South Carolina offers assistance to Baltimore after cargo ship causes bridge collapse

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – Governor Henry McMaster said Tuesday the state stands ready to assist Maryland after a cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse.

Authorities said a container ship rammed into one of the bridge’s supports, causing the structure to collapse in a matter of seconds and sending several vehicles into the water below. The vessel also caught fire.

“Please join Peggy and me in praying for the victims and their families,” Gov. McMaster said on X.

Kim Stenson, director of the South Carolina Emergency Management Director, contacted the Secretary of Maryland Emergency Management to offer support.

SCEMD said Maryland has not yet made any requests to other states; however, the agency is standing by to assist at Gov. McMaster’s direction.

McMaster also told reporters Tuesday that the Charleston port could see an increase in traffic “because of the inability of the ships to go into the Maryland harbor” over the next several months.

“I’m informed that it might take as much as three months, or maybe more, for them to clear the wreckage out of the harbor and out of the channel in Maryland,” McMaster said. “That means those ships are going to have to find other places and that means the trucks and rail that would carry whatever is on those ships…will have to be rerouted and go elsewhere and one of those places will be here.”

In an update Tuesday morning, Maryland’s governor said a mayday call from the ship gave officials time to limit traffic on the bridge before the collapse.

Two people were rescued from the water by mid-morning and a search was underway for others.