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What to know about Baltimore bridge collapse and the event’s economic impact
A cargo ship slammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday, causing the structure to collapse. The shocking incident has raised questions about who owns and manages the ship, as well as where it was headed and what load it was carrying.
Called the Dali, the vessel that hit the bridge is managed by Synergy Marine Group, a Singapore-based ship manager with a worldwide presence and over 660 vessels under management, according to its website. The group said the ship was operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group and chartered by Danish shipping behemoth Maersk when it struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
“We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected,” Maersk said in a statement to CBS News Tuesday, in which it also confirmed the ship was carrying cargo for Mearsk customers. “No Maersk crew and personnel were onboard the vessel,” the company added.
The vessel, which has a capacity of 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, was carrying nearly 4,700 containers time of the collision. It was operated by a 22-person, Indian crew.
It was not immediately clear what kind of cargo the ship was carrying.
Synergy Group’s parent company, Unity Group Holdings International, an investment holding company, was founded in 2008 and is Hong Kong-based.
Ship chartered by Maersk
The Dali is owned by Grace Ocean Private, another Singapore-based company that provides water transportation services.
While the incident remains under investigation, the ship lost power before hitting the bridge, according to an unclassified Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency memo reviewed by CBS News. The ship was time charted by Danish international container shipping company Maersk at the time of the collision.
Where was it headed?
The outbound ship was headed for Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka , Synergy Marine Group said in a press release.
How busy is the Port of Baltimore?
In 2023, the Port of Baltimore handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo, worth $80 billion, according to the Office of Governor Wes Moore. The port is also a significant provider of local jobs.
The top port in the U.S. for sugar and gypsum imports, it is the ninth busiest U.S. port by the total volume and value of foreign cargo handled. All vessel traffic into and out of the port is currently suspended.
What will the economic impact of the port’s closure be?
Directly, the port supports 15,300 jobs. Another 140,000 are related to port activities. The jobs and their salaries represent $3.3 billion in personal income, according to a CBS News report.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.