On Monday night, a cargo ship in Baltimore exploded close to the location of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse from the previous year.
According to Baltimore fire officials, there were two pilots and 23 crew members on board the boat when the explosion occurred at 6:30 p.m., but no one was hurt.
The cause of the explosion on the ship, which was transporting coal to East Africa, is still being investigated by investigators.
As the boat sits on the Patapsco River, videos show smoke and flames in the air.
Just starting out of Baltimore’s harbor, the 751-foot-long merchant ship W-Sapphire, flying the Liberian flag, was scheduled to reach the Port of Mauritius in approximately one month.
The U.S. Coast Guard was leading the inquiry, according to the Port of Baltimore, which announced that its main shipping lane was closed Tuesday morning.
When the shipping lane will reopen is unknown. After the cargo ship Dali collided with a supporting column in March 2024, causing the Key Bridge to collapse, it was closed for months.A construction crew working on the bridge lost six workers.
