Posted originally on Mar 28, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed on March 26, 2024, at 01:28 EDT after being struck by a cargo ship owned by Brawner Builders Inc. The ship named the Dali was operated by Synergy Marine Group. This black swan event was extremely strange, catastrophic for the US supply chain, and certainly a black swan event. For the purpose of this post, I will refrain from speculation and stick to the facts at hands to explain how crucial this bridge was to the US.

Official reports say that what happened was simply an unfortunate accident. “We’re going to send all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency. I mean all the federal resources — we’re going to rebuild that port together,” Biden said after promising to use federal aid to rebuild the bridge, a feat that will take years to achieve. “Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident,” he added. “At this time, we have no other indication, no other reason to believe there’s any intentional act here.”

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency stated that there was a “power issue” that caused the crew to lose control of the ship. There was a loss of propulsion from the motor, several tests failed, and the pilots notified the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Maryland Transit Authority. There was an attempt to deploy anchors but it was far too late, especially for a ship of that size and weight.

James Mercante, the president of the New York Board of Pilot Commissioners, said that the Dali became “a dead ship just being carried by the current or its own momentum.” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg did not say what caused the power outage and does not have a timeframe for when the bridge will be rebuilt. “The impact of this incident is going to be felt throughout the region and really throughout our supply chains,” Buttigieg said. Baltimore is currently under a state of emergency, and Mayor Brandon Scott believes it will last for “the foreseeable future.”

Others believe this was a deliberate attack of US infrastructure based on various factors that do not seem to add up. Could it have been an inside job or a foreign agent? The truth will come to light, as it always does.

Let me begin by explaining how crucial the Francis Scott Key Bridge was to America’s supply chain. Around 52.3 million tons of international cargo estimated to be worth $80.8 billion passed through the port in 2023. Around 4,900 trucks, carrying around $28 billion in goods, must be rerouted due to the bridge collapse. It is the second busiest strategic roadway in the US for hazardous materials. These hazardous materials include diesel fuels. Did you know that diesel fuel is not permitted to be transported via tunnel? Fuel prices will rise, fertilizer prices will rise. The bridge was built to handle hazardous materials like propane, nitrogen, highly-flammable materials, large cargo materials, and more.

The timing could not have been worse for American agriculture.

Baltimore is the largest entry point for all large agricultural and construction equipment, and this will have a ripple effect across US agriculture in general. It has been noted that this collapse occurred during the peak of planting season for Midwest region as the ground has begun to thaw. Our entire food supply is at risk.

The bridge helped to link major cities from Baltimore like Philadelphia, Washington, and New York. Over 15,000 people are employed directly through the port, and 139,000 have indirect jobs in connections. All of this amounts to $3.3 billion in personal income, as noted by Axios.

Analysts are saying this will cripple Baltimore, but it will send ripple effects throughout the entire US economy.

The angle the cargo ship took is extremely confusing. Engineers are perplexed by the situation. How did it manage to take out one of the two major anchor points? The video makes it look as if the ship deliberately steered into an anchor point. The cargo ship never made it into the approach land in the channel. Where was the harbor pilot? There was no horn blast or warning tug. There was no tug boat, but they say that it was not needed once the ship entered the channel. There happened to be a full moon that enabled maximum tidal shift. My eyes may deceive me, but the video footage makes it look like the captain steered directly into the support beam at the last minute.

Half a mile of  the bridge simply collapsed. It looks more like a strategic demolition based on how the bridge crumbled. Now, here in Tampa Bay, a cardo ship hit the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over 40 years ago. A portion of the bridge came down but it did not simply fall into the waters in the same manner. This is reminiscent of the 9/11 collapse, but of course, people did not have smart phones back then. This event happened in the middle of the night when few people were around to witness it. Some say this passage is hard to navigate but cargo ships managed just fine for nearly half a century up until this week.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said, “There is absolutely no indication that there’s any terrorism, or that this was done on purpose.” The US government insists this was simply a tragic unpreventable accident. Official reports say there were no signs of explosives and no foreign terrorist agency is claiming responsibility for the event.

The same ship collapsed a bridge in Belgium back in 2016, and I do not think this was an act of foreign terrorism.

This event divided the US along the Mason-Dixon line, bringing us back to the pre-Civil War era. Did US intel have a role in this “accident” that happened at the worst possible time? Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum stated that an attack on infrastructure – a cyber pandemic — would cause the COVID-19 crisis to look like a “small disturbance” in comparison. Carefully watch the video below and note how they explain these events to us long before they take place.

Posted originally on the CTH on March 27, 2024 | Sundance 

The NTSB gives an update on the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, following the impact of a Singaporean-flagged cargo ship, the Dali.

According to the update, 56 containers of hazardous materials were on board, including corrosive flammable cells, lithium ion batteries, and other hazardous materials.  Some of the HAZMAT containers were compromised and some fell into the water.  The briefing also gives a preliminary outline as an outcome of an initial review of the voyage data recorder (VDR) for six hours 00:00 to 06:00 on the morning of the impact. The timeline discussion occurs at 11:00 of the video below.  WATCH:

(Via Fox News) -[…] Homendy said the investigation would be a “massive undertaking” that is expected two take one to two years. She added that the NTSB will not hesitate to issue urgent safety recommendations during that time frame. A preliminary report is expected in only two to four weeks.

Part of the investigation will be determining what caused the ship to lose power before hitting the bridge. The source of that outage remained unknown as of Wednesday, Homendy said.

Homendy said tugboats were called to help the vessel leave the port and get to the main channel. The vessel does not have any tugboats at this time. Homendy confirmed that vessel did not have any tugboats helping it navigate through the waters before it hit the bridge. The VDR showed that the pilot called for tugboats just before 1:30 a.m. after the vessel hit the bridge.

The NTSB has confirmed that there were 21 crewmembers on board the vessel at the time of the accident plus two pilots. (LINK)