Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before it collided with Baltimore bridge, officials say

BALTIMORE (AP) — The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent "routine engine maintenance" in port beforehand, the US Coast Guard said Wednesday, as divers recovered the bodies of two of six workers who plunged into the water when it collapsed.

The others were presumed dead, and officials said search efforts had been exhausted.

Investigators on Wednesday began collecting evidence from the vessel that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge the previous day. The bodies of the two men were located in the morning inside a red pickup submerged in about 25 feet of water near the bridge's middle span, Colonel Roland L Butler Jr, superintendent of Maryland State Police, announced at an evening news conference.

He identified the men as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, who was from Mexico and living in Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, who was from Guatemala and living in Dundalk, Maryland.

The victims, who were part of a construction crew fixing potholes on the bridge, were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Butler said.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore addressed their families in Spanish during the news conference, saying, "Estamos contigo, ahora y siempre," which means, "we are with you, now and always."

All search efforts have been exhausted, and based on sonar scans, authorities "firmly" believe the other vehicles with victims inside are encased in superstructures and concrete from the collapsed bridge, Butler said.

Divers are to return to search for remains once the waters are clear of debris.

US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said authorities had been informed that the ship was going to undergo the maintenance.

"As far as the engine goes, we were not informed of any problems with the vessel," he said. "We were informed that they were going to conduct routine engine maintenance on it while it was in port. And that's the only thing we were informed about the vessel in that regard."

The investigation ramped up as the Baltimore region reeled from the sudden loss of a major transportation link that's part of the highway loop around the city. The disaster also closed the port, which is vital to the city's shipping industry.

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board boarded the ship to recover information from its electronics and paperwork and to do interviews with the captain and other crew members, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a separate news conference. Twenty-three people, including two pilots, were on the ship when it crashed, she said.

The vessel was also carrying 56 containers of hazardous materials including corrosives, flammables and lithium ion batteries, Homendy said. She added that some containers were breached, and that a sheen on the water from those materials would be handled by authorities.

The agency also is reviewing the voyage data recorder recovered by the Coast Guard and building a timeline of what led to the crash, which federal and state officials have said appeared to be an accident.

The ship's crew issued a mayday call early Tuesday, saying they had lost power and steering just minutes before striking one of the bridge's columns.

At least eight people initially went into the water, and two of them were rescued Tuesday, officials said.

The debris complicated the search, according to a Homeland Security memo described to The Associated Press by a law enforcement official. The official was not authorised to discuss details of the document or the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Video showed the ship moving at what Maryland's governor said was about 9 mph toward the 1.6-mile bridge. Traffic was still crossing the span, and some vehicles appeared to escape with only seconds to spare. The crash caused the bridge to break and fall into the water within seconds.

A last-minute warning from the ship allowed police just enough time to stop traffic on the highway. One officer parked sideways across the lanes and planned to drive onto the bridge to alert a construction crew once another officer arrived. But he did not get the chance as the powerless vessel barrelled into the bridge.

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