Six workers are missing and presumed dead after a bridge collapsed at the Port of Baltimore, where a huge cargo ship damaged by a power outage entered the structure, shutting down one of the busiest ports on the US East Coast. , reports Reuters.

Dive teams are facing increasingly difficult conditions in the murky, wreck-strewn waters, and active search and rescue operations have been suspended about 18 hours after the accident, according to U.S. Coast Guard and Maryland State Police officials.

Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said there was no hope of finding the missing alive because of the icy water and the time that had passed since the accident.

State police Col. Roland Butler said authorities hope to send divers into the water after sunrise Wednesday to try to find the remains of the workers.

The Singapore-flagged container ship Dali, en route from the port of Baltimore to Sri Lanka, struck a pier at the Francis Scott Key Bridge across the mouth of the Patapsco River at around 1:30 am (05:30 GMT).

Almost instantly, the 2.57 km stretch collapsed into the frozen water, sending vehicles and people into the river.

Rescuers safely pulled out two survivors, one of whom was hospitalized. Earlier, authorities said they and the six missing men were part of a work crew plugging holes in the bridge’s surface.

A bigger disaster was averted

The vessel reported a power outage before the collision, allowing officials to shut down traffic on the bridge before the collapse.

“These people are heroes after being able to stop cars from crossing the bridge. They saved lives last night,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said during a midday news conference. The bridge was up to code with no known structural problems, Moore said.

According to officials, there was no evidence of murder.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott described the scene as the twisted metal shot into the sky.

“It was something out of an action movie. It was something you didn’t think you’d ever see,” he said.

A video posted on social media showed the ship crashing into a bridge in the dark, with the car’s headlights visible on the transom as it plunged into the water and the ship burst into flames.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the shutdown of one of the nation’s busiest shipping lanes until further notice would have a “significant and lasting impact on supply chains.” The Port of Baltimore handles more motor vehicle cargo than any other U.S. port, with more than 750,000 vehicles in 2022, according to port data.

General Motors (GM. N) and Ford Motor Co. would reroute affected shipments, but the companies said disruptions would be minimal.

The 948-foot-long (288.95m) ship suffered a momentary loss of propulsion and dropped anchor as part of emergency procedures before the collision, its management company Synergy Marine Pte Ltd said, according to the Port of Singapore Authority.

The vessel Dali, owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd, hit one of the piers of the bridge, Synergy reported. According to her, all 22 crew members who were on board the vessel have been found.

In addition to the impact on freight traffic, port closures could force shippers to shift cargo bound for Baltimore from containers to bulk materials. Experts say that could create bottlenecks and increase delays and costs on the East Coast.

President Joe Biden said the U.S. Coast Guard responded quickly to the emergency call and praised the quick action of Maryland transportation officials, who closed the bridge before it was hit.

Biden promised to visit Baltimore, 40 miles away, as soon as possible and said he wanted the federal government to pay for the bridge’s reconstruction.

“I am directing my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as quickly as possible,” Biden said. The bridge, named after the author of the “Star-Spangled Banner”, was inaugurated in 1977.

A shocking sight

National Transportation Safety Board President Jennifer Homendy said a team of 24 investigators and other agency members were on the scene but delayed boarding the ship during the search and rescue operation. Singapore security officials will arrive in Baltimore on Wednesday, she said.

The bridge serves as a major thoroughfare for motorists between New York and Washington seeking to avoid downtown Baltimore. It was one of three ports with a traffic volume of 31,000 vehicles per day, or 11.3 million per year.

The same vessel was involved in an incident in the port of Antwerp, Belgium in 2016, hitting a berth while attempting to exit a North Sea container terminal.

A 2023 inspection in San Antonio, Chile found deficiencies in “propulsion and auxiliary mechanisms,” according to Equasis, a public website that provides information about the ships.

Tuesday’s disaster could be the worst bridge collapse in the US since 2007, when the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis fell into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people.

The Dali vessel was chartered by shipping company Maersk at the time of the incident, the Danish company said in a statement.

More than 40 vessels remained in Baltimore Harbor, including small cargo vessels, tugboats and pleasure boats, data from vessel tracking and marine analytics provider MarineTraffic showed. At least 30 other ships reported heading to Baltimore, according to the data.