crew could have done to prevent catastrophe, Karatzas says.

"I suppose they were praying just to get power," he says.

The collision also occurred at night, which could well be another factor, according to Jonathan Roach, a container market analyst at London-based Braemar ACM shipbroking.

The entrance to the harbor is "quite narrow," he says. "And, it's quite late at night. It's dark. You have to make allowances for that."

Correction March 27, 2024

An earlier version of this story said the container ship Dali is owned by Maersk. The vessel is owned by Grace Ocean and was being chartered by Maersk when it crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.

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• Baltimore bridge collapse