OLD SAYBROOK, Conn. — As federal investigators work to find out what caused a cargo ship to crash into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, ports across the world are coming up with contingency plans and finding other places to re-direct their vessels.
As this is happening, the Connecticut Port Authority is opening its arms, coming up with a plan in case it is called upon.
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“This is the kind of tragedy that can happen almost anywhere,” said Ulysses Hammond, the executive director of the Connecticut Port Authority.
Hammond watched in horror as the bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday, likely taking six lives.
“Our thoughts are definitely with those families that have been affected and, in particular, those workers who were actually doing their jobs on the bridge at that time,” Hammond said.
But now, Hammond has to pivot that empathy into action because ships that can’t get through the harbor in Baltimore are being diverted throughout the region. And the longer that goes on, Connecticut, *could be called upon.
“And some of those calls have already been made. And they’ve been made in respect to our availability in New Haven in particular,” Hammond said.
New Haven’s deep-water port is the second largest and busiest in New England, able to accommodate ships ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 tons.
However, the director of the New Haven Port Authority said New Haven would not be able to take in ships like the one that crashed in Baltimore, since the state is not equipped to deal with container ships. However, New Haven does work with bulk liquid, bulk solid cargo, and steel, lumber and scrap metal.
“So, we have capacity and we are willing and ready to accommodate any way we can with respect to our assistance to Baltimore at this time,” Hammond said.
And while Connecticut is prepping its ports, people who live here are looking at the safety of our bridges above them. It’s something local, state and federal officials have been focused on for years.
RELATED: Baltimore bridge collapses after powerless cargo ship rams into support column; 6 presumed dead
"If there was anything that ever came out of a bridge inspection that was deemed critical, we would shut the bridge down and would not allow traffic over it,” said Josh Morgan, a spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
Morgan said the state has more than 5,500 bridges that are inspected every other year. The state of the structures, he said, is getting better.
"In 2012, about 10% of the state's bridges were rated poor. Now, we're about 5%,” Morgan said.
And as the state works to repair those poorly rated bridges, Morgan said, they’re not a danger to drivers, and are still deemed safe.
"What happened in Baltimore was absolutely tragic, and I don't know if there's any infrastructure in the world that could withstand a 1,000-foot container ship, a massive ship, hitting one of those critical support pieces of the bridge,” Morgan said.
Back in New Haven, if the state is called upon to take in a few ships diverted from Baltimore, Hammond believes that wouldn’t happen for a few weeks or even months. If it does happen, the U.S. Coast Guard would need to be notified of a new ship coming through at least 96 hours in advance.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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